A little advice?

Oh goodness, that's so sad. Yup, heat rocks gonna go.

Welcome to the forum! Sounds like you are getting a ton of great advice. I also have a tank for my ball python, it is a 40 gallon tank with a screen lid (I also did not have very good advice when I started looking at getting a snake). I never got an under the tank heater, but many people highly recommend them. I have a ceramic heat bulb on a thermostat on the hot side which keeps it at 88-90*F and a "nighttime blue" bulb on a thermostat that keeps the other side at 82. I also had a hard time with getting the humidity right - so I use cypress mulch and cover the top of the tank with foil, leaving a hole for the lights. I did need to add damp towels under the foil on the really cold dry days over the winter, but now that spring is here, I haven't had any trouble keeping humidity between 55 and 60.

If you find you can't keep the humidity up, you might need to try different substrate. Keeping aspen too moist can cause it to mold, that's why I use the cypress. Other than heat, the second most important part of the snake's enclosure is the correctly sized hides. I have 5 currently in my tank since it is so big. You want a hide that is dark, fully closed except for a hole for a door, and the snake should be able to touch all the sides when she is curled in it. They do like tight spaces :)

I have a picture of my set up under my profile and there is a posted thread on how to set up a 20 gal aquarium on the husbandry tab if you need / want a visual aid. (I was overly cautious about temperature and humidity when I got mine and have way more temp probes that are necessary)

Can't wait to see pics of your new snoot when she's all settled in

Thank you so much, Crowfingers. I have been stressing SO hard about my little girl's health since I got her. She's very very timid and doesn't like coming out much at all. Even at night right now. I managed with two ceramic bulbs (one hot day bulb, and one blue night bulb on opposite ends of the tank) to get the heat up to about 85 on the warm side and 80 on the cool side. It isn't perfect but it's staying in the 80s at night once I take the hot bulb away, so she's hopefully not frigid. I also got a pretty hefty rebate check in the mail so I'm gonna crack on with the UTH and one of those temp controlling things, as well as finally picking up that good thermometer. Then, hopefully she'll have a good, warm living situation... I didn't know about cyprus bedding, everyone just kept forcing aspen down my throat so I was terrified to get anything else, haha. I'll probably switch that over as well since it can't be too expensive... I just feel so bad for her, having to be stressed out until it's all perfect. On the positive side, I gave her a paper towel roll that I blocked one end up with some semi damp paper towels (didn't want it being overly humid in the roll). It's just big enough for her to form a ball and have it touching her on all sides, and the roll seems to be retaining heat and moisture very well. Whenever I can get a glimpse of her in there (sometimes she moves out of it a bit to get something to drink) she looks much happier, moves slow, and has relaxed and steady breathing. I wondered why she liked it better than her log, it must just be because it's smaller and warm lol.

And just, thank all of you so much for all this amazing advice. I always get really nervous asking stuff like this because I know I'm making some pretty hefty "noob" mistakes. But you guys are helping me give her a better life so much ^^

I was sure how to edit my post, so sorry for double posting but I wanted to update: The tank is now at about 91-ish on the hot end and 84-ish on the cool end. It would seem the double bulb thing is working great for a temp fix. But I'm still having a pretty hard time getting the humidity right... I think I'm gonna go ahead and do the tinfoil thing around the two lights for now to try and lock it in.

Updating again because good things are happening: Her tank is completely stabilized now, heat and humidity all good. She still doesn't like coming out of her paper towel roll too much but she did eat! The last time she came out she was nowhere near as chubby as I remember so I'm guessing the stress of the move caused her to shed some weight, offered her a fuzzy and she dug right in!

It's staying at about 91 and 84... Is that now a little too warm for her? Or is she still just not ready to come out yet? I've so far covered all the walls of her tank with paper (gotta wait until I find a suitable background) and gotten a digital thermometer so I can make sure everything in the tank is spot on.

