Newbie questions! Please help

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Originally Posted by MissterDog

You're very welcome! <3

It just takes some fine tuning to see what works for you and your set up but you'll definitely get it! I recommend to make sure your cage is up and running for atleast a week to ensure temps are stable and on point before putting your noodle baby in.

Good luck and have fun op! You got this! :)

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For sure! I definitely wAnt their home to be up and running before bringing them home! You’ve been so helpful [emoji8]


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Originally Posted by MissterDog

Forgot to add. I got my bp from Garrick Demeyer/Royal Constrictor Design’s! Totally a breeder you can buy with confidence.

also welcome!!!

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I second this. I have gotten 3 of mine from Garrick Demeyer and all 3 of those are at the top of my list as being great eaters, well adjusted animals. His web site is a saved tab in my browser and I very often go look at what he has. Problem is money for me. He has tons of stuff I want.

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Originally Posted by MissterDog

This is how I started my hatchling out and he's still only using half his cage with plenty of wiggle room. Been working great for me but it's worth pointing out some potential hiccups you may run into and how to address it, mainly with heat gradients. Also make sure you provide plenty of clutter and shelter.

Hopefully you don't mind if I c/p some of my previous posts on other threads going into more detail about it. Hope it helps! <3







As for Herpstats I find the Herpstat 2 is the best universal choice since you never know when you may need to regulate more than one heat source.

Also do yourself a favor and get a T10! The extra few inches of height make a huge difference for access and cleaning ease. Also keep in mind interior height is a bit shorter than the measurements listed by roughly 2 inches.

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Hello again! I was just wondering where you got your rhp’s from? I wasn’t sure if there was a specific kind I should be looking for- TIA [emoji5]


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Originally Posted by bellad0nna87

Hello again! I was just wondering where you got your rhp’s from? I wasn’t sure if there was a specific kind I should be looking for- TIA [emoji5]


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I got mine from Bob at Pro Panels!

http://pro-products.com/pro-heat/

You'll just need to contact him and tell him your cage specs and he'll tell you which model best suits your needs.

Alternatively I've also heard good things about the RHP's from Reptile Basic, though I have not personally dealt with their product.

http://www.reptilebasics.com/rbi-radiant-heat-panels

Both you can ask the company to drop ship to Animal Plastics and AP can install them for you :)

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Originally Posted by MissterDog

I got mine from Bob at Pro Panels!

http://pro-products.com/pro-heat/

You'll just need to contact him and tell him your cage specs and he'll tell you which model best suits your needs.

Alternatively I've also heard good things about the RHP's from Reptile Basic, though I have not personally dealt with their product.

http://www.reptilebasics.com/rbi-radiant-heat-panels

Both you can ask the company to drop ship to Animal Plastics and AP can install them for you :)

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Wow that’s so awesome! So correct me if I’m wrong but I will need a uth and the RHP? Sorry to bug you! Just trying to make sure I get it lol


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Myself, i've never used radiant heat panels, so I don't know much about them. What I do know is, they are expensive and they use a lot of electricity. They just don't seem to be very practical. Heat tape has always been more than sufficient for me. It's cheap, easy to setup, you can wire it together to heat multiple enclosures with the same thermostat and it doesn't hardly use any electricity...

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Originally Posted by Aedryan Methyus

Myself, i've never used radiant heat panels, so I don't know much about them. What I do know is, they are expensive and they use a lot of electricity. They just don't seem to be very practical. Heat tape has always been more than sufficient for me. It's cheap, easy to setup, you can wire it together to heat multiple enclosures with the same thermostat and it doesn't hardly use any electricity...

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Ok cool bc I was getting a little worried about the cost of all of this! Is there a specific heat tape you use? I’m literally so green when it comes to snakes so I’m sorry if I seem naive!
Would I need heat tape AND an uth? I saw animal plastics offers heat tape (flex tape?) with their enclosures and that seems like the way to go ?


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Originally Posted by bellad0nna87

Ok cool bc I was getting a little worried about the cost of all of this! Is there a specific heat tape you use? I’m literally so green when it comes to snakes so I’m sorry if I seem naive!
Would I need heat tape AND an uth? I saw animal plastics offers heat tape (flex tape?) with their enclosures and that seems like the way to go ?


