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  • 12-13-2013, 01:38 AM
    bkrueger
    New ball python keeper, really need some advice!
    Hi there, I just got a 4 month old normie BP about 4 weeks ago. She's my first snake, and I have a few experienced friends that have been showing me how to care for my girl, Arias. But, she's going to shed soon, or she's in the process. She has the cloudy blue eyes and is very dull. My problem is, I cannot keep the humidity up in her enclosure. It'll go from 50% to 17% within a few hours. At the same time, I can't keep her heat up to 80 degrees. I live in Canada, so the winter is really cold here. My room is in the basement, and I have a space heater to help and she has a heat lamp and a heat pad. Still only gets to about 75-77 degrees.

    Please, any advice would be lovely and I'd appreciate it so much!
  • 12-13-2013, 01:45 AM
    Spencer88
    If she's in a glass tank... I would keep warm wet towels on top of the screen top and wrap the sides of the tank with foil.

    what type of substrate are you using?
  • 12-13-2013, 01:49 AM
    bkrueger
    Re: New ball python keeper, really need some advice!
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Spencer88 View Post
    If she's in a glass tank... I would keep warm wet towels on top of the screen top and wrap the sides of the tank with foil.

    Yes, she is. I was told to put tin foil over the mesh screen, so I have that on there. I do have a dry towel on top, but I will try your advice out. And I have aspen bedding with some moss I was told would help humidity from the pet store.

    Thank you for your reply.
  • 12-13-2013, 01:52 AM
    Mr. Misha
    Re: New ball python keeper, really need some advice!
    Welcome to the forum.

    You should check out the post below yours (ball python and cold apartment thread) They answer your exact questions.

    Also, check out this DIY it will also answer most of your questions.

    http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=201740

    Best way to keep heat and humidity in, is to close off most of the top of the enclosure (I take it you have a glass one).

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
  • 12-13-2013, 01:54 AM
    Spencer88
    Re: New ball python keeper, really need some advice!
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by bkrueger View Post
    Yes, she is. I was told to put tin foil over the mesh screen, so I have that on there. I do have a dry towel on top, but I will try your advice out. And I have aspen bedding with some moss I was told would help humidity from the pet store.

    Thank you for your reply.

    Just lay a wet towel over the top and you can put the foil on top of the towel if you want. You can also mist the inside of the substrate and that will help hold humidity to.
  • 12-13-2013, 02:05 AM
    bkrueger
    Re: New ball python keeper, really need some advice!
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Spencer88 View Post
    Just lay a wet towel over the top and you can put the foil on top of the towel if you want. You can also mist the inside of the substrate and that will help hold humidity to.

    I mist it about 4 times a day. And I was thinking about putting her in one of those plastic storage tubs with a warm wet towel on the bottom and one on top of the tub for about an hour a day to help her, do you think that would help her out during the shed as well?
  • 12-13-2013, 02:10 AM
    satomi325
    How are you controlling the temps of your heat mat and lamp? Do you have a thermostat connected?
    Since you're not getting enough heat, try insulating your tank. They sell insulation panels for a few dollars at Home Depot/Lowes. They're basically foam boards that can be cut to whatever you want. Just box your tank in with the insulation panels to help retain heat.

    As for humidity:
    -Cover 90% of the screen lid with a damp towel, taped down tin foil, or plexiglass.
    -Use substrate that will retain humidity well (coco husk or cypress mulch)
    -Move larger water bowl near the heat source. You can do the same thing with damp moss.
    (Larger the bowl, larger the surface area for evaporation.)
  • 12-13-2013, 02:28 AM
    bkrueger
    Re: New ball python keeper, really need some advice!
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by satomi325 View Post
    How are you controlling the temps of your heat mat and lamp? Do you have a thermostat connected?
    Since you're not getting enough heat, try insulating your tank. They sell insulation panels for a few dollars at Home Depot/Lowes. They're basically foam boards that can be cut to whatever you want. Just box your tank in with the insulation panels to help retain heat.

    As for humidity:
    -Cover 90% of the screen lid with a damp towel, taped down tin foil, or plexiglass.
    -Use substrate that will retain humidity well (coco husk or cypress mulch)
    -Move larger water bowl near the heat source. You can do the same thing with damp moss.
    (Larger the bowl, larger the surface area for evaporation.)

    Right now, I just have a basic plug in heat pad under the substance and a basic pet store plug in heat lamp. Don't have a thermostat. I was told I can just use all my old heating stuff that I used when I had a Bearded Dragon. The heat isn't really much of a problem, it'll be at 80 and drop to 75 and back to 80 through out the day, and at night it'll be about 70. It's definitely more the humidity I'm worried about.
  • 12-13-2013, 02:46 AM
    Mr. Misha
    Re: New ball python keeper, really need some advice!
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by bkrueger View Post
    Right now, I just have a basic plug in heat pad under the substance and a basic pet store plug in heat lamp. Don't have a thermostat.

