My first ball python!... I'm concerned

Okay so I know you guys are telling me to clean ASAP and I kind of want to do it today, but I just realized I don't have enough extra substrate to cover the floor of the tank. Would it hurt to lay down paper towels or a puppy mat until I can go out and buy some?

Paper towel is all I ever use for my entire collection, and if there is a chance that the animal may have mites you will be better off on paper for the time being. For cleaning i use straight vinegar.

I would clean that enclosure IMMEDIATELY. I would also never buy a thing from a store that allowed an animal to live in those conditions. They should be ashamed to let something like that happen in their store, never mind let a customer leave with that.

A 100 gallon enclosure is HUGE. I don't know what you drive, but I couldn't even fit my 55 (4'L x 1'D x 2'H) gallon fish tanks into the car to be moved and needed a truck. If it's in fact 100 gallons you might want to consider a new enclosure all together.

PLEASE read through the stickies on this forum and get your new snake in a clean, proper enclosure.

...and since that store let you leave with a disgusting tank, I have to question what they sent you home with for equipment.
What are you using for heat? How are you regulating the heat sources?
What are you using to measure temps/humidity?

....oh, and yes, paper towels are fine for substrate. I use paper towels for my juvenile hognose.

For those of you that appreciate updates: I've finished making the tank squeaky clean!

In the process I've also figured out what to name him- Yamori. (I have a fat-tailed gecko that I jokingly named Snake, I google searched the most interesting names for gecko in different languages and it turns out "gecko" in Japanese is "Yamori").

I transported Yamori to a makeshift holding container, which he promptly tried to escape from. He soon gave up and curled up quietly.

The cleanup process was absolutely awful. Taking the decorations apart revealed wayyy more gunk than I was expecting. I also uncovered two spiders. I can only hope that the third one was scooped up along with substrate.

The tank is too heavy for me to move on my own, so I ended up giving it the equivalent of a very aggressive chemical sponge bath. By the end, I felt like I had just carried my mother through a marathon, and although results were satisfactory, there is still a light layer of grime in some places.

All in all, I'm feeling proud of the work I did today, but reading through this forum it's become apparent that I have a lot more to do. I had brought home one hide, a smattering of decorations, a water bowl, and a heat lamp. When I asked about humidity levels I was told "that's what the water bowl is for", and when I asked about temperature I was told "just keep the lamp on one end, you can turn it off at night". Since this closely resembles my gecko setup, where I have two lamps that I switch on and off to mimick day/night but allow me to keep appropriate temperatures, I thought nothing of it.

I feel so, so unbelievably sorry for my poor Yamori, who's clearly been suffering from terrible care. The next things on my shopping list are new hides, thermometers, a ceramic heat bulb or under tank heater, and a hygrometer.

I sincerely thank everyone that has helped me in making sure my new baby is as healthy and happy as possible.

The good news is I don't think he has mites. The bad news is some of his shed got stuck on and there's what appears to be shed (it looks like scales) still stuck to one of his eyes. I spritzed a little water into his makeshift tank while I cleaned to try to help him a little bit. I will also be spraying the cool side of his tank until I can come up with a better way to keep humidity levels appropriate. Hopefully all of the pictures show up.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2206e1d7b0.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...1136eb1c48.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8d9b8431e7.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...158a01414d.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...5c5cd423d3.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...dd7a494e94.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...ecaa379b1f.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...281c07f755.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...d40677522e.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...5ca2f8a93b.jpg

Also I'm not sure exactly how many gallons the tank is, bit it's 36 inches on its longest side.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8ce67deef9.jpg

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Looks like a 30-50ish gallon tank?

Good for you cleaning all that. What a mess! I've only seen rat tanks with that many feces (and seeing as rats poop crazy number of times a day rather than once a week... :mad: )

Beautiful python though, he's so lucky to have a good new owner :)

Ahhh, turns out I'm awful at estimating xD

Yeah I was surprised seeing several months worth of poop, it never occurred to me that someone could just not care about an animal under their care :( My philosophy is if you can't give them your best, you shouldn't have them. I have two fat cats and a beautiful gecko that can attest to that :D

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Originally Posted by cuprite

Also I'm not sure exactly how many gallons the tank is, bit it's 36 inches on its longest side.https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...8ce67deef9.jpg

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You've got yourself a 40 gallon "breeder" tank there. In my opinion, a great size tank for keeping an adult BP. If you're sticking with a glass enclosure this will be a good forever enclosure for your snake.

I noticed you don't have a THERMOSTAT on your shopping list. It's the most Important thing you will buy. Running any heat sources unregulated can burn, or even worse, kill your snake.

Check out the stickies thoroughly and start yourself a shopping list. We're here to help...

Good job on the cleaning! It looks like he's in decent shape - could definitely use better humidity though. Paper towels are always good for a new snake for easier monitoring. Definitely look into what you need and absolutely get a thermostat! He's very cute and should appreciate his newly cleaned home.

Thank you! I've already caught him yawning (it was adorable). I'm going to hopefully buy a ceramic heat bulb tomorrow to start giving him consistent heat and a hygrometer so I don't spray him too often, (a thermostat if I can find one, but I'll probably have to order one). Speaking of, can someone recommend to me a good thermostat that won't break my wallet?

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