New to the forums - First BP!

Aw. What a cutie!! I think normals have the most adorable puppy dog eyes. :D and :welcome:

Firstly, welcome to the site!
Seems like you are off to a pretty good start, and the advice that has been given will get you the rest of the way. The top of that cage is good because it's a slide top and not the normal pop off type. Once you have the aspen in there maybe think about some fake leaves (Walmart) so he can come out and still feel secure. Try to leave him alone for a few days to get settled and you should be in good shape. Enjoy!:)

First off, congrats! Your BP is very nice. Here are a couple photos of my 20 gallon long setup. I have a young Pastel female (you can see part of her going into the hide) and while I don't believe my setup is perfect, it works pretty well.

I have on the hot side: a UTH, a plastic hide over the UTH. I use the plants in the back and she likes to lay in that back corner under the plant more than the hide. I use a basking lamp to keep the ambient temp up around 90 during the day and 80/85 at night. I have found that I need 2 bulbs, a 50 watt and a 100watt. The 50 watt is what goes in on the hot days when my house is open. The 100watt is for the colder days like today. My hose is kinda cool.

I have a big water bowl, some branches, aspen substrate, and for the hide on the cool side, I use a plant with a wood base. I spread the leaves over the back corner of the cool side and she loves it.

I use the dial temp gauges and keep them low so i get a reading of what the temp is down by where she is. I use a humidity gauge in the middle and keep the humidity at 55-60, 70 during shed. To keep humidity up, I reduce airflow by covering the majority of the screen with a damp towel. Works like a million bucks :)

I hope this helps a bit. She just shed and seems happy, so I'm happy.

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...0galpastel.jpg


http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...galpastel3.jpg

Here's an update for those interested... I gave his home a makeover today while I had him moved out for feeding. The best part is he took a F/T fuzzy right away! This was my first time feeding him, so I hope this is a sign of good things to come. I did realize a fuzzy was a little small for him, but I thought it would be ok this time after reading how you don't want to feed too large, and given that he might be a little anxious with this being his first feed here.

I have am using aspen substrate and have 2 digital probe thermometers... one under the substrate on either side of the enclosure. Given that they are under the substrate (and the one on the hot side is between the UTH and the substrate), what temps should I be looking for? and should I be using both the UTH and the lamp? (guess it depends on the temp, right?)

So... I know the thread is worthless without pics... :) Here are a couple more of him in his new home. Enjoy!

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...9/p1010122.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...9/p1010124.jpg

First of all, you have a beautiful normal there!! :D

Your new setup looks much better except for the half log hide. A lot of people don't recommend using them for most snakes because they don't make them feel as secure (even with it up against the back of the tank like you have it).

I saw that you had 2 of the rock cave hides in your first setup picture...I would continue to use both of them :)

Other than that it looks great and congrats on your new baby!! :D

hey whats up,,take it your in orlando as well?,i shoot for temps on hot side around 88-89,using those as a guide(got that range from people such as vpi,and snake keeper),if you can reach that from the uth,i would ditch the lamp,if you insist on having a light,get a light bar with an aquarium light,not the hood,the open bar,so it doesnt shoot as much heat in there,,plus it make the enclosure look awesome(redlights at night make them cool as hell too,and blue lights)


and just a warning,,proof read everything you say,people like stratus like to put your mis heard quotes up in the out of context thread:):D