I'm new, and need veteren help!

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Originally Posted by Chester & Teagan

I've had my snake for 5 months now and well, what I learned is a lot. Fixing temps to maintainable digestive temps is the first key not feeding. 80degrees is low, thats like th ecool end of the tank. And you should fix that first. O possible digestive problems can occur like vomiting the food, back digestion, and causing bacteria to come in and kill the snake because it didnt have proper temps. Then you need to have her on a weekly feeding, handling her while she may be hungry and cold may stress her out.

I know Im a odd ball, but what I found best to get my Chester adjusted to me was right when I got him, I stuck him soemwhere where he can alway sget used to my scent, yes my bra. And he now loves it in there and will try to go in there whenever I have him out. lol. But also he goes around my neck too, and if your a guy that is a good idea where to hold him. On your always move arm or something may scare her.

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Please do not take this as i am being rude towards yourself.Its not a good idea to tell people its ok to allow a snake to be around your neck.I know that ball pythons are least likely to kill someone but someone could misunderstand your comments and think its ok for ALL snakes to be around your neck.Now a ball python CAN bite you in the face so this should be enough reason not to allow ANY snake to be around your neck.

well i just got back from a little christmas abuse from the relatives and i'm about to get into my car (once again) to head up to walmart and see what i can do. i'll probably drop by the pet shop for the ceramic light as well. Anyways, that huge post was extremely informative and i thank you.

The hides i have been using are WAY too big. one is a 12 pack soda container, and the other is from my car stereo (roughly 10X8X4). So yea, uniform and small hides are something i need to correct.

While i was gone i put a piece of cardboard over half of her screen on the top. I don't have a Hygrometer yet but i'm guessing her humidity is going to be a little bit higher at least. *Thumbs up*

i turned up the space heater in my room and her aquarium strip (yes i know it's garbage) but it's reading 91 for the first time. so i hope that is both accurate and a big improvement.

When i got into my room, she was moving around her cage quite freely and she looked not stressed and happy. However, she did start to look at me like food again...bobbing her head at me and kind of peeking around. At least i know this is normal now and don't think that i have some BP from hell in my room :)

So things i'm going to correct (i like lists very much if you cannot tell)
1. 2 small uniform hide boxes on the cool and warm side.
2. UTH (under warm hide for now, unless you guys have a better location or i'll put it under the water bowl if humidity just won't go up!)
3. ditch the red light and go ceramic
4. Accu blah blah thermometer from wal mart
5. get her some more stuff to take up space, so she feels more secure, but i'm at least taking advantage of the bucks i dropped on the big cage
6. handle her slowly and at her pace...no need to rush it like you guys said

yes i am new to this but very dedicated to her and keeping her healthy and happy. I used to bread leapord geckos, but they did not require the kind of attention Lucy does. It was more like...drop in cage, keep warm, keep water.

Thanks all of you guys for the help you've given me, i'll become a regular to these forums i'm sure as my reptile collection increases and as my need for your expert assistance also increases :)

i go into the petstore with 80 bucks...and then realize how much it all is. I understand i was going ot have to order the thermostat, so i'm just ognna wait on that one for a bit. But i went ahead and bought the thermometer/hygrometer. and a ceramic bulb...i have friends over at the moment and have towels draped over her cage. she seems to be less skiddish than she was when they were googling at her from 2 inches away. However, i make this post because her humidity is around 25%....how dangerous is this? i understand that is extremely low! but how dangerous is this to my snake? is it lethal to have humidity too low? and how can i severely correct it? buy a humidifier? put my heatsource under her water source? pleaseee let me know. her warm side is at 93 and her cold side is 85 at the moment, so it appears that those are in check...but it's reading a fricking 25% humidity, which worries me deeply. Please help me quick!!! thank you

One simple solution is to mist the cage with a spray bottle a couple times a day. Moving the water bowl over the heat source will help as well. You want a water bowl with a large surface area.

One of the most important tips would be to cover the majority of your screen lid with plastic wrap, and leave only a small area open for the heat lamp.

You can also offer a humid hide as well.