New here - am I ready?

My 8-year old daughter loves snakes/reptiles (awesome), we’re hoping to get her a BP (and our 1^st family pet) very soon…

I’ve been running the following setup (after trial/error) for a couple weeks now so we know steady state conditions can be achieved (no surprises):
- exo-terra med low terrarium (24x18x12) – getting a male and going in her room with little space for anything larger
- zoo-med UTH with rheostat (herpstat 1 redline on shopping list) = 90F (hot side 88-92F, cool side 77-82F)
- exo-terra light fixture with 2-25 watt daytime heatbulbs + 1-25 watt nighttime bulb (low light level but brings ambient temps to target)
- I also cut exact pieces of 1/8" opaque plaskolite/acrylic and pressure fitted them into the exo-terra screen cover (3 of 4 sections) to better maintain RH%
- humidity is around 50% without misting or adding sphagnum moss – easily gets to 70% with daily misting
- cypress mulch, zoo-med medium hide (hot side), waterdish & grape-wood jungle gym covered w/plants for cool-side hide
- exo-terra combo-meter, 2 acurite combo meters, and an IR gun for monitoring

Cage aesthetics were important for us = no tubs; created a natural-type environment and cool display regardless of a BP hiding all day.

SO anything missing or suggestions? pull the trigger? We really hope to feed F/T in this cage, and temporarily use a plastic placemat or piece of cardboard to cover a lot of the substrate during feeding, hope that works...

Sounds pretty awesome. My daughter received her first BP, and our family's first snake, 6 months ago on her 8th birthday. It has been a great experience. Someone with more knowledge might have some other suggestions for you but I like the description of your set up.

My only thought is to give some serious consideration to what type of BP you want as there are so many wonderful examples. Morph Market was a great place for me to find different genes and prices but in the end we kept it simple as she picked what fancied her most from a local pet store. Good luck!

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Originally Posted by vikingr

My 8-year old daughter loves snakes/reptiles (awesome), we’re hoping to get her a BP (and our 1^st family pet) very soon…

I’ve been running the following setup (after trial/error) for a couple weeks now so we know steady state conditions can be achieved (no surprises):
- exo-terra med low terrarium (24x18x12) – getting a male and going in her room with little space for anything larger
- zoo-med UTH with rheostat (herpstat 1 redline on shopping list) = 90F (hot side 88-92F, cool side 77-82F)
- exo-terra light fixture with 2-25 watt daytime heatbulbs + 1-25 watt nighttime bulb (low light level but brings ambient temps to target)
- I also cut exact pieces of 1/8" opaque plaskolite/acrylic and pressure fitted them into the exo-terra screen cover (3 of 4 sections) to better maintain RH%
- humidity is around 50% without misting or adding sphagnum moss – easily gets to 70% with daily misting
- cypress mulch, zoo-med medium hide (hot side), waterdish & grape-wood jungle gym covered w/plants for cool-side hide
- exo-terra combo-meter, 2 acurite combo meters, and an IR gun for monitoring

Cage aesthetics were important for us = no tubs; created a natural-type environment and cool display regardless of a BP hiding all day.

SO anything missing or suggestions? pull the trigger? We really hope to feed F/T in this cage, and temporarily use a plastic placemat or piece of cardboard to cover a lot of the substrate during feeding, hope that works...

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It sounds good I would use a 10 gallon if its a baby. Their are better hides to use than half logs. They have https://www.amazon.com/Exo-Terra-Rep.../dp/B001F3YJ9O which I would get 2 for each side and they look cool. But if you do use the big one then just make sure you have plenty of hides, Are you getting a baby?

Wait for the thermostat.
Try to control humidity without the need to mist. You will forget or will go out of town for a few days.

"Natural environment" for a ball python is a hole in the ground in a grassland habitat.

welcome!!! first off it's awesome that you're testing the enclosure before bringing your new scale bby home; this will save you many headaches! here's some of my recommendations from what you've provided:

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Originally Posted by vikingr

- zoo-med UTH with rheostat (herpstat 1 redline on shopping list) = 90F (hot side 88-92F, cool side 77-82F)

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herpstats are fantastic products, definitely get one when you can. for one snake i'd suggest the Herpstat Intro+: all the same safety features of the more expensive models with a smaller price tag.

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Originally Posted by vikingr

- exo-terra light fixture with 2-25 watt daytime heatbulbs + 1-25 watt nighttime bulb (low light level but brings ambient temps to target)

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ditch the bulbs if you can and get a ceramic heat emitter (CHE): beeps don't like light and the CHE should be sufficient enough to bring ambient temps to target.

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Originally Posted by vikingr

- I also cut exact pieces of 1/8" opaque plaskolite/acrylic and pressure fitted them into the exo-terra screen cover (3 of 4 sections) to better maintain RH%

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great idea.

