new here!

hi guys im 24, from nj, joined the army in 2009 stationed at fort bliss tx, did a tour in iraq 09-10, and decided to stay in texas after i got out. i have 2 red dobermans and a lovebird, my fish finally died and it was time for me to get something else. i previously have had a ball python in nj but i gave it to my friend when i left for the army. i decided to get another one.

my tank setup right now is a 20 gallon terrarium, metal screen, 2 heat lamps one day one night with 150 watt bulbs in each. 2 hides one on each side, and an under tank heater on the hot side. obviously a water dish and a branch for him to climb on. i have 2 stick on thermometers one on each side and a hygrometer in the center.

i want to make sure my setup is correct for my snake.

the tank came with 75 watt bulbs but they were nowhere near keeping temps up, so i switched to 100 and still it lingered about 75-80 the max!
so this morning i picked up the 150s and an undertank heater which seems to be working great. hot side stays around 86 and cool side around 77-80.

since i am in the desert (el paso) there is pretty much 0 humidity so i have been misting the tank once or twice a day to keep it around 40-50%

my snake is about 1.5-2 feet and they recommended feeding him one fuzzy a week, is this correct?

heres some pics how do you think the setup is?


everytime i upload a pic it comes out upside downsorry for the sideways view lol

http://i60.tinypic.com/2vs20jo.jpg

Nice to meet you and welcome. As far as keeping humidity in. The top for those kinds of cases let humidity out a lot. You mind consider covering some of it to try and keep it in. The log hides are pretty. But for ball pythons those let in too much light. They might not feel concealed enough. Love the way it looks.


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i just put little dish towels on top to keep some humidity in but have to find something that wont catch on fire haha, ill see what petsmart has again as far as hides but the slanted logs were really small, they only had these in stock, i can possibly cover one end of each for now.

As far as the containers go. I went to the $1 store and bought http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/06/equbana8.jpg

And cut them out to look like this

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/06/ezybajun.jpg

They cost about a $1.50. If you can find black ones those are even better

I use moist towels all the time. I haven't felt like they catch on fire


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Welcome to the forum and thanks for your service, nice to see more Vets. Nice set-up, but I think it's a little too open for a BP I suggest covering up three sides of the tank and possibly adding some foliage to give your snake some more security. Would love to see some pictures of your snake. :)

I definitely will get some more stuff for him to curl into

http://i57.tinypic.com/20uwuv7.jpg

For now i covered 3 sides with notebook paper and put a damp towel on top of the screen hopefully it should help retain humidity

That should help.

Great looking snake btw. :gj:

Here's what I fixed, 2 new little hides, some background and some vine, seems like he likes it already, thank you for the help, pic is clear, the wall of the tank just has some water spray on it since I key the humidity out

http://i57.tinypic.com/2ebybrt.jpg

You did that fast lol. Good job man :)


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I actually turned them around so the opening is facing the corner and covered those 2 parts on each side with the leaves lol I need peace of mind that he is comfortable, and do it right the first time

It's good to do it right the first time. I'm sure he'll be a very happy snake


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My other question, like I said he's about 1.5 feet, they said feed him one fuzzy a week, is that correct?

It's not so much about length but weight


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Give him a rat/mouse that is as big as his biggest part of his body or about 15% of his body weight


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Looking even better and your BP is gorgeous too. Good Job! :gj:

Ok I'll try to weigh him soon, thank you!

Hello, and :welcome: to BP.net. You will find quite a few veterans and active duty here. :salute:

-Vypyrz, USMC (Retired)

I would just ditch the gauges since they have horrible accuracy. You want something that has a probe to measure the heat ontop of the heatmat. And that should be controlled by a thermostat so it never goes over 92-93 degrees. Your temps can be reading so low because of the gauges. Grab a Acurite thermometer/hydrometer from walmart and place the probe on the glass over heat mat and the unit on the cool side. Everything else looks perfect!

I do have to get a better hydrometer, but I baught 2 digital thermometers one on each end and they are pretty accurate, I have the one that cane with the tank just so I have an estimate on humidity for now, since it's almost 0 humidity where I live in the desert I'm having a hard tome insulating the top of the tank to keep it in, I used damp towels but they dry up fast, I just layed tin foil over for now just because I'm concerned with the heat lamp, I'm thinking of doing Saran Wrap on top to hold it in better, but I will definitely be investing in a better hydrometer, what kind of thermostat do I need to control the UTH? Do you have a link it picture that I can go off of to buy it? Thanks in advance I appreciate all the input.

I have him about a week to himself to get used to his surroundings, I did take him out once or twice so he can get my scent, he seems pretty mellow, took him out for a couple minutes now and he hangs out on my arm

http://i61.tinypic.com/jhub81.jpg