    You should get a thermostat for the heat pad because you don't know how hot its running and might burn your snake.

    A hydrofarm heat pad thermostat is like 35 bucks and is totally worth it

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000NZ...dir_mdp_mobile

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
  • 12-13-2013, 02:52 AM
    bkrueger
    Re: New ball python keeper, really need some advice!
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Misha View Post
    You should get a thermostat for the heat pad because you don't know how hot its running and might burn your snake.

    A hydrofarm heat pad thermostat is like 35 bucks on amazon and it's definitely worth it.

    http://link2.tapatalk.com/?id=11082X...8275232&sref=4

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

    It's under a lot of substance, and I felt it just the other day, with everything on top of it, it's really just leaving a warm spot. I don't think it's burning her. When I picked her up from the breeder, he told me to watch for pink on her belly and if some shows up, the heat pad is too hot. No pink has came up, and she spends most of the day in her hide on top of the heat pad. I would imagine if it was burning her, she'd stay away from it. I'll definitely look into getting a thermostat once the holidays are over!
  • 12-13-2013, 10:41 AM
    thejenius77
    Do you have the heat pad INSIDE the tank? How are you measuring the temperature?

    Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
  • 12-13-2013, 11:31 AM
    200xth
    Re: New ball python keeper, really need some advice!
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by bkrueger View Post
    It's under a lot of substance, and I felt it just the other day, with everything on top of it, it's really just leaving a warm spot. I don't think it's burning her. When I picked her up from the breeder, he told me to watch for pink on her belly and if some shows up, the heat pad is too hot. No pink has came up, and she spends most of the day in her hide on top of the heat pad. I would imagine if it was burning her, she'd stay away from it. I'll definitely look into getting a thermostat once the holidays are over!

    They can burrow into/under the substrate. They will lay on something that is too hot and get burns at times so relying on her to get off it if it's too hot is a crap shoot at best. Your breeder's advice is essentially, "Check her...if she's burned it's too hot" which is extremely obvious and too late.

    She's your snake, but I would recommend getting the thermostat sooner as opposed to later.
  • 12-13-2013, 11:35 AM
    kittymeow
    I live in Canada too and I get how cold it could get, especially in the basement nonetheless! Having a heat lamp really sucks all the humidity out of an enclosure. You should try making a humid hide- which is basically a hide with damp sphagnum moss (great at holding humidity) or try changing your substrate from aspen to either coco husk or cypress mulch (both retain humidity better than aspen). Lastly, you could try changing her from an aquarium style tank to a Sterilite tub (holds humidity and temperature very well). There are many threads on this forum that teach how to make your own Sterilite tub style enclosure for ball pythons.


    You should really get a thermostat. I bought mine off Amazon for only $35-40 and it ships straight to your door in just a few days. It's really not worth risking your snake's life because a burn can be really serious. Even if there is a lot of substrate over the heat, she can bury underneath the aspen and that can cause serious damages. I've seen so many threads with people posting up pictures of their burnt snakes because of unregulated heat sources and it's horrible since it's something that can be easily avoided.
  • 12-13-2013, 03:51 PM
    Mr. Misha
    Re: New ball python keeper, really need some advice!
    Like everyone here already said, get a thermostat to regulate your under tank heater as soon as possible.

    Like most people pointed out already, snakes like to burrow so thickness of substrate doesn't matter. Also, if your substrate is too thick, your UTH is pretty useless because the heat is not getting through to your snake.

    Anyways, here's a recent thread about snake burns (im not shaming you. Just want you to make an informed decision).

    http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=206173

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
  • 12-13-2013, 08:25 PM
    Crazymonkee
    Re: New ball python keeper, really need some advice!
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by kittymeow View Post
    I live in Canada too and I get how cold it could get, especially in the basement nonetheless! Having a heat lamp really sucks all the humidity out of an enclosure. You should try making a humid hide- which is basically a hide with damp sphagnum moss (great at holding humidity) or try changing your substrate from aspen to either coco husk or cypress mulch (both retain humidity better than aspen). Lastly, you could try changing her from an aquarium style tank to a Sterilite tub (holds humidity and temperature very well). There are many threads on this forum that teach how to make your own Sterilite tub style enclosure for ball pythons.


    You should really get a thermostat. I bought mine off Amazon for only $35-40 and it ships straight to your door in just a few days. It's really not worth risking your snake's life because a burn can be really serious. Even if there is a lot of substrate over the heat, she can bury underneath the aspen and that can cause serious damages. I've seen so many threads with people posting up pictures of their burnt snakes because of unregulated heat sources and it's horrible since it's something that can be easily avoided.

    Tubs hold humidity well, not heat... the room would need to be heated to at least 75-78 to keep temps up.

    Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk
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