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I use THG heat tape. It's much easier to wire up than Flex-Watt, because nothing needs to be soldered and it's more heavy and durable. As a general rule the heat tape should be wide enough to cover approximately 30% of the length of the enclosure. So, for my 28 qt. racks, I use 6" THG and for my 41 qt. racks, I use 12" THG. If you're going to get a 4' x 2' display enclosure, 12" THG would be ideal.

12" THG - ($3.10 per foot) You would only need 2' if you're getting a 4' x 2' display enclosure and it only consumes 23 watts per foot of electricity...
http://www.reptilebasics.com/12-heat-tape

You can have Reptile Basics pre-wire it for you, but I would recommend just doing it yourself, so you can be sure the length is right for your enclosure, etc. The only tools you need to wire it up is any cheap paper punch and I use vise grips for the eyelet clips.

THG Heat Connection Set ($2.49):
http://www.reptilebasics.com/thgheat-clipset


Other than that, all you need is some aluminum foil tape. They sell that at Reptile basics, too, but you can get it much cheaper at Lowes and you will also need a cheap household extension cord from the Dollar Store or wherever. All you have to do is cut the female end of the extension cord off and strip each of the wires then attach an eyelet clip to each wire. The other end of the extension cord then plugs into your thermostat.

I'm currently using 4 of the Vivarium Electronics VE-100 thermostats, which you can also order from Reptile Basics. They are affordable and i've never had a bit of trouble with any of them.

Vivarium Electronics VE-100 ($84.99 with Free Shipping):
http://www.reptilebasics.com/ve-100

So, basically, for less than $100.00 you can get everything you need for an ideal UTH setup for your enclosure. Wiring THG up probably sounds more complicated than it is. It's really simple, though. If you can't figure it out, i'm sure there are hundreds of guys in your area, who would be happy to do it for you... lol Here is a video (there are tons of them):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0lz_zHcBnA

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Originally Posted by Aedryan Methyus

Myself, i've never used radiant heat panels, so I don't know much about them. What I do know is, they are expensive and they use a lot of electricity. They just don't seem to be very practical. Heat tape has always been more than sufficient for me. It's cheap, easy to setup, you can wire it together to heat multiple enclosures with the same thermostat and it doesn't hardly use any electricity...

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Originally Posted by bellad0nna87

Ok cool bc I was getting a little worried about the cost of all of this! Is there a specific heat tape you use? I’m literally so green when it comes to snakes so I’m sorry if I seem naive!
Would I need heat tape AND an uth? I saw animal plastics offers heat tape (flex tape?) with their enclosures and that seems like the way to go ?


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Heat tape needs to be replaced eventually, sometimes in just a couple years. It also doesn't provide ambient heat, if your room is too cold. It works pretty much the same as a UTH. It's cheaper, but an RHP provides ambient heat and a warm side so you don't need to hassle over ambient room temps in the winter. Many people who only provide belly heat/heat tape/UTH end up needing to heat their whole room with a room heater if they get colder months, and that in itself uses up way more electricity.

You don't need heat tape and a UTH, they are the same function- providing belly heat for the hot spot. "Belly heat" in itself is not necessary, the ball pythons just need a warm side and cool side and a correct temperature gradient, whether it comes from the air or the ground.

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Originally Posted by bellad0nna87

Wow that’s so awesome! So correct me if I’m wrong but I will need a uth and the RHP? Sorry to bug you! Just trying to make sure I get it lol


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Originally Posted by Aedryan Methyus

Myself, i've never used radiant heat panels, so I don't know much about them. What I do know is, they are expensive and they use a lot of electricity. They just don't seem to be very practical. Heat tape has always been more than sufficient for me. It's cheap, easy to setup, you can wire it together to heat multiple enclosures with the same thermostat and it doesn't hardly use any electricity...

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A lot of it depends on what your ambient room temperatures are throughout the year. If they are below 75F you will need a heat source that raise your ambient temperatures, be it a RHP or a CHE.

Heat tape will NOT do that. If you're going to go for two heat sources, you might as well get a RHP + UTH (or heat tape) instead of a UTH and heat tape . If you choose a single heat source, then I feel a RHP is the most practical choice.

