New Owner

Recently bought a BP normal from a local breeder, have it set up and wanted to ask a few questions. First I've read here in the care sheets that the humidity in the terrarium should be 50-60% and up to 70% during shedding. Breeder said 80% was ideal, I thought this was a bit high and might be harmful so i figured I would ask you all what ideal humidity should be.
Also I'm having issues keeping a temperature gradient in the enclosure. The overall temperature of the enclosure is 88 degrees but it can get up to 91 in the summer afternoons. I have two heat lamps but usually only one is on at a time and neither are facing downward toward the floor. Care sheet recommended a basking area but then also on the forums i've read that BP's don't bask that much and prefer their hides.
Solid (my BP's name) seems to be doing fine in the two weeks i've had him. He's fed twice for me no issues. Bowel movements, drinks his water and is very active when its dark, active when held, has never nipped at me. Perfect behavior I think; i just want to make sure i'm giving him what he needs.
Picture of the enclosure:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...605233054.jpg/

Snake relative to enclosure:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...520122726.jpg/

Snake as i'm writing this post:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...605225548.jpg/

My apologizes for the long post and heavy pics, im new guidance appreciated :)

BP's aren't basking types, and a UTH with no heat lamps would be ideal. (I didn't see if you had a UTH or not). Heat lamps will suck the humidity out of your enclosure. Evil, evil heat lamps. After that, if you're using a tank (the pictures aren't working for me so I can't see), wrapping a blanket around it/blacking out the sides will help hold in heat and humidity as well as provide some security for your snakey. I would write more, but I'm falling asleep. I'm sure there's something I missed, but I hope I helped. There are other amazing people on this forum that will advise you as well!

I cant see the pictures either but i think your ok. Just keep things as the care sheet said and raise the humidity during shedding periods. one tip i know of is putting a wet rag in the corner of your tank this puts lots of moisture in there and is also good to have him rub against to help the shed off. Also, i use a heating pad in one of his hides and that works fine for heating hes in a glass cage. but when your snake enters the blue eyed stage of shedding thats when i start putting the rag in there then i turn on my 75 watt heat lamp (which isnt to hot :) and that goes right above the rag to evap the water. One more thing..... people might disagree with me but people need to understand that 1-2 degrees of humidity isnt going to kill the snake. These are hardy animals. theyl survive if u skrew up. so just learn and try better. hope this helps but stick to the care sheets advice. they have done me and many others greaat justice. :) Happy new snake BTW! :banana:

I've heard about the UTH, but i'm worried having it on all the time without something to turn it off if it gets too hot. Atm He likes to move all the aspen in his hide out and curl up on the glass, i worry if he does that with a UTH he might get burned. I'm wondering if I should just add more aspen. As for blacking the sides out they are partially and the tank is backed up against the wall the only open part is the front. I'm not sure how to fix the pictures.
Here are the picture links directly:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...0520122726.jpg
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...0605225548.jpg
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...0605233054.jpg

Ok you can go one or two ways from there. 1. you can purchase a thing called jungle carpet. It goes on the inside of the tank and over the heating pad, it prevents burns. i believe it runs for about 6 - 9 bucks. OR 2. you can do what i did and cut a small hand towel to fit over where it goes and use duct tape to hold it down on all sides, as a layer. this will protect him from burns. And dont worry about him being to hot in his hide if he is too hot he will just move to the cool end of the tank. which should be cooler then the warm side. And if you ask most people who have BP do not use Light fixtures at all as a heat source. UTH is most common. only use a non heat producing light if you would like to light up the tank to see him better. But a heating lamp for during sheds if u want and i do for 3 hours right after he eats then i change it back. GL!:D

You can get a $10 lamp dimmer that will help control your temps to go with your UTH. You just need something to monitor temps so you can adjust it properly. There are also very basic thermostats out there for like $30. It is well worth the money, trust me.

do you have pictures of the snakes belly at all? :please:

Is there a particular website that may have better equipment than local pet stores? I have a thermometer is there currently that has a probe close to the snake hide. Bought a humidity reader today that i'll install tonight. I don't have any current pics of his belly but i'll post them today later in the afternoon.

Here is what I am using and they work well for me. I have a 20L

Thermometer: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001BO8CUE
Thermostat: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NZZG3S

I put the Thermostat probe between the UTH and the glass.
The thermometer is on the glass inside the tank right under the hide.

Those look great, i'll have to order them soon. The UTH should it just cover 1/2 of the tank or 1/3 or just his hide?

Get a UTH that is listed for that size of tank. I have a 20l so the one I have covers about 1/4 of the tank. I put it so the hide will go right over it.

A thermostat is necessary for a UTH. If they are connected correctly they will not get hot enough to burn or melt anything in the enclosure, including the snake. I highly suggest the UTH with a thermostat as opposed to the lamps. I'm glad to hear you aren't having any feeding issues with your snake so far, I do suggest also getting some black Con-tact paper from Home Depot, its just an adhesive paper so you can black out the sides and the back of the tank. It helps them feel more secure, however if yours is acting normally you may not necessarily need it, I just prefer it. Good luck and welcome to the site :)

Just bought an UTH and another thermometer with a humidity reader on it. Hot spots reads at 92.3 F and the cool side is 86.1. Bought him another hide for the cool side also. Forgot about taping the back out but i'll do that tomorrow when i'm bk out. Links below are new set up and the belly pic requested.

New Set up:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...606170551.jpg/

Belly Pic:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...606164904.jpg/

Wow that is one crazy belly pattern! geez i would love to have that in my group lol

Yea looks kind of like a checker or chess board. I should get a full body picture of him up here, he may be a normal BP but he has very nice colors.