In need of some help..

Hello everyone. I recently have came into some money with tax season and all and I can finally afford to get a ball python!!!! Wich is veary exciteing for me as ive wanted one for years ... I breed leopard geckos but a snake is in my veary near future. So I go out with my basic knowledge of snakes and reptiles in general to purchase some stuff for my new scaled friend. I buy as follow : U.T.H , Repti bark and eco earth type substrate for a good mix , half log for a hide , fake tree for plenty of climbing room and a appropriate sized water dish. Over to walmart for two accu-rite`s and some heat lamps, one with a 60 watt generic heat reptile bulb. And one the same but with a night bulb.So I go home with this to setup, at first I bought a 20 gallon but wasent satisfied and I dont think my bp would be later on either , so back to the store it was.. this time I arrived at home with a 40 gallon tank. I install the uth, substarte, hides, trees, and water bowl. Plug everything in and place the Accu-rites in. I come back abit later hopeing for some stable temps but to no avail.... it seems I cant get my temps above 75 degrees on the hot side and that just wont cut it..... would a ceramic heater be better or maybe higher wattage bulbs? I dont want to get the snake till the habitat is stable for atleast a day and I can record the highs and lows. Any help is greatly appreciated so I can get my soon to be snake home and get the "ball" rolling :).


Best regards
Ryan

A couple things:

1. a 40 Gallon for a baby is way too big. You will end up with a stressed out baby.
2. I would use multiple hides so he doesnt have to choice temperature over security.
3. What is the temp of the room?
4. Where are you measuring this temp?
5. What are you using to control the UTH temp?

Its good to see people do research before buying and making sure everything is right. We will all do our best to help you get it right.

Jamie

Hello.

If you are getting a baby BP, a 40 gallon tank is not a good choice. Young boids are nervous animals.. nothing bigger than a ten gallon tank for a baby. Large spaces are actually stressful on a baby. Even an adult BP needs no bigger than a 30 gallon tank.

I don't use lamps for any of my snakes.. I use flexwatt (heat tape.. it's an UTH that you can buy by the foot) plugged into a thermostat. Thermostats are extremely important.. without them your UTH will get too hot. Matt at mgreptiles can get you what you need as far as heating goes.. and most anything else too. http://www.mgreptiles.com/

As far as hides.. I don't like those half logs. They are too open.. not secure enough for a BP. You also need at least two (one on warm side one on cool side) something dark and tight is good for a hide. A lot of people use the plastic house plant saucers that go under potted plants.. I use washed out TV dinner trays, and whatever else I can find.

Be sure to read our care sheet.. it covers just about everything. http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=52

Hmmm ... I thought teh tank might be abit big but their in what looks to be a 50 gallon long at the pet store. The floor heater is set at 72 degrees consitantly... if i use it more our bill would be outrageous. I have more then one hide .. I guess i forgot to mention it.. one half log, one rock hide, a leafy hide with cave .. etc . I put the probs on the back glass section of the cage .... its inside hte cage just on the back wall ... I dont have a rheostat yet for the uth so no way to measure the temp on that yet.

Welcome! Always glad to see new bp owners do research beforehand! :banana: Here is a link that will help you setting up a glass tank(if you want to go with a tank).

Glass Vivarium setup

Also, consider returning your UTH and getting a flexwatt and thermostat from mgreptiles.com as April(Shelby) suggested.

I know I should wind up wit ha smaller tank but i dont understand how a bigger tank is stressing out an animal that normally lives in a forest wich is MUCH bigger. I guess because theri burrows or dens are smaller? I have the 40 gallon setup already . I just hate seeing 109$ go down the drain for the tank... ahh well.

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Originally Posted by Trigger

I know I should wind up wit ha smaller tank but i dont understand how a bigger tank is stressing out an animal that normally lives in a forest wich is MUCH bigger. I guess because theri burrows or dens are smaller? I have the 40 gallon setup already . I just hate seeing 109$ go down the drain for the tank... ahh well.

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Ball Pythons live in rodent burrows in the wild. So they will be stressed out by large, transparent enclosures. Its a no brainer ;) Can you not return the tank for a smaller one?

Nope... no returns...... dang.Would it be possible to put a background up on 3 out the 4 sides of the tank?

How about a divider and only using one side? I dont think a background is going to make a difference.

Go, through the link I gave you in my first post. Its a really good tutorial on setting up a glass tank. If you cannot return the tank, consider providing as many "tight fitting" hides as you can. The tight fitting is a must for these animals and the large gapping wooden logs will not cut it in making them "feel" secure. The best I have found are the little "pot plates." Knock a hole out on the top or on the side and get rid of all the jagged edges. Provide many of these as you can.

Hmmm a divider isint a bad idea....although the uth is on one side and I dont think it would heat efficently enough if it was split in half long ways.The bad thing is i already stuck the uth to the tank..... theres no way a 40 gallon would work with plenty of hides /trees/ background and such? I dont want to stress the snake or kill it, just trying to get this to work. Would it help if you guys had a picture of the tank?

Ok , will do .. ill go through and do everything needed to make my ball as comfy as possible. Now onto the problem I came here for..... I cant seem to get the hot side temp above 75-79 degrees and the cool side is 69-75....... not good, not good at all.

Pet stores don't know what they are doing most of the time.. I'm sure they have a bunch of BPs together in that 50 gallon tank? Very bad to say the least.. you really should consider buying your snake from a breeder. Snakes can be safely shipped.. or you can look for a breeder or show nearby to you. Snakes from a reputable breeder are going to be much healthier than your average pet store ball python.. which very well may have parasites or not even be captive bred.

