first snake

hi everybody i just got my first snake today! I do not have a heater yet( my friend who is a member does not think i need for the summer planning to get basking light though)


P.S are't the babbies SO CUTE!!!

Hi, make sure you read up a lot on here. I have learned tons of great stuff myself, being pretty new. You will have a lot less problems with your snake if you do the right things.

Welcome to the site.

Despite what your friend said, I'd still get a heat source asap. Under tank heaters work well since bp's need belly heat for digestion of food, so just go to your local walmart and pick up a human heating pad. Just as long as it doesn't have an auto shut off. As for basking light, if you really do need/want one, try and be sure it's an infrared or black light, since bp's are nocturnal and need no light source(too much light would stress them out).

Other than that...congrats on your first snake. I know how exciting it is. :) Btw, do you have any pics of your setup and snakey? We love seeing pics. If not, you can describe us your setup. What size enclosure, what kind of substrate, hides, what you use to read temps and humidity etc. Good luck and welcome. :)

LOL why would your friend say you didn't need a heat source for the summer? Do you not have AC in your place?

You're BP will need a temperature gradient of 78-82 on the cool side and 88-93 on the warm side. So you need a heat source to create that. Which member on here said you wouldn't need a heat source??? Thats wierd cause we're all pretty anal about bp husbandry.

um, it was mentioned that you NEED belly heat, i dont agree

ive had my bp for about a year, and ive always used an overhead heating source, and he is healthy, and fine, so i dont belive that they NEED belly heat

I'm with you on that one as well. I've always used an overhead heat source. The bark I use warms up to about 80something on the warm side under the lamp, inside the hide. I can't imagine a BP would ever encounter a surface that is 90some degrees in the wild unless its on a basking rock in direct sunlight- a place you would never find a ball python in the wild.

People have had great success with heat pads though, so I believe it is more a personal preference that depends on your setup. Obviously, overhead sources are not practical for a rack system or similar setup.

i like the heating pad because it is helpful for their digestion. i wouldn't be able to keep the humidity high enough with a lamp either because they tend to dry things out and i use a glass aquarium. i use a thermostat with the heating pad, and it would be annoying to me, and possibly to the snake, to have the lamp clicking on and off all the time. then there is also the fact that i spent $9 on the heating pad as a one time expense instead of having to buy a new lightbulb every time the old one burns out.

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Originally Posted by Royal-y__Great

um, it was mentioned that you NEED belly heat, i dont agree

ive had my bp for about a year, and ive always used an overhead heating source, and he is healthy, and fine, so i dont belive that they NEED belly heat

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They do need belly heat. It doesn't have to be provided through an under-enclosure source, but that is the easiest way to do it. Heat is required for digestion, and it needs to be above a minimum level for them to be able to do the speedy digestion required before the food starts to decompose within their gut (causing gas, bloating, sometimes regurgitation, and sometimes long-term digestive difficulties).

If you've ever sat on a warm rock in the sun, you know that after a short time, the rock surface temp drops to your temperature as you soak up the heat. This is why providing heat from underneath, rather than a radiant source, is the easiest way to provide a constant temp high enough to facilitate digestion.

Can they digest while being heated with a lamp or CHE? Sure, but it may be less efficient (possibly causing decomposition-related problems noted above) or require more frequent moving in order to thermoregulate (possibly leading to regurgitation). I go for the simple way, myself, rather than dealing with those potential problems, but there are others who successfully keep bp's using just heat lamps or CHEs.

I guess I just can't get the notion of where a wild bp would be able to find a constant, perfect source of belly heat that is supposedly so necessary for proper digestion.

i would think the ground in their native habitat would be pretty warm to begin with. and since we have the ability to provide them that constant source of heat and an optimal living environment, why not do it? the bps that are cared for by people that do give them that optimal care are probably way more healthy than those that are living in the wild. nothing wrong with that.

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Originally Posted by mlededee

i would think the ground in their native habitat would be pretty warm to begin with. and since we have the ability to provide them that constant source of heat and an optimal living environment, why not do it? the bps that are cared for by people that do give them that optimal care are probably way more healthy than those that are living in the wild. nothing wrong with that.

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I guess I just can't get the notion of where a wild bp would be able to find a constant, perfect source of belly heat that is supposedly so necessary for proper digestion.

