Temperature?? Humidity?

I'm sorry, I know you guys want to help but the language barrier is too much for me so it's difficult to understand. The reason why I went to this forum to ask is because there are no correct instructions on how to regulate heat or even keep ball python in Dutch (there are a few, but usually they are from pet shops which means that half of the information there is just untrue - like they tell you that ball python should be kept with multiple others and that the temperature should never be higher than 20 degrees).

I'll just ask some more at reptile shops instead, but thank you for trying to help. Apart from the tank trouble though, my ball python is a true angel and I am impressed by how gentle he is.

That is understandable. Good luck and I know there are some dutch snake keepers on this forums so maybe one can get in touch with you and offer some advice on recommended shops.

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Originally Posted by Miss_lestrange

I'm sorry, I know you guys want to help but the language barrier is too much for me so it's difficult to understand. The reason why I went to this forum to ask is because there are no correct instructions on how to regulate heat or even keep ball python in Dutch (there are a few, but usually they are from pet shops which means that half of the information there is just untrue - like they tell you that ball python should be kept with multiple others and that the temperature should never be higher than 20 degrees).

I'll just ask some more at reptile shops instead, but thank you for trying to help. Apart from the tank trouble though, my ball python is a true angel and I am impressed by how gentle he is.

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i hope you get answers! veel succes! :) (i googled that haha)

Okay so I'm going to give it another try, because sadly there's really no information to be found in Dutch. Anyway, yesterday I mentioned how there was condensation on the glass and it said that my humidity was 99%, but I thought that it was very unlikely for the humidity to really be that high. But when I came back after dinner (I have my snake in my bedroom), my poor noodle was trying to escape and the humidity was so high that my snake was soaked!

So I took him out immediately and put him somewhere safe before I changed the substrate that the shop recommended to me back to newspaper. (It now says that my humidity is 57%, so I assume that's a big improvement).

I also changed back to the smaller heat mat and put it in the tank- no, my snake is unable to touch it as it's covered with a newspaper, so unless he suddenly got claws and started tearing up the newspaper.. he can't reach it. The reason why I changed back to that is because the temperature of the other heat mat that was below the tank wasn't strong enough, so the hot spot didn't get higher than 25 degrees (77 I think, which is too low). I now put the thermometer on the hotspot and the average temperature is about 33 (91).

I'll try to explain how this heat mat works, it has a build in system which makes sure that it can't go above 50 degrees (122), as soon as it hits that temperature it will slowly go back to 40 degrees (104). Which means that the hot spot in my terrarium - yes I've checked this, I kept checking how high the temperature got before it started getting colder - goes from 28 degrees (82) to at most 34 (93) before going back to 28 degrees again slowly. I was really afraid the heat mat would get too hot and my snake would burn itself, so I would check every 15 minutes how much the temperature dropped or rose.

My mom decided to help me and we are going to buy a proper terrarium for him tonight, with a heat bulb as she called two other reptile shops and they also told us to use a lamp instead of a heat mat. I really hope that will do the trick because I feel so sorry for my poor noodle, I just want him to get the right terrarium so I can let him settle in properly.

(Btw, the thing I use to read the temperature and humidity is from reptech, since I can remember someone asking. It's digital).

Also, dank je wel (thank you)!

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Originally Posted by Pezz

Are you measuring in Celsius? First thing i recommend is switching to Fahrenheit. You'll be able to dial in much more accurately.

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i can't agree more about this. I saw a lot of people in Italy doing this and it always baffled me until I got my first lizard and they told me that it's easier to hit your target in Fahrenheit than in Celsius.

I'll try to use simpler English and a shorter answer to make my advice more understanable :) You should use both a heat mat and a heat lamp. The whole terrarium is heated by the lamp, and the heat mat makes a warm place for your ball python.

You should use two thermometers so that you know the temperatures of both the warm and the cool side of your enclosure. You should also use a thermostat to control the heat mat and heat lamp. The heat mat is only for providing a hot spot, not for heating the whole tank.

Good luck! :)