New Ball Python Owner, Need help and assurance.

When you put the uth on you may have to make the bedding a little thinner or else the uth will have to be turned up way to high to get the top of the bedding at right temp so if she burrows she will get burned. For now its good though. Hopefully she adjusts well and continues eating. Good luck!

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I actually don't have the UTH set up right now. When I moved her she was actually pretty warm so I'm guessing thats a good sign. and the temp in the tank is pretty normal. I just wish shed move to her hide though, but she might soon. I'm gonna leave her alone for a few days and then by wednesday night i'll see if she eats.

I was just saying when you do put the uth on you may have to thin out the bedding a little bit, you don't want the glass underneath the bedding above the uth hotter than 93 but also want on top of the bedding to be at the lowest 88. You wont have to worry about it though until you get your uth hooked up but keep it in mind when you do. Yes, good idea leaving her alone for a few days. If she doesn't eat don't get discouraged but don't handle her until she starts eating again. With how she's acting I dont think you will have a problem!

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The UTH I have is a lot smaller than I thought, its only 4" x 5" so I'm not sure it can even get that hot. But I will test it out before I stick to the bottom of the tank. I probably wont be handling her till friday. Because wednesday is only a few days away and thats a good amount of time for her to relax before I feed her. And then friday is the 48 hours I leave her to digest.

I might not get a second hide for the other side of the tank UNLESS I find a really good and cheap one.

I wouldn't take advice from your uncle. Take a look around the forum. There are a ton of pics and stories of ball pythons with burns, they cannot understand that a heater is burning them and will not move if that is happening. It is up to us to provide proper heating and caging and regulate temperatures. A respiratory infection or injury will cost you more than a quality thermostat to fix and may cost your snake it's life. Knowing your temps and keeping your temps stable is of utmost importance to your snakes health. A temp gun is best to get accurate readings where your snake is, don't rely on stick on or probe thermometers, read at the heat source, snakes will move aside bedding and get to the bottom. Warm to the touch to you could easily be hot enough to burn a snake, you need to know the temps.

I hope your uncle doesn't mean a heat rock by "basking" rock, bps don't generally bask in the open. They are shy and inactive, secure hides and enclosed spaces is what they like. Fish tanks are hard to keep humidity right, poorly sized for a terrestrial snake, hard to heat without sucking all the humidity out and far too open for a ball python, that is why they are not recommended although they can work with some effort they aren't designed with reptiles in mind. The right substrate and heating method will help a lot and there's plenty of threads with aquarium setups and advice to run them best.

Well I kinda cant see how I shouldn't take his advice when he clearly knows what hes doing. He's had his BP for almost 3 years and it's doing just fine. What your probably referring to are people who have seriously no idea how to take care of them. I have taken the advice others have been giving me on here but if you've read my earlier posts I'm getting conflicted opinions. Most of the people are are breeders and such so of course the setups they have are very different. Mine is just a regular pet, so is his. If he sets mine up like this I really shouldnt worry.

Also you're kinda late on telling not to get a thermometer with a probe. I've already ordered the one I was shown earlier and I'll be using that to keep track on the temps. Humidity is something I'll probably never get exact, but I know if she looks dry I'll just give her a little mist. I will however make sure she doesnt burn herself. Before I even place the UTH i'm gonna test it to see how hot it gets. With it being so small it probably won't even get that hot. And if it does i'll just set it.

Also, you don't even have to pay for a second hide for the cool side, you can just make one. I made one for my new (had her a week so I understand what you're feeling!) ball python out of a box of wine. I just cut it to the size I needed and stuck it in and my ball loves it. And you can make a hide out of anything, super easy and cheap and works just as well as the store bought ones. I'm sure your ball would appreciate a second hide [emoji4]


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But arent the hides supposed to be similar tho? If I make one out of a box it'll look very different from her other one.

I'd go for similar size but I don't think it really matters what it looks like. My balls been changing between both of hers and they're different so I think it'll work if they are same sort of size


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Ball pythons do get burned by unregulated heat sources, it's actually a pretty common problem (Google it sometime :/). Some people might be inclined to say "they won't be dumb enough to just sit there and get burned" but it happens. Whether this is because they don't feel the burning or if they're choosing security over thermoregulating, I don't know. What I do know is that a thermostat is important. Did you order a Hydrofarm? Yes, some BPs can go years with an unregulated heat source and never get burned, but then again there are those who get left for 10 minutes with an unregulated UTH and get burned. Not worth the risk.

A probed thermometer is OK, it's just a little more complicated. You shouldn't use anything sticky in a snake enclosure (if it gets stuck to them it's bad news). So you have to stick the probe on with hot glue or something else that isn't sticky after it dries. If you ever get a chance, a temp gun isn't expensive, and it's useful for a lot (I like to use it to see how warm the rodent is before feeding).

For humidity you can cover the top of the tank with foil or plastic wrap. This usually keeps the humidity about right if your water dish is large enough, and if you have to mist it'll keep the moisture in longer.

If your snake is eating regularly, shedding all in one piece, and doesn't get sick, you're probably doing just fine. If any of those things aren't going well, then it's time to rethink your setup and practices.