New to Ball Pythons

Looking for info on temperature/humidity requirements for living area and any other helpful hints since my research online has yielded wildly varying answers. Thanks

J

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Originally Posted by Magneto417x

Looking for info on temperature/humidity requirements for living area and any other helpful hints since my research online has yielded wildly varying answers. Thanks

J

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Here's a good place to start http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet


and as far as all the conflicting info you've seen...welcome to the world of keeping ball pythons! :D

Thanks. I must say the temp doesn't seem to be an issue as it hangs around 81-87 during day and is around 79-82 at night but humidity does have me concerned.

J

I'd stop dropping the temps at night too. ;)

I'm not dropping them my home temp drops some which also results in ball environment changing temp some. Not sure how I can avoid that entirely. Need to figure out humidity as it is sitting around 44-45 :-(

J

What is the snakes enclosure? And what are you using to heat the enclosure?

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It's a 10g aquarium with aspen bedding and an under tank heating pad.

J

Do you have the pad controlled by a thermostat? For humidity you can cover 3/4 of the screen top with a damp towel, tin foil, or combo of both. You could also put the water bowl partially over the heating pad. You may have to mist the tank from time to time...

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No thermostat it's one of the zoomed heating pad. I have half of it covered on top with towel but its dry. I will wet it a ring it out to see what that does for humidity. Thanks

J

Any heating pad needs a thermostat or at the very least a dimmer

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None of the reptipads by ZooMed have thermostats. They just attach to outside side or bottom and plug in. That's what they recommended at store when I got ball python.

J

You need to buy the thermostat separately
Take a look on Amazon for hydrofarm thermostat, it's fairly cheap at around $34.
Or a light dimmer at Home depot until you can get one.
Do you know the temp of the hot spot above the pad?
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It's about 89.

J

What are you using to take that temp?

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Digital thermometer

J

Ok is there a probe on the hotspot or is that the air temp in that area?

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Do please get a thermostat. The ambient temps may only be where you are quoting them but I guarantee that temp on the glass where your unregulated heat pad is, is much higher. I've tested is myself and saw temps of 120 degrees within 1.5 hrs. Scary hot and WILL burn your snake. You can get by carefully with a light dimmer until a thermostat can be shipped to you, but seriously, this is a necessity in order to safely keep a bp. For a better guage of temps... The Acurite thermometer found at Walmart for $12.24 is great. The probe goes inside, atop of the glass above where the heat pad is ousted underneath and the body goes n the opposite side to guage the temp on the cool side. It also helps you know your humidity.

As for humidity, what has been recommended so far will def work... So will a change in substrate. Reptibark, Eco earth, coco husk will all hold it much better than aspen will. I use a combo of reptibark and Eco earth because it not only holds it better, but also looks better.

Hold this helps...

I use eco earth as well

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Please post a picture of your set up.

No, thermostats don't come with heat pads. You have to buy them separately.

Any type of heat source, whether it's a lamp or heat pad MUST be regulated. Heat pads will reach unsafe temperatures in a matter of minutes. You MUST have a thermostat.

The best you can buy are herpstats.
http://www.spyderrobotics.com

The cheaper option:
http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTPR...ords=Hydrofarm

When you get your thermoSTAT, you plug your heat pad into it. You take your probe and secure it OVER the heat pad on the OUTSIDE of your tank.

Do NOT have the thermoSTAT probe inside the tank, as your snake can move it, pee on it, and will ultimately screw up your probe reading.

If you use a lamp, which most will suggest against, buy a light dimmer. They're about $10 from home depot and allow you to adjust how much heat is coming from the lamp.

Lamps will kill your humidity. Many will suggest covering half your lid with tinfoil/plexiglass/wet cloth. Misting will also help. Also, do not get white bulbs.

After your thermostat, a temp gun will be a wise investment. Or you can purchase a digital thermometer with probe. Many will suggest an Accurite, while others disagree. If you get an Accurite, you place the entire unit in the cage. The probed bit will be secured on top of the glass over your heat pad so you are able to monitor and be sure your thermostat is working properly. The unit goes on your "cool" side to monitor ambient temperatures.

You are aiming for:

Hot spot: 88-91 degrees
Cool side: 78-80 degrees
Humidity: 50%

When your snake goes into shed, you will need to boost your humidity up to 60-70%.

To help with humidity:

-cover the screen top with a wet towel, or wrap it in Saran wrap.
-mist often
-use a substrate like eco earth

Well it seems that temp may also be an issue as temp got down to 75 last night and humidity only got up to 46 after covering and misting the area. I know the area in hide is warmer but not sure since I didn't have time to check it before I left for work. Once I turned on turtle light temp in snake are jumped up 2 degrees in first 4 minutes and ball was out and roaming about a good bit. Kind of concerned but I pretty sure the lack of thermostat is least concern given that I can place my hand flat on glass where heating pad is and its not any where near 120 degrees as I'm sure I would feel that type of heat. Thanks for advice and welcome any suggestions that may help me get things on track.

J

its not feeding, they have tried both live and dead pinkies, and they cant get her to eat, could she be in a fasting period already?

Look on this site...someone's snake just got burned by an unregulated pad. Our body temp is 98.6 so in order for it to feel warm to us it's much much higher.
Also a change of subtrate could help your humidity...
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Originally Posted by Crazymonkee

Look on this site...someone's snake just got burned by an unregulated pad. Our body temp is 98.6 so in order for it to feel warm to us it's much much higher.
Also a change of subtrate could help your humidity...
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Well I checked and the temp on top of hot spot is sitting at 95% I covered the top of tank with plastic and put larger water bowl in and humidity still hasn't gone above 44. This is all very odd indeed I think :-(


J

You will probably have to mist it to keep it up. I would look into eco earth or something similar for your subtrate

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Crazymonkee

You will probably have to mist it to keep it up. I would look into eco earth or something similar for your subtrate

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Update on temp/humidity issue. After days of fighting with humidity as low as 36 and temp ranging from 75 at night to 87 in the day I think I may have found issue. It appears my UTH was not functioning properly at all sometimes only reaching temp of 80 on top of it. I have gotten a new one and hope to see better numbers over next 24 hours :-)


J

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Magneto417x

Update on temp/humidity issue. After days of fighting with humidity as low as 36 and temp ranging from 75 at night to 87 in the day I think I may have found issue. It appears my UTH was not functioning properly at all sometimes only reaching temp of 80 on top of it. I have gotten a new one and hope to see better numbers over next 24 hours :-)


J

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Temperature hasn't drop below 86 now and humidity is holding steady at 46 now. Have some Moss now that I'm going to put in to help raise humidity more now that I have a temp that can actually cause some decent humidity. Henry also fed last night on a medium mouse which was good to see :-)

J

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file.../9/0/henry.jpg

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Originally Posted by Magneto417x

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file.../9/0/henry.jpg

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So I'm wondering what type of ball I have as this guy was in with normal's pastels and pied ball pythons. It was such a busy day the shop owners gave me this guy for $40 and plus this was the one I thought looked the coolest in color and pattern :-)

J

Hoping somebody can give me feedback on my picture of my ball above.

Thanks,

J

I would say a nice normal

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Crazymonkee

I would say a nice normal

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Now the hide is at 91 degrees and opposite side is at about 84 degrees :-) Much better than first few days plus I was able to feed Henry on Wednesday and he ate :-)