Have you picked up a digital thermometer with probe or temp gun yet? If your using an analog on the wall and its giving you the 91&84 temps the ground will be much warmer. I made this mistake with my first reptiles (leopard geckos) I hung my probe on the wall and it read 88 so I thought I was fine but then I read online what the proper placement of probe was then I found out I was over 100 on the ground. Make sure you put the thermometer probe on the floor of your enclosure.

If you haven't bought a thermostat yet you can get a lamp dimmer from Lowes or other hardware store but unlike a thermostat it will fluctuate with room temp so you will have to keep and eye on it. Its better then not having anything at all. I recommend when you do buy a thermostat that you get a proportional so it will maintain constant temps. They sell cheap on/off styles that you want to stay away from in my opinion. I had one of the zoo med ones and it would turn on at 85 and shut off at 95, way to much of a temp fluctuation for me. So remember proportional. You will place the thermostat probe on the floor just like the thermometer probe.

Good luck! Your not the only one who has suffered from what I call pet store syndrome. Most people probably have at one point or another.

I followed a guide i found on youtube for making a makeshift humidifier with a jug and a fish tank air pump. It took me about a week to get it just right, but now my humidity is 55-65 in a 50 gallon glass tank and it doesnt need me to spray or anything.

Well currently I've got a zilla digital thermometer with a heat and humidity probe but both of them are at the very top of her tank because she kept getting stuck in the wires if I put them anywhere else. I've gotta order the acurite one here soon though because the zilla one seems to be kind of cheap and I can't bury the probe like I'd like. I think I'm just gonna have to find a way to bury the heat sensor for now though, because I was not aware that the ground could be that much hotter without a UTH. If the ground in her tank is terribly warm I'll definitely run to the hardware store and grab a dimmer to try and regulate things better.

Once my tax check clears I fully plan on doing away with the hot bulb and just keeping the cool light on for air warming, then getting a UTH and a temperature controlling thing to really make it stable in there.

@HanabiraAsashi, do you have a link to that video? I would love to set up something a little more automated for her. Right now I'm having to sprits her tank pretty frequently and it's hard to make sure I don't over-humidify by doing that.

I would get a temp gun from Lowes or home depot so then you can still check ground temp and never have to worry about being tangled in cord. Yes the heat the bulb puts out will be absorbed and much hotter on anything its shining on. Its like the sun shining on pavement, the pavement is much hotter then the air. Temp gun will be your best choice unless you or someone has a glass drill bit and you can drill a hole on the side at the bottom edge just big enough to fit the probe in so your ball can't get tangled. I run acurite thermometers and use 4 temp guns in all my herp cages that way I have multiple devices to compare because the only way you know if something is working properly is to compare to other devices. I'm not saying buy 4 temp guns. Maybe just the thermometer and temp gun or just 2 temp guns as soon as you can and if the 2 read about the same temp your good but if they are way off you will need to get another device to see which one is working properly. Acurite are very nice thermometers, I've only have ever had one that was defective but I would of never known that without my temp guns. If I wouldn't of had anything to compare it to my one leopard gecko would of had way to high of temp. It was reading 88 but the actual temp was 103. Like I said acurite is a great product but make sure it is working properly.

Also since your using heat bulbs right now the top of the substrate may be hotter then underneath since the heat is hitting from the top down. When you get an UTH under the substrate will be hotter then the top since it heats from the bottom.

May be a good idea to set the probe on top of the substrate for 10-20 minutes just to see what the temp is. Then do the same for under. That way you know what the ground temp is but don't have to leave it there unattended for your bp to get tangled in.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TheSquigglyExplorer

@HanabiraAsashi, do you have a link to that video? I would love to set up something a little more automated for her. Right now I'm having to sprits her tank pretty frequently and it's hard to make sure I don't over-humidify by doing that.

---

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmYU-eKTfDM

Just make sure you get something you can make air-tight. Im using one of those 1 gallon mainstays jugs from walmart and i seem to need tape around the lid to seal it. also, hot glue works fine and dries in 2 minutes vs 24 hours for silicone.