New to Ball pythons trying to make the perfect home before he/she comes home :)

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Originally Posted by Vivid

my humidity has been at 55% for 3 days w/o misting. 55-60 is okay till they start to shed then your looking for 65-70 is that right? so I was looking into thermostats and I found the Zoo Med ReptiTemp 500R has anyone used them in the past or using them now? also Im thinking of getting two UTH 1 for the cool side the UTH on the hot side set at 90 and the cooler at 80 what are your thoughts on this, is it over kill? as for pic's I have 4 babbies im looking at I get to feed them on thursday make sure they all eat b4 I decide then Ill prob bring one home mon or tue then the pics will start flowing :) and I will be going to lowes to get the right thermometers the others are dead to me now :P should have joined and asked b4 I got them.

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I keep my humidity around 60%, and have never had shed issues at that humidity. If it gets drier (50%), I'll add some sphagnum moss to a hide for shedding purposes.

If your house gets really cold, the double UTH could help to keep the glass from getting too cold. I actually have two UTH's in both of my tanks, on separate thermostats and temp gauges. Yes, it's a little overkill, but the benefit is that if one side ever fails, they at least have somewhere to go. My snakes seem happy and healthy, so it must sort of be working :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Vivid

my humidity has been at 55% for 3 days w/o misting. 55-60 is okay till they start to shed then your looking for 65-70 is that right? so I was looking into thermostats and I found the Zoo Med ReptiTemp 500R has anyone used them in the past or using them now? also Im thinking of getting two UTH 1 for the cool side the UTH on the hot side set at 90 and the cooler at 80 what are your thoughts on this, is it over kill? as for pic's I have 4 babbies im looking at I get to feed them on thursday make sure they all eat b4 I decide then Ill prob bring one home mon or tue then the pics will start flowing :) and I will be going to lowes to get the right thermometers the others are dead to me now :P should have joined and asked b4 I got them.

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I have used a reptitemp 500r for years with no problem. It is a little tricky to dial in the temperature at first, but once you get it then you are set. I don't really think you need two UTH's unless your house gets below 70*f on a regular basis.

Everyone makes mistakes at first. Even me! I had a completely awful setup for my ball python at first, and now I have a home made rack with 5 thriving snakies :)

Welcome to BP.Net :)

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Originally Posted by Vivid

I have 4 babbies im looking at I get to feed them on thursday make sure they all eat b4 I decide then Ill prob bring one home mon or tue then the pics will start flowing :)

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Since its a baby, some people recommend about a 10 gallon tank (or 15-ish quart tub) because larger (sounds like your using a 30breeder) tanks can stress babies out causing them to not eat consistently, or worse, not at all :(

Also, since there is no such thing as knowing to much :rolleyes:, I would recommend browsing through the Ball Python Caresheet Just to double check that everything is done properly as far as two identical hides, temps ect. :D

thanks for all the input :) I went out and got some digital thermometers and tossed the gauges in a box I also found a tstat at the local co-op found the product online and there are a lot of reptile owner reviews that really love it.
I have the prob on the glass under 1'' of coconut husk one thing I wanted to ask is would setting the temp on the tstat to 95 harm the snake if he got to the glass? right now I have a reading of 85.3 inside the hide.

the tstat is a hydrofarm heat mat thermostat. It also shows current temp :)

The hottest temp in the enclosure, which would be the glass on the bottom, should be between 88-92 degrees. You will have to measure the temp on the glass in order to find out what temp you should set your thermostat to...

This thermostat was recommended by few people:
http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTPR...2066928&sr=8-2

Haven't tried it yet, I ordered it and it just arrived today. I plan to use it with an UTH.

I also have this one (I paid nearly double Amazon price at a petstore):
http://www.amazon.com/RZilla-11939-T...2067005&sr=8-1

It works fine, but the gauge is really inaccurate. I have a digital thermometer right next to the probe and I used that to adjust the temp. Works perfect so far.

Thanks Voodoodoc I did pick up a hydrofarm Tstat seems to be keeping the mat nice and warm. I had the prob on the inside of the cage but ended up putting on the outside right on the heat source. going to get another today along with a UTH just to be safe. My house gets very cold old windows old heaters :( so I have been reading care sheets and a lot of them seem to shy away from the use of 2 CHEs. My 100 watt can't keep the air temp up Ill get the other UTH see what happens there, but if need be would it be ok to have 2? would it be too hard to keep the humidity up, does anyone use two CHE? air temp seems to be 75 bit cold :(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Vivid

Thanks Voodoodoc I did pick up a hydrofarm Tstat seems to be keeping the mat nice and warm. I had the prob on the inside of the cage but ended up putting on the outside right on the heat source. going to get another today along with a UTH just to be safe. My house gets very cold old windows old heaters :( so I have been reading care sheets and a lot of them seem to shy away from the use of 2 CHEs. My 100 watt can't keep the air temp up Ill get the other UTH see what happens there, but if need be would it be ok to have 2? would it be too hard to keep the humidity up, does anyone use two CHE? air temp seems to be 75 bit cold :(

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CHE or any other "bulb" heat source will unfortunately affect the humidity. I find it helpful to get a $10 plug in lamp dimmer from Home Depot or the sorts, and use that so the bulb isn't as intense. My house gets drafty in the winter as well and I end up using a black light on a dimmer for my one tank :)

Covering some of the top of the tank with something that doesn't breathe will not only help lock in humidity, but will act as an insulator too. My air temps definitely stay way more consistent ever since I started using tin foil.

I'll try the tin foil. also picked up some foam core board to hit the sides and the back should help keep some heat :) hoping to get this done tonight so it can run over night. Fingers crossed :) and thank you all for the tips!!