first experience with bp

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Originally Posted by shelby9189

wel what i was going to do was go to walmart and get one of those sterile tubs with a lid if i got a little one? would that be fine had a bunch of people tell me it would be?

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Yes, that would be perfect.

Checkout this thread if you plan on doing this: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...e-Basics-*DUW*

Okay so I got the combo hygrometer and thermometer, i know that humidity should be 60% normally and yah 75-80% during shedding but what should the overall temp. be? That being said, i was wondering where the best place to put the probe is, should i put it in the hide or just anywhere on the warm side or a central location? To clarify i do not have a lamp i have a UTH (heating pad). I was given the impression that having the pad was enough, and that yah the heating lamps can dry out the cage and make it too hot. But i know that they have to bask so do i need the lamp as well or just one or the other?

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Originally Posted by Megz

Okay so I got the combo hygrometer and thermometer, i know that humidity should be 60% normally and yah 75-80% during shedding but what should the overall temp. be? That being said, i was wondering where the best place to put the probe is, should i put it in the hide or just anywhere on the warm side or a central location? To clarify i do not have a lamp i have a UTH (heating pad). I was given the impression that having the pad was enough, and that yah the heating lamps can dry out the cage and make it too hot. But i know that they have to bask so do i need the lamp as well or just one or the other?

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You want the probe to be directly over the center of the UTH placed on the glass floor of the tank. This is the same place that I would put the hot side hide.

You want the hot side to be 90 degrees and the cool side to be 80 degrees. No part of the cage should ever be over 95, or below 75 degrees. The box with the screen should be placed on the cool side of the cage (the side opposite of the UTH)

What type of substrate are you using in your cage? how thick of a layer?

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Originally Posted by shelby9189

would it be better if I bought a small BP one or went ahead and bought a little bt bigger one??

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If you want an older one maybe check http://www.petfinder.com They have lots of rescue places and animal shelters on there with BPs and other animals needed good homes. This way you could give a good home to a homeless BP :)

Yah I did that sweet but if its under the hide isnt it just taking that temperature. how do i measure the cold side? it had said to keep the box on the outside of the cage.

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Originally Posted by Megz

Yah I did that sweet but if its under the hide isnt it just taking that temperature. how do i measure the cold side? it had said to keep the box on the outside of the cage.

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Did you get this one? or something different?

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...nt/photo-3.jpg

http://www.google.ca/imgres?q=exoter...9,r:1,s:0,i:78
I got this one cause i couldnt get the other.

if you dont see it: http://www.google.ca/imgres?q=exoter...9,r:1,s:0,i:78

ok, that one only measures 1 temperature so you will need a second one to measure the cool side temperature.

To answer your question i have Aspen shavings and its 2inch thick

To clarify i do not have a lamp i have a UTH (heating pad). I was given the impression that having the pad was enough, and that yah the heating lamps can dry out the cage and make it too hot. But i know that they have to bask so do i need the lamp as well or just one or the other?

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Originally Posted by Megz

To answer your question i have Aspen shavings and its 2inch thick

To clarify i do not have a lamp i have a UTH (heating pad). I was given the impression that having the pad was enough, and that yah the heating lamps can dry out the cage and make it too hot. But i know that they have to bask so do i need the lamp as well or just one or the other?

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You need to remove some of the aspen, your UTH can't do its job through that much aspen. I have found that 1/2" or less is best.

IF the room your cage is in stays above 75 degrees then a heat lamps isn't necessary. a UTH will be enough. UTH MUST be regulated by a thermoSTAT and monitored by a thermoMETER. unregulated UTHs will get to to 150+ degrees F more than enough to burn or even kill a BP.

UTH's do not change the temperature of the air in a cage so if the air temperature falls below 75 you will need a heat lamp to increase the air temperature.