As mentioned above, heat tape is prone to needing replacement and rewiring every time. It acts like any UTH and just provides surface temps. It's also worth pointing out, heat tape is often favored for rack systems so if we wanna argue heat tape is more cost effective, then sure, for breeders or keeper with a 10+ snake collection it is.

But for you and a pet snake, honestly I haven't noticed any expensive keeping for my RHP. You just have to worry about the upfront cost, it's not like you're paying rent with it's wattage usage haha. Plus you don't have to replace your RHP and pretty much never need to worry about ambient temps :P If we want to talk about practicality I'd vote for a rhp so you can have unchanging ambient temperatures all year around, as like resherpherd mentioned, you wouldn't have to worry about winter temperature drops. Less headaches this way. Saved me from winter woes for sure.

In general there isn't any one size fits all to snake keeping so it will be up to you to decide what best suits your situation.

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Originally Posted by MissterDog

A lot of it depends on what your ambient room temperatures are throughout the year. If they are below 75F you will need a heat source that raise your ambient temperatures, be it a RHP or a CHE.

Heat tape will NOT do that. If you're going to go for two heat sources, you might as well get a RHP + UTH (or heat tape) instead of a UTH and heat tape . If you choose a single heat source, then I feel a RHP is the most practical choice.

As mentioned above, heat tape is prone to needing replacement and rewiring every time. It acts like any UTH and just provides surface temps. It's also worth pointing out, heat tape is often favored for rack systems so if we wanna argue heat tape is more cost effective, then sure, for breeders or keeper with a 10+ snake collection it is.

But for you and a pet snake, honestly I haven't noticed any expensive keeping for my RHP. You just have to worry about the upfront cost, it's not like you're paying rent with it's wattage usage haha. Plus you don't have to replace your RHP and pretty much never need to worry about ambient temps :P If we want to talk about practicality I'd vote for a rhp so you can have unchanging ambient temperatures all year around, as like resherpherd mentioned, you wouldn't have to worry about winter temperature drops. Less headaches this way. Saved me from winter woes for sure.

In general there isn't any one size fits all to snake keeping so it will be up to you to decide what best suits your situation.

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Ok. Phew. So much info lol are RHP easy to install? I plan on getting a t8 from animal plastics and will be using a divider until the snake is older. Thank you so much for all your info! It sounds like the RHP is the best choice bc the cage will be in our living room where we turn on the AC and what not(in the summer).
Again sorry for all these questions I just wanna be sure I get all this set up right. It’s a little confusing lol [emoji24]


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No problem! Everything can get overwhelming at first and it's extra good on you for being ahead of the game like this! As for installing RHP's I personally have not done so myself, but I've heard from other's it can be fairly straight forward. If you're not confident in doing so or would rather not worry about the hassle like me, you can order your RHP and have it shipped to Animal Plastics and ask them to install it for you! They did it for me free of cost too :) Just talk to Ali and let her know you're having a RHP shipped to them and they'll ask where you want your RHP.

For mine I just chose the side I wanted as my warm side and where my BP would start in.https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...7aso1_1280.jpg

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Originally Posted by MissterDog

A lot of it depends on what your ambient room temperatures are throughout the year. If they are below 75F you will need a heat source that raise your ambient temperatures, be it a RHP or a CHE.

Heat tape will NOT do that. If you're going to go for two heat sources, you might as well get a RHP + UTH (or heat tape) instead of a UTH and heat tape . If you choose a single heat source, then I feel a RHP is the most practical choice.

As mentioned above, heat tape is prone to needing replacement and rewiring every time. It acts like any UTH and just provides surface temps. It's also worth pointing out, heat tape is often favored for rack systems so if we wanna argue heat tape is more cost effective, then sure, for breeders or keeper with a 10+ snake collection it is.

But for you and a pet snake, honestly I haven't noticed any expensive keeping for my RHP. You just have to worry about the upfront cost, it's not like you're paying rent with it's wattage usage haha. Plus you don't have to replace your RHP and pretty much never need to worry about ambient temps :P If we want to talk about practicality I'd vote for a rhp so you can have unchanging ambient temperatures all year around, as like resherpherd mentioned, you wouldn't have to worry about winter temperature drops. Less headaches this way. Saved me from winter woes for sure.

