New to the forum

Hey everyone,

My name is John and I'm new to these forums and a new owner of a baby ball python. I've yet to discover wether it's a male or a female, and I'm going to pop it soon to find out what it is...

To my surprise my new snake fed for the first time on Saturday on a fuzzy after I brought him home on Thursday. I was really worried about him not feeding due to the stress of being brought to a new environment.

These forums are terrific for those of us who are very green on owning/caring for BPs...thanks so much whoever started and/or takes care of this site and forums.

Here are some pictures of its enclosure and/or the snake itself and I hope to post alot more in the future....and if anyone has any advice I'm all ears. I want to learn all I can to be successful with my new snake, hell I might even breed one day if I like it as much as I think i do...

John

Here's its new enclosure...it's a 20L with just a hidebox and a waterbowl for now. I also used just newspaper for the time being, but the enclosure seems to hold steady at a 40% humidity , so I bought some cypress which I'm going to lay down after he goes to the bathroom for the first time because I'd like the humidity to be around 50-60%

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...h_Snake018.jpg

Snake on newspaper...

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...h_Snake026.jpg

Me holding my new addition

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...h_Snake028.jpg

Thanks again,

John

Welcome to the forums!

Some tips: Heat lamps aren't very great, I'd suggest an Under Tank Heater (UTH) controlled with a thermostat and monitored with a thermometer. Hot side should be 89-92, and cold side should be 75-85.
Second, get rid of the half log hide. Replace with two very snug (touching all sides of the bp preferably) cave-like hides, one of the cold side, one on the warm.
Cypress will do great for humidity.

Good looking little baby, hope you enjoy the forums!:)

For some reason I can't find how I edit my post again, but I wanted to ask what you all thought of his coloration, is it a regular bp, or could it be a different morph?

Thanks again for all your help

John

Well, I do have an under the tank heater on the right hand side of the tank...that's where it spends most of its time. And the heat lamps bring up the temp to 90 or so during the day, and then I shut one of them off at night leaving a red light that allows the tank to go to around 80 degrees at nighttime...

As far as the hides, I'll look into getting one or two different snug hide boxes.

Thanks for the advice,

John

He looks like a normal, a nice light one.:P
The temp can stay at 90 through the night, they don't really need a night-time drop in temperature unless you're trying to kick off breeding season.
You're controlling the UTH with a thermostat and probe right? Otherwise you could get burns.

Once those are done, you'll be all set. Also, since he's a small little guy (or gal) still, I'd add more clutter to the tank so he feels comfortable.:)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jsprofera

For some reason I can't find how I edit my post again, but I wanted to ask what you all thought of his coloration, is it a regular bp, or could it be a different morph?

Thanks again for all your help

John

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He's a nice very yellow/light normal

No, I just plugged in the UTH, do not have it regulated with a probe and/or thermometer. I had seen a video from ralph davis where he did a basic enclosure with a 10 gallon tank for a baby snake, and he had stated that you didn't need to regulate the uth at all, that it got as hot as needed. Is that not correct?

Welcome and beautiful young addition! Now a few words of warning :-) Even low wattage UTHs can heat up to 100-110 degrees or so unchecked. I had mine on a rheostat and it still was way too hot. You will want to invest in a thermostat and keep it around 94-95 degrees or so to ensure adequate heat transfer through your substrate. Also, make sure that you also invest in two correctly proportioned closed-sided hides and a digital thermometer/hygrometer. The open logs often do not provide enough security, especially younglings, when you do not have the sides of the tank blacked out, and the dial thermometers/hygrometers are notoriously off in their readings. Good luck!!

--BPQ

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jsprofera

Well, I do have an under the tank heater on the right hand side of the tank...that's where it spends most of its time. And the heat lamps bring up the temp to 90 or so during the day, and then I shut one of them off at night leaving a red light that allows the tank to go to around 80 degrees at nighttime...

As far as the hides, I'll look into getting one or two different snug hide boxes.

Thanks for the advice,

John

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if you're relying on those dial meters, i would re-check all your temps AFTER getting a digital thermometer / hygrometer. also, you need to monitor belly heat. i bought mine from wal-mart - they read temps and humidity and they're about $8 each :gj:.
those heat lamps suck the humidity right out of aquariums.. trust me, i started with one too :P..

also, to replace the dreaded half log, you can buy 2 hide boxes from reptile basics: http://www.reptilebasics.com/hide-boxes/

you don't have a morph, but you have a sweet awesome color and patterned normal. do you know if it's male or female? that would be an interesting dinker :gj::D

welcome to the forum! this place rocks!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jsprofera

No, I just plugged in the UTH, do not have it regulated with a probe and/or thermometer. I had seen a video from ralph davis where he did a basic enclosure with a 10 gallon tank for a baby snake, and he had stated that you didn't need to regulate the uth at all, that it got as hot as needed. Is that not correct?

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ALL uth's need to be regulated.
The fastest way to burn your snake is not using a thermostat.

Clutter the tank with some balls of newspaper for a more secure feeling, a 20L is very big for a baby, adding a second hide would be good too

Wow, I never knew that. Thanks for the advice guys. Any thermostats that you recommend using?

And instead of the heat lamps above, should i just get another UTH and put that through the thermo as well?

Also a hygrometer? Is there a special kind that's better than others.

Again, thanks everybody for all the advice. It sincerely helps alot.

John

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jsprofera

Wow, I never knew that. Thanks for the advice guys. Any thermostats that you recommend using?

And instead of the heat lamps above, should i just get another UTH and put that through the thermo as well?

Also a hygrometer? Is there a special kind that's better than others.

Again, thanks everybody for all the advice. It sincerely helps alot.

John

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like i said, i bought 2 thermo/hygrometers (2 in 1) for $8 at wal mart. think the brand was called "springfield" :gj:

cover up that screentop to retain the humidity.

i have a helix thermostat for 4 ball pythons but it's expensive. i'm sure others can suggest a cheaper thermostat to reccomend for your 1 cool looking BP :gj:

I recommend herpstat. But it's a little on the expensive side. Depends on how much you have to spend I suppose.