Am I doing good so far ?

Ok awesome. You're making progress and on your way. I promise it gets easier once everything is properly set up and dialed in.

Your snake will be fine in those temps for a few days until your UTH arrives, just don't let it drop below 75, at least not for long.

Yes it has been unplugged for about an hour, I moved the probe directly between the substrate and the glass, the current temp is 86. He is a lot more calm now. I actually ordered the Hydrofarm brand thermostat. I have a buddy who breeds ball pythons in this area and he told me all I need is a heatpad but a GOOD thermostat is a must. I will post a link of what I got, it will be here on Monday.

https://www.amazon.com/MTPRTC-Contro...RTC+Thermostat

Thank you so much for the help...its crazy I have been reading all about how to do this since I was a kid and now that the time is here its all hectic, to be honest I rushed, I thought about me more than the snake, I am tempted to go take it back to them and ask them just to hold it until I can get the hab set up properly. I feel like an ass for having bought it all at once and rushing it.

Here is some pictures of my setup and temps. Also do you think he can handle rat pups at his size ?

http://tinypic.com/r/3347oe9/9

http://tinypic.com/r/16hthyf/9

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Melluns07

Yes it has been unplugged for about an hour, I moved the probe directly between the substrate and the glass, the current temp is 86. He is a lot more calm now. I actually ordered the Hydrofarm brand thermostat. I have a buddy who breeds ball pythons in this area and he told me all I need is a heatpad but a GOOD thermostat is a must. I will post a link of what I got, it will be here on Monday.

https://www.amazon.com/MTPRTC-Contro...RTC+Thermostat

Thank you so much for the help...its crazy I have been reading all about how to do this since I was a kid and now that the time is here its all hectic, to be honest I rushed, I thought about me more than the snake, I am tempted to go take it back to them and ask them just to hold it until I can get the hab set up properly. I feel like an ass for having bought it all at once and rushing it.

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If your room ambient temps are within the proper range for ball pythons, yes you can use only a UTH.

I am happy to help. I absolutely love these animals and am more than happy to help somebody to enjoy this hobby as well.

Don't beat yourself up. More people impulse buy than you would think. You're certainly not alone. You're on the right track now and your snake will be fine while you make your adjustments.
Now you know to have everything ready before bringing your next snake home :D

Quick Update, I went ahead and bought a lamp with an infra-red 50 watt night bulb now the ambient temp in the tank is 86 on the hot side and the surface temp is about 84.6 while the cold side is about 76 surface temp. He immediately moved to the hot side and is acting like a ball python now, he is chilling in a ball, I have noticed he really actually likes laying on top of the hide more than in it, usually with half his body inside. I also bought him food for the second time :rolleyes: I first bought him some pinkies not knowing how small they really were, his head is bigger than they are. He is about as big around as a quarter in his widest spot. I bought two frozen thawed mice that are 19 grams each. Petsmart called that a large mouse, I looked at rat pups but they were too big. Does 19 grams sound too big for him ? Right now they are kinda curled up and cant tell how big around they are and I do not want to thaw them out as he does not need to eat until next week.

Ok sounds great!!!

As for prey size, I'm not sure of the weight of your snake, but those mice should be good.

I find this chart to be helpful:

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...d1ee375ca1.jpg

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So thanks to everyone here for the help, the thermostat has made a HUGE difference, and I plan on dropping some cash on a serious one here soon as I see the difference they make. Currently he has been in his hide since my last post with very obvious signs of him coming out at night and moving crap around lol. His hot spot is staying between 86-90 degrees and I had to go ahead and buy an infrared heat lamp 50 watt bulb to keep ambient temps up. Turns out even in hot Texas I need it because my PC is in here and it cant be in a hot room. He did successfully feed last Saturday night and the meal was perfect size for him. He missed his first few strikes so I left it on his hide and he gobbled it down quick. For whatever reason petsmart calls a a 19 gram mouse that is a little under 1" in diameter a "large mouse" I want to try and get him on rats as soon as possible as I hear they are much better for him.

Also, I placed the probe for the thermostat directly against the glass under the substrate as the mat has already been installed on the tank, I figured the glass should be the exact temp the pad is. I also thought if he burrowed and moved the probe I would notice the temp on the thermostat got cooler as it has a digital display. I have about 1" of aspen in with the second probe just barely under the surface in his hide. The thermostat is set to 90 and that usually keeps the hot spot between 86-90 through shutting off and turning back on. As I said I plan on buying the herpstat so the temp can stay stable 24/7 and want to know if it is ideal to place the thermostat probe between the UTH and the tank, if so I will buy a new mat with the thermostat.

Just got here, but glad to see things worked out! What I do is I have a UTH with a thermostat that keeps the service temp of the warm hide right around 90°, then I have a ceramic bulb with another thermostat that keeps the ambients on the warm side 82°-83°. The cool side naturally sits around 76°. Since it's summer, the swamp cooler in the apartment all day keeps her tank at around 60% humidity, but in the winter I have to keep on it. :)

Ok, glad your tstat has arrived and is helping you out.
Ideally, yes, you want it outside the enclosure between the UTH and the glass. Where you have it no is ok, but you still may have headaches with it there. Your snake can and will move the probe. This, in turn, could cause a heat spike because the probe is no longer reading the actual hottest part resulting in inaccurate readings which in turn will kick the temps up.