In general there isn't any one size fits all to snake keeping so it will be up to you to decide what best suits your situation.

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Yeah, I guess I have to agree that for just a couple/few pet snakes, radiant heat panels would probably be the best way to go if you don't keep your house (or a room in your house) at least 75 degrees year round. Either way, the utility companies are going to bleed us dry, so it really comes down to what works best for your living environment and enclosure preference. Myself, I have a room dedicated to my snakes, so I find it much easier and efficient to control the ambient room temperature and humidity of the whole room.

Ok y’all! I hope you look at this thread bc it finally happened!! I got my snake! She’s in a tub enclosure til she get larger, but she’s perfect and I’m so in love. I just wanna hold her and look at her but of course I don’t wanna stress her out.
I present to you all: princess Buttercup [emoji177][emoji177][emoji177][emoji177][emoji177][emoji177][emoji177][emoji177][emoji177][emoji177][emoji177]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...bdcd59f925.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6696710abd.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...efcc144cca.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...5087d7f972.jpg


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She’s so pretty!! Congratulations 🎉

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Originally Posted by Snakeydoodles

She’s so pretty!! Congratulations [emoji322]

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Thank you!!


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Such a cutie! Congrats!
Also, great name!

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Originally Posted by Armiyana

Such a cutie! Congrats!
Also, great name!

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Thank you so much!


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Congratulations. Great looking girl you have there.

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Originally Posted by bellad0nna87

I had no idea you could have owls as pets in Japan! That’s so awesome! I actually have 2 owl tattoos [emoji177]I love them!
I so wish I could go to an expo for a snake but it looks like I’ll have to have mine shipped


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Pretty girl.

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Originally Posted by Jakethesnake69

Congratulations. Great looking girl you have there.

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Thank you!


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You picked a really pretty snake! Tubs are going to be the easiest while you learn the basics. There's no better teacher than the experience itself.

Don't let it overwhelm you – this site is a tremendous resource with an incredibly welcoming user base.

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Originally Posted by bellad0nna87

Ok y’all! I hope you look at this thread bc it finally happened!! I got my snake! She’s in a tub enclosure til she get larger, but she’s perfect and I’m so in love. I just wanna hold her and look at her but of course I don’t wanna stress her out.
I present to you all: princess Buttercup [emoji177][emoji177][emoji177][emoji177][emoji177][emoji177][emoji177][emoji177][emoji177][emoji177][emoji177]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...bdcd59f925.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6696710abd.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...efcc144cca.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...5087d7f972.jpg


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She's a beauty for sure ...

Tubs are ok for ease etc but I'd be getting her in a viv asap then you get all the pleasure of actually seeing her explore and even just chilling out in some branches in the evening ..

Having her in a tub is like spending a small fortune having your garden landscaped then smearing grease over your windows .. :)


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Originally Posted by Zincubus

She's a beauty for sure ...

Tubs are ok for ease etc but I'd be getting her in a viv asap then you get all the pleasure of actually seeing her explore and even just chilling out in some branches in the evening ..

Having her in a tub is like spending a small fortune having your garden landscaped then smearing grease over your windows .. :)


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I am 100000% for using whatever enclosure works for each individual keeper and their animal(s). But I love that analogy and have to agree.



OP, you chose a beautiful first snake. Congrats!
Please feel free to ask any questions you may have.

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Originally Posted by craigafrechette

I am 100000% for using whatever enclosure works for each individual keeper and their animal(s). But I love that analogy and have to agree.



OP, you chose a beautiful first snake. Congrats!
Please feel free to ask any questions you may have.

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Thank you so much! She’s a dream!


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Originally Posted by Zincubus

She's a beauty for sure ...

Tubs are ok for ease etc but I'd be getting her in a viv asap then you get all the pleasure of actually seeing her explore and even just chilling out in some branches in the evening ..

Having her in a tub is like spending a small fortune having your garden landscaped then smearing grease over your windows .. :)


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That’s a great analogy! I’m definitely getting a pvc enclosure for her in the near future :)


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