New Ball Python Owner....?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Slim

To paraphrase a quote from "Kill Bill", I'm a :cens0r:ing surgeon with an automatic rifle! I can also calculate the impact velocity of every air to surface weapon in the DoD inventory, in my head, based purely on initial release speed, release altitude, and slant range. However, that doesn't make me qualified to mess around with electrical wiring. I'm not trying to say a lot of others are in my boat, but I'm sure some are.

Could I wire up a switch if my snakes were gonna' be morts in the morning if I didn't, sure, but I really think that's taking your point out to edge of the cornfield.

---

No I think that was my point. Necessity is the mother of invention.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by displacedinbc

Hey Guys:

Relax please, no one needs to be a hero here. If you read what I posted, my concern was the ground wire. I have hooked up many light switches for walls as they all had receptacles for ground wires and 3 pronged plugs. My concern was whether I needed a ground wire hooked up to the UTH as it only has a 2 prong plug. I was concerned about electrical shocks as I was unsure if the dimmer needed to be grounded.

Anyways, I'm working on getting the 2nd tank set up as I type this.

And again, thank-you for all your help guys

:)

---

All of my do it yourself wiring projects are with romex or heavy duty computer cables if I need a male plug. Since I have the ground there I use it. When you can ground.

Everything is cool. We just all really love our animals. Some of us get a bit passionate at times that's all.

Hey All:

Well I finally got the new tank set up for the female and put her in today. Its covered on 3 sides with background vinyl. I have a small UTH and its set at 92*. It only covers about 1/5 of the corner of the tank ( I am concerned that it is not big enough). I have placed 1 hide over it and 1 other hide on the other side of the tank by the water dish. Lucy did a quick tank check out and then went into the hide over the UTH. She has stuck her head out a few times and then went back in (happy BP is a hiding BP?).

I will get to the male and his tank tomorrow ( redo it from original post) but I am really concerned about the UTH size. What do you all think about the UTH size, maybe should be a bit larger? He will also be covered on 3 sides so I can place the tanks side by side but give them a GOOD separate life.

I am concerned in the humidity tho, we are at 50% now but will get up to the usual 65-75% when it warms up (-19 C and -32C with wind chill right now)....

Also its time for feeding and I have access to hoppers tomorrow so what do you think on trying to feed both, the male ate 1 week ago and the female hasn't eaten because she wasn't finished shedding ( she's done now on her own).

Also after tomorrow, when both tanks are done I'm going to go to complete
natural day/night light cycle, good idea I think?

And BTW, I handled both of them today with no strikes, bites etc. Monty and Lucy are way to cool!

Again, thanks for all your help everyone!

:D

Sounds great!!! Good luck with the feeding.

50% humidity is fine, just try to boost to 70% during shed.

Sounds like you are on the right track! Good work!

Hey Guys:

Just asking a question again that you all never answered for me....Do you think the UTH I'm using is ok? As I said it only covers about 1/5 of the tank in the corner and Lucy seems happy in her hide which is placed over it on 1/2" of Aspen substrate. That is the only heat that is used for the tank and the other hide is over at the other end of the tank by the water dish.

thanks....

Usually the rule of thumb is that the under tank heat source cover no more than 1/3 of the bottom of the enclosure. If yours covering 1/5 is giving you the right warm and cool side temps in the particular room in your home it's in then you're good to go. If you find it's not doing it's job then you either need to go to a bigger footprint on your heat source or up the room temps that affect your snake's enclosure. Also remember the lid is affecting how much heat stays in that enclosure for the snake to enjoy. Glass tanks with mesh lids tend to let heat and humidity very fast. You lose the heat you are putting in as well as dryer air in the enclosure caused by the humidity lose is hard to keep temps stable in.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by displacedinbc

Hey All:

First off, 1st time here....I gotta say this is a cool sight....

Anyways I just acquired 2 young ( 6-8 months) ball pythons, male and female. Both are healthy, male fully shed recently and just digestlng his mouse and the female has just finished shedding with a bit left on the head area and eyes and waiting to be fed.

They came with a 10-12 gal aquarium tank for them and they have a Aspen substrate of about 2.5 to 3.0 inches. I know that I should separate them but that will be a bit ( month or so....$$ ).

All I have is the tank, a UV light on the top ( does throw some heat) and the Aspen substrate ( they burrow it seems when cold or?). There is NO hiding place or what do I do for a water dish

They also have been fed live grown mice and seem ok with that.

The previous owner said everything has been great and the pythons do seem very healthy.

Any help would be greatly appreciated....thanks

---

first off all i'd like to say welcome to the site!!!!

the female that still has shed on her could be becuase of a humidity problem, it should be around 50% all the time and close to 60%-70% during a shed, retaining shed isnt a great thing but its not that big of a problem to solve, i do suggest you make sure that the shed around her eyes is taken care of, snakes that retain shed on their eye caps could eventually go blind but thats if u let it get really bad . . . there are a few ways to rid of retainin shed i prefer to let my snakes soak in water for about 20 mins then take a q-tip and gently rub it along the stubborn shed.

i would try to get them in seperate enclosures right away, you can keep track of them better (shed, poop, etc..)

i would suggest you get rid of that heat lamp and get an under tank heater, ball pythons require belly heat and spend most of there time in burrows out of the daylight, not to mention they come out of those burrows at night to hunt so the regular lightin in ur house is enough for them. you also need a hiding place on both the hot side(80F-90F and the cool side(75F-80F) this will avoid stress, which could eventually lead to eatin problems down the road . . a relaxed stress free snake is a healthy snake IMO . . . a water dish is easy you dont have to spend $20 on some water dish shaped like a rock from the pet store i use little containers i found at the dollar store and for my bigger ones i used small plastic dog water dishes also from the dollar store, make sure that the water dishes are filled about half way with fresh water everyday (i say half way becuase when the snakes get in to soak they dont overflow it)

good luck with everything and there are tons of people on here that are willing to help you out!!!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by displacedinbc

Hey Guys:

Just asking a question again that you all never answered for me....Do you think the UTH I'm using is ok? As I said it only covers about 1/5 of the tank in the corner and Lucy seems happy in her hide which is placed over it on 1/2" of Aspen substrate. That is the only heat that is used for the tank and the other hide is over at the other end of the tank by the water dish.

thanks....

---

I think this will be fine, and if u are havin problems with humidity you can always place the water dish over the heat pad