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Originally Posted by vikingr

- humidity is around 50% without misting or adding sphagnum moss – easily gets to 70% with daily misting

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just stay on top of misting and you shouldn't have much of a problem.

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Originally Posted by vikingr

- cypress mulch, zoo-med medium hide (hot side), waterdish & grape-wood jungle gym covered w/plants for cool-side hide

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get two identical hides: sometimes beeps will favor one over the other for one reason or another, so to cut down on the potential of them sacrificing their need to thermoregulate over their security, you get two identical hides to avoid any stress for them.
YES get an IR temp gun; they're an amazing tool.

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Originally Posted by vikingr

Cage aesthetics were important for us = no tubs; created a natural-type environment and cool display regardless of a BP hiding all day.

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depending on the snake and/or where you get it from and its age, it may not thrive right away in a big enclosure. sometimes babies need THEIR needs met before your own. if your beep is not eating/losing weight, you might need to switch to a 6qt tub so it gets established. i'm not saying it's going to happen, but it is something you need to consider as it CAN happen.

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Originally Posted by vikingr

SO anything missing or suggestions? pull the trigger? We really hope to feed F/T in this cage, and temporarily use a plastic placemat or piece of cardboard to cover a lot of the substrate during feeding, hope that works...

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you're ALMOST there!

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Originally Posted by rock

Sounds pretty awesome. My daughter received her first BP, and our family's first snake, 6 months ago on her 8th birthday. It has been a great experience. Someone with more knowledge might have some other suggestions for you but I like the description of your set up.

My only thought is to give some serious consideration to what type of BP you want as there are so many wonderful examples. Morph Market was a great place for me to find different genes and prices but in the end we kept it simple as she picked what fancied her most from a local pet store. Good luck!

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Good to hear it's been a positive experience for your 8-year old. I do the grunt work, the selection process will need prior approval from my daughter and wife (& 11-year old son probably)... I actually prefer the normals and darker morphs, black/dark browns with contrasting orange/yellows... black pastel, yellow belly, orange dream.. but anything goes, whatever they want as long as it's healthy and feeding on F/T

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Originally Posted by Dillonfail

It sounds good I would use a 10 gallon if its a baby. Their are better hides to use than half logs. They have https://www.amazon.com/Exo-Terra-Rep.../dp/B001F3YJ9O which I would get 2 for each side and they look cool. But if you do use the big one then just make sure you have plenty of hides, Are you getting a baby?

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Thanks for your input, I packed the med-low exo-terra cage in with stuff so it's not too daunting for a small 100-150g BP; and I do have an exo-terra hide on the warm side (the one with a single hole on top). I made a more natural type hide on the cooler side but no big deal if I need to go another route - I'll figure out how to post some pics here

^^^I would basically ditto what tttaylorrr said^^^ She always gives good advice!

I personally don't have identical hides in any of my snakes enclosures, and have never had an issue there, but maybe I've been lucky. A lot of keepers suggest that though, so maybe it would be good to at least start out that way.

We'll have a good read of all the posts above and you're good to go ..

As mentioned , those log hides are really no use as hides as they just won't feel secure at all ... a thermostat is an absolute MUST before the snake gives in ... I'd suggest orchid bark / ReptiBark as a substrate as it looks great , makes the snake look amazing and helps to keep the humidity up .

You've also got time to buy a digital temp gun for about 13 dollars off eBay or Amazon or whatever ..


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Originally Posted by JodanOrNoDan

Wait for the thermostat.
Try to control humidity without the need to mist. You will forget or will go out of town for a few days.

"Natural environment" for a ball python is a hole in the ground in a grassland habitat.

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I'm in NJ, it's dry now, approaching months should help humidity, until then I'll use a little moss, maybe a room humidifier (or mist).
Clarification: I opted for a "natural looking" terrestrial environment, not a reproduction of a BP's indigenous/native habitat.

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Originally Posted by tttaylorrr

you're ALMOST there!

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Thanks Taylor, appreciate the welcome and all your great suggestions! will try to add some pics here for better detail...

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Originally Posted by vikingr

Thanks Taylor, appreciate the welcome and all your great suggestions! will try to add some pics here for better detail...

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you're welcome. we all want your new baby to be as happy as you guys will be with it! and we always love pictures! lol.

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

We'll have a good read of all the posts above and you're good to go ..

As mentioned , those log hides are really no use as hides as they just won't feel secure at all ... a thermostat is an absolute MUST before the snake gives in ... I'd suggest orchid bark / ReptiBark as a substrate as it looks great , makes the snake look amazing and helps to keep the humidity up .

You've also got time to buy a digital temp gun for about 13 dollars off eBay or Amazon or whatever ..