As for the temperatures.. if you go to mgreptiles site and get two pieces of flexwatt and two thermostats (the johnson thermostats are good) set one to 92 degrees, the other to 82 degrees, and you should be set. Keeping the substrate to a minimal layer will help. I use newspaper for all of my snakes..

Another issue with such a big tank is that keeping it heated is more difficult. A 10 gallon tank really is better. Why don't you get a smaller tank just for now and wait for your snake to grow before putting it in the big one?

Yes I have thought over buying from a breeder but the ones around here just dont care for theri animals. Same as pet stores. If I can find a resonably priced reputable breeder online then I will buy from them but that will come later. I cant really afford to but a new tank and full setup...... if I go with another uth and buy two thermostats that should work right? Then ill just have to do as suggested and give the snake plenty of tight hides and such... wont it be like have a small rat den in the forest... but this forest only being 40 gallons big , haha. If at all possible I would like to make the 40 gallon work, sorry if it sounds like im being seflsih and what not, to a point I know I am ... but ive struggeled just to afford what I bought so far, I should have done more research before buy the supplies ... my fault. Maybe a ball python just isint for me, I dont want to try to make the tank work and wind up with a un happy herp.If nothing else ill setup the tank for my geckos..... thanks for your time and patience everyone.Best regards with your snakes and everything.... off to my new found lizard cage : D

Ryan

A 10 gallon tank is less than $10 at most pet stores.. you don't need to buy everything again.. most of what you have is fine for a 10 gallon. With a 10 you need two hides, substrate (which you have) water dish and heat. The thermostats are around $70 each and the flexwatt is $4 a foot.

But.. if you're really not that interested in the BP, maybe it is better if you not get one. They are a commitment just like any other animal.

No its not that ..... ive wanted one for years but I dont want to provide an innappropriate tank for the animal.... at 75$ each for the thermo-stats,heat tape, misc other stuff thats nearing another 200$ Is there any cheaper solutions?

if i did break down and buy two themrostats, four foot or so of flexwatt..... and replaced the uth I already have, in the process destroying a 30$ unit would the tank be suitable for the snake? Along with the bckground / tight enclosures and stuff?

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Originally Posted by Trigger

No its not that ..... ive wanted one for years but I dont want to provide an innappropriate tank for the animal.... at 75$ each for the thermo-stats,heat tape, misc other stuff thats nearing another 200$ Is there any cheaper solutions?

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If the place where you are keeping your animals stays at a constant temp through out the year, I would recomend getting a dimmer switch from Lowes or Home Dipot. I prefer the sliding ones as opposed to the ones that have fixed settings. Get one dimmer for each UTH. I think they run you around 10 to 15 dollars. Also, cover the top of the tank with contact paper. This preserves heat and humidity.

Just to let you know.... I have *carefully* ripped (do those 2 words go together? lol) UTH's off of the bottom of glass dozens of times (a few of my UTH's have been on 3 or 4 different glass vivs) without breaking them. They still heat, but after a while they just loose there stickyness. Nothing a little foil tape cant fix!
p.s.-flexwatt rocks

I love foil tape! I use it for everything!

Dimmers are cheap, but I did not find them to be consistent enough. Thermostats really are much better.

Remember, buying the thermostats and flexwatt is a one time purchase.. they will last you years.

I would go with a Tstat also. Dimmers are good to have as a backup just in case. Why are you getting two thermostats again?

I suggested two t-stats to keep the cool side temps up.. if you don't have a heated herp room, it can be difficult to keep cool side temps above 80 degrees.

ahh got it. I missed that part of the thread.

Well if he is able to get things set up right, I happen to have a nice fat male looking for a home :)

Hurray!!!! I sold two one my albino Leo`s ( leopard geckos ) and have about 175$ to play with now ( dont get to say that too often)..... along with those leos I have a extra 10 gallon tank lieing around now..... ok so i have the substrate ... hides. water bow , tank... now I just need to buy the two thermostats and flex watt? Would you say 2 foot of 11 inch wide should do it? And what two do i purchase , just the base one or?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Trigger

Hurray!!!! I sold two one my albino Leo`s ( leopard geckos ) and have about 175$ to play with now ( dont get to say that too often)..... along with those leos I have a extra 10 gallon tank lieing around now..... ok so i have the substrate ... hides. water bow , tank... now I just need to buy the two thermostats and flex watt? Would you say 2 foot of 11 inch wide should do it?

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Excellent! Always go with Tstats over anything else when you have the money! I'm thinking that one foot of the 11 inch would be enough to keep the warm end at 92-94 and provide a gradient in a 10gal. But if your room temps are low or fluctuate all the time, then I would go with the second flexwatt setup as well.

2' of 11" is fine. If you're comfortable using a soldering iron, you can wire the flexwatt to a cord yourself, or you can have Matt do it. Shoot him an e-mail and he can answer any of your questions.

Ok and just checking ... ill be running two heat pads even on a 10 gallon tank correct?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shelby

2' of 11" is fine. If you're comfortable using a soldering iron, you can wire the flexwatt to a cord yourself, or you can have Matt do it. Shoot him an e-mail and he can answer any of your questions.

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Or just crimp it and use electrical tape.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Trigger

Ok and just checking ... ill be running two heat pads