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Maybe on a rock that has been sitting in the sun for a while? And on a hot day if you feel the dirt (not the grass) its pretty warm also.

oops sorry i didnt mean to quote mlededee's message too.

im still sticking with over head heat source, ive not had a problem with it, and all the heating pads ive gotten always get too hot, and i would much rather have a heat light that makes the ground 90* then have to go get a better heat pad, or spend more


so, if you are talking about the ground being a certain temperature, then mine is about 90* becasue i have the probe on the floor, and it always stays there, and my bp has been digesting food great

I'd have to agree with mlededee, captive ball pythons well out live ball pythons in the wild. We make sure our babies are in top health ... well some of us do anyways.

Also, I was wondering how Royal keeps his humidity at a good level with a heat lamp. What is your humidity in the enclosure anyways?

57% thats what its at, give or take 1-2 during the day, but not much, i dunno how it works out, but it does, but my room is like that anyways, i bet if i had a UTH, itd be a lot higher

I use a UTH in combo with a timed overhead source and I've never had problems with it. I just turn her overhead on (low wattage) during the day, then when I get home from work turn it off again for the nighttime drop. Both my BP and VB seem to be doing pretty well on it.
Even if it's covered with substrate and a hide, a UTH is an incredibly valuable tank element.

I use human heating pads myself. I would use a combo like alice but I have a designated snake room which I keep at about 75 degrees. I have tried the zoo meds in the past, but they stick to the bottom of the tank and get far too hot. I like the human heat pads because they have three different heat settings, they have cloth around them and they get the perfects temps. Also very nice not to have to worry much about humidity.
The reason I really like undertank heating is because they can still get the warmth for digestion even while they are hiding (which they do all day).

What I did with my UTH is to stick it on the bottom, cover the area with substrate, then make what I call a "double-boiler hide": three chunks of rock that support a slate platform directly over the UTH (I use Zoomed), with a small piece of aquarium decoration (in my case, a pagoda) functioning like a second hide over the UTH. The heatspace under the pagoda keeps warm because of the UTH while creating a heat buffer. The slate warms up from the insulated space under it, and Roo just adores it. I made one for my VB, but she doesn't have much interest in it. She prefers to either bask under the heatlamp or stay in her cool hide for the most part.

I believe in underbelly heat 100%. I'm sure that there are times in a BPs natural habitat that the ground gets pretty darn hot. Regardless, put simply, I just think it's better for the animal and easier to maintain proper husbandry. I have employed overhead heat as a supplement to the heating pad but then had issues w/humidity (solved by the great DIY humidifier), but now that I no longer use a fish tank, I have no problems w/heat or humidity and all I use is the heating pad. To me it just makes more sense.

Caren, I tried the DIY humidifier, and it didnt raise my humidity very much... did you use the standard sized tubing? I used standard sized tubing but only a 32oz bottle. I wonder if larger tubing and bottle would make a difference. Right now I just run a tube to my waterdish with a bubbler on the end and that seems to help out alot.

thanks for advice as for the my tank setup 10 gal tank little cave, and small water dish(planning to get bigger one) Don't worry i am planning to belly heater near the end of the month. i have decied to ball my bp bandit the monopod,nick name bandopod, for short bandit. he is around 1 foot 10in does any body have any idea how old he might be

Monopod, where did you get him from? They should know about how old he is, you may want to call them and ask. Probably a couple months old I would say. Sophie was about 21 inches @ 2 or 3 months old.

Greenman, we used a 2 liter bottle and what I believe is standard sized tubing, just grabbed some from Walmart and didn't really look at the size, looks normal though. Also, we made sure to seal all holes very well and waited about 2 days before running it. We use a small size pump (I think 5 to 10 or 15 gallon). Actually it works too well. Had to remove more duct tape from the screen top to allow more air in--except when I was using an overhead lamp that is. Wonder why you're having issues....curious.

You need to have at least 2 hides, one on each end of the enclosure. Also, take a trip to WalMart or Radio Shack and get a digital thermometer. It will measure the temps on your warm and cool ends and your humidity all at the same time. They run around $15. Also, what kind of substrate do you have? Make sure it contains NO PINE OR CEDAR. Both of those can be detrimental to their nervous system.

Thats exactly what I did, but I used a smaller bottle. I had a feeling thats why it wasnt working so great. Ill have to give it another shot. I am using it for my ATB so I am not too worried about him getting too much humidity :wink:

Thanks :)

Welcome to the site monopod! :) I'm glad you joined us. Good luck with the new addition.

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Thanks

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Welcome!

Never been bit as of yet. Just had my BP for about 3 weeks now but been around snakes as a kid when my dad would catch them. I've seen quite a few strike at him, but none connected.