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Man, I lit up my Amazon Prime account over the past few weeks! bought almost everything there + got the 774 temp gun 2-days ago... actually I over-purchased and now have a lot stuff I'm not even going to use, but might in the future (different hides, branches, water dish, vines, plastic plants, bulbs). I'm not sold on the cypress mulch and open to others, like the look of the coconut substrate too - Thanks Zincubus

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Originally Posted by vikingr

Man, I lit up my Amazon Prime account over the past few weeks! bought almost everything there + got the 774 temp gun 2-days ago... actually I over-purchased and now have a lot stuff I'm not even going to use, but might in the future (different hides, branches, water dish, vines, plastic plants, bulbs). I'm not sold on the cypress mulch and open to others, like the look of the coconut substrate too - Thanks Zincubus

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Pleasure ... you'll be a great snake keeper , that's obvious to see :)

Just remember that the substrate should ideally be in the opposite colour range to the snake so dark coloured substrate like orchid bark or ReptiBark or whatever will emphasise the colours and pattering of your snake/s whereas very light colour substrate kinda drains the colour from most snakes . I see so many beautiful light coloured / albino snakes kept on aspen but they're almost camouflaged out .



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Currently in my dining room... testing which temp/RH probe works best, bottom pic = screen covers I made

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...fc38996a3f.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...f4b7eff39c.jpg


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Originally Posted by vikingr

Currently in my dining room... testing which temp/RH probe works best, bottom pic = screen covers I made

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...fc38996a3f.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...f4b7eff39c.jpg


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looks pretty good! those covers are great. how are you going to use bulbs with them? if you're still having humidity issues even with those covers, maybe try taping saran wrap OUTSIDE the top on the metal edges; that's worked wonders for me in the past. i've never used a hide like that with a hole on the top. asking anyone who might know: are those suitable?

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Originally Posted by tttaylorrr

looks pretty good! those covers are great. how are you going to use bulbs with them? if you're still having humidity issues even with those covers, maybe try taping saran wrap OUTSIDE the top on the metal edges; that's worked wonders for me in the past. i've never used a hide like that with a hole on the top. asking anyone who might know: are those suitable?

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I hear the hole on top design works well. I am making a cheapo version for one of my more reluctant feeders to see if I can get him more consistent. The OP put in some good work. Hope it holds up when the bulldozer arrives. Most of my girls would extensively "redecorate".

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Originally Posted by tttaylorrr

looks pretty good! those covers are great. how are you going to use bulbs with them? if you're still having humidity issues even with those covers, maybe try taping saran wrap OUTSIDE the top on the metal edges; that's worked wonders for me in the past. i've never used a hide like that with a hole on the top. asking anyone who might know: are those suitable?

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I should point out that I had just plugged everything back in after house cleaning yesterday to take this pic - so temps are off on those acurites... The acrylic/plaskolite panels are not toxic and have a melting point somewhere around 300F. But I'm only covering 3 or the four 4 panels and it's a very tight seal. I left 1 panel off in the back/left beneath the coated heat light so I get improved ambient heating and some ventilation.

The hides should be just fine , I have one of those enclosed hides and all the snakes love them plus they make great damp hides for when they're in shed mode - just add some damp moss or wet kitchen roll daily - also the log thing in the corner also looks ok , I incorrectly pictured one of the typical log roll hides with a front and back entrance which are no use . Some people prefer to have two identical hides but it's not written in stone anywhere .

It may be worth considering putting some black paper or whatever you fancy on the outsides of back and side panels just to give a more secure feeling for the snake .


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Originally Posted by tttaylorrr

depending on the snake and/or where you get it from and its age, it may not thrive right away in a big enclosure. sometimes babies need THEIR needs met before your own. if your beep is not eating/losing weight, you might need to switch to a 6qt tub so it gets established. i'm not saying it's going to happen, but it is something you need to consider as it CAN happen.

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i had that problem with my baby banana bp, i had to put him in a 6qt tub because he didnt feel secure enough in a tub that was only twice as big and he was refusing meals.

also in my opinion the terrarium you are using might be a bit big for a baby but it does look pretty nice.

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

wet kitchen roll

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wet kitchen roll == paper towel? I want to be sure in case I hear this again.

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Originally Posted by Alexiel03

i had that problem with my baby banana bp, i had to put him in a 6qt tub because he didnt feel secure enough in a tub that was only twice as big and he was refusing meals.

also in my opinion the terrarium you are using might be a bit big for a baby but it does look pretty nice.

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You can , I feel , make a Viv/rub appear smaller by adding , fake foliage, branches / bark pieces and more hides ... You don't have to actually go to a smaller container , in my experience anyways ..


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Originally Posted by JodanOrNoDan

wet kitchen roll == paper towel? I want to be sure in case I hear this again.

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Correct - another cultural difference :)


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