Couple pics and a question...

I've had Slash for four days now. Last night was his first feeding here at home and it went well. He ate two frozen fuzzies. He's been pretty active this morning.

http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs133...._4380093_n.jpg

http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...21_21839_n.jpg

Was there a question in there some where?? Congrats on the new little one

My question is about humidity...without running a humidifier in the room, I'm sitting at 40%. But it makes the whole room too uncomfortable to run the humidifier.

I've read different ideas with wax paper, foil and plexiglass. But not sure how it works. First...if I use plexiglass, can my lights sit on top of it without it melting? I'm also worried about airflow if I have plexiglass over the screen on top. Will Slash still get enough oxygen?

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Originally Posted by RickyRebel

I've had Slash for four days now. Last night was his first feeding here at home and it went well. He ate two frozen fuzzies.

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I assume you want to know why he is still very active? (Forgot the question ;) )

It could be the results of a few things based on what you wrote and the picture.

When you said you fed him fuzzies I assume fuzzy mice? If so fuzzy mice are way too small for a BP, the average hatchling takes a hopper as a first meal and quickly move to adult, so my first guess would be that he is still looking for food.

My other guess would be husbandry related, while you might have not experienced any real problem yet you might want to make a few changes in your enclosure. I would highly recommend to replace the dial thermometer and hygrometer by a digital thermometer and hygrometer, dial devices are not accurate and could give you a false sense of security. And if your husbandry is off it could lead to a few problem such as an active BP.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

When you said you fed him fuzzies I assume fuzzy mice? If so fuzzy mice are way too small for a BP, the average hatchling takes a hopper as a first meal and quickly move to adult, so my first guess would be that he is still looking for food.

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I bought what the lady at the pet store suggested. I had already planned on moving up after the first six mice are gone... So do I want mediums? Wanna make sure I get the right ones on my next purchase...

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Originally Posted by Deborah

I would highly recommend to replace the dial thermometer and hygrometer by a digital thermometer and hygrometer, dial devices are not accurate and could give you a false sense of security.

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I will definitely look into that tonight...

And ditch the log hide.

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Originally Posted by RickyRebel

I bought what the lady at the pet store suggested. I had already planned on moving up after the first six mice are gone... So do I want mediums? Wanna make sure I get the right ones on my next purchase...

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You definitely want something equal the girth size of your animal (widest part of your BP's body). :gj:

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Originally Posted by justinsane82

And ditch the log hide.

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What should I use?

The reason you should change the log hides is because they really just don't provide enough security for a shy snake like a ball python. You want something that touches the snake on all sides and has a small opening. I like using plastic bowls with a small enterance cut out on the side. These seem to work fabulously and they are very cheap. I buy a pack of 4 bowls at the dollar store and I have 4 hides for .25 cents each!

The best digital thermometer for your money is the accurite weather station which is not even meant for reptiles but it works perfectly. You should be able to find one in the gardening/outdoor section of home depot, lowes, or walmart.

Glad you had a successful first feeding! As others have said, bump up the prey size a bit and you shouldn't see the cruising.

What about the humidity part of my question? I added the question as a second post...

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Originally Posted by RickyRebel

What about the humidity part of my question? I added the question as a second post...

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Totally forgot about that whoops!:rolleye2:

The best option in my opinion would be to buy a piece of plexi glass and cut it so there is a 2-4 inch gap on the side (for airflow) and a hole for the heat lamp.
You can buy sheets of plexi at the home depot as well as an acrylic cutter which makes cutting it very easy.

Ideally you don't want to use the heat lamp but if your room gets too cold then you might need it. The lamp is what will lower your humidity the most. Are you using a UTH or any other kind of heating other than the lamp?

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

Are you using a UTH or any other kind of heating other than the lamp?

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Nope...I'm not.

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Originally Posted by RickyRebel

Nope...I'm not.

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I would highly suggest going with an under tank heater for your primary source of heat and using the lamp as a secondary source if needed.

I know this is probably frustrating since the people at the petstore told you that you needed all these things that you actually don't need. The best advice I can give you is to not listen to pet store employees. Some of them are actually trying to help but most of them have no idea what they are talking about.


If you want to go with belly heat, you need an Under Tank Heater (UTH) and something to control it with. A reptile thermostat is preferable but it is unlikely that you will be able to find one in a store. A rheostat is a more temporary option. The rheostat I use for temp enclosures is a lutron lamp dimmer from the home depot or lowes. It is like $11 and allows you to adjust the temp of the UTH so you don't burn your snake.

Listen to Kaorte. She has a ton of info that has helped me tremendously get a great setup going.

One thing that I read, I haven't tried it yet since I have not had humidity problems, is increasing the water bowl size. Not the depth, but the radius of it. The higher surface area will boost your humidity up a little bit. Also moving it towards your UTH as well. Which, as she mentioned, you do need to get.

I use a the ReptiTemp 500R thermostat on my UTH, and it maintains the warm spot with a hide at 90-92. I have a small 60w Ceramic Heat Emitter for ambient temps since I keep my room cooler. But it is merely for supporting the UTH. CHE is like a lamp, except it produces no light. Lighting is not important for a BP. They don't need the UV lights, etc etc.

Good luck and nice looking snake! :gj:

Whoops...I misunderstood...Yes, I use a UTH.

And I run a small golden retriever forum, so I totally understand the pet store issues. That`s why I`m here...

Man, I'm really regretting this lamp I bought :(

I was wondering why all of a sudden I was having such a hard time getting my humidity right and it's because of this stupid lamp. I've had to mist my tank 4-5 times a day to keep it from being a desert in there. As soon as I turn the lamp off, the moisture stops getting sucked out so quick. What a waste of $40 :(

Couple things if you don't want to spend more money. I have a setup similar to yours with an overhead lamp on two tanks. I have a combination of plastic wrap and foil taped on top with packing tape with a space large enough for the lamp. My humidity in both tanks hover around 50% with no fiddling. The weather here tends to be humid when it's warm. But on colder, dry days, I'll have to mist once or twice. Another thing you can do is set in a dish of damp spagnum moss. I do have a zoo med UTH slapped on the end (not bottom) of both tanks for additional heat. (sorry, I don't trust thermostats)

One of my tanks is a 29gallon tall (it was given to me, I'll eventually replace it). I tossed in some cypress mulch on 1/3 of the tank floor (empty space, cause it's still too big) and whoa, the humidity jumped to 87%. So you might want to try cypress. But it can have bugs in it so either bake it or treat it with provent-a-mite.

Also with your fuzzies, if your snake will take more than one, you can feed 2 or 3 at a feeding, you don't need to waste those either.

Just another POV if you want to continue working with what you have. It is doable.

Edit: looks like I responded to more than one post. :D :oops:

i cardboarded off 3 sides of my tank and did aluminum foil for the screen. with that plus using aspen and spagnom moss i can get around 45% where i live its very dry in the winter(at least in my house with the heatin pumpin) so i use a humidifier on low just to get it around 55% or so. i also filled my tank with logs and such to make my future snake feel more secure. i dont know if it works but it looks alot better.

also went from a 75 watt light bulb to a 100 watt red bulb and have the dimmer turned way down to get jussst enough heat that i need, helped with the humidity as well.

humidity was around 20% in the before pic btw

before

http://i45.tinypic.com/2ebvd4o.jpg

after

http://i48.tinypic.com/s5wbc9.jpg

Wow, two fuzzies? That guy looks bigger than my little one and she can easily take two adults, if not two adults and a hopper on top of that. She did today. actually. :D

Definitely increase prey size, and invest in either a cave hide, or cheap plastic bowls, as Kaorte suggested.

Humidity will vary greatly on what kind of heat you are using as well. Are you using heat bulbs? I used to have a 150 watt infrared, which almost kept it too warm and had my humidity at 40%, max 50% with misting. It bust, and I was stuck with only a 75 watt, which she managed to get by on until I bought a 100 watt. In the meantime, her humidity sky-rocketed to 70%, and after misting, a whopping 85%.

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Originally Posted by Moofins07

Wow, two fuzzies? That guy looks bigger than my little one and she can easily take two adults, if not two adults and a hopper on top of that. She did today. actually. :D

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Yeah...that's what I get for listening to the pet store. I'm definitely gonna bump the prey up. I figure I'll just finish off the small...with mediums...for a couple feedings. Then at least go to the large.

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Originally Posted by Moofins07

Definitely increase prey size, and invest in either a cave hide, or cheap plastic bowls, as Kaorte suggested.

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I'm thinking I'm gonna keep using the log...but I'm gonna block off the back of it with a rock and some decorative drift wood chunks I bought last night. Then a rock in the front. Slash seems to like hide...but I'm sure he'll enjoy it more if I block off a lot of the openings.

He burrows a lot in the bark...so I may also add a bit more under the log.

Run your set up as you have it now. If the first shed doesn't come off in one piece, then you can address this issue. Sometimes people cause more problems trying to get things "perfect" than if they just see how things go first.

Don't fix something that's not broken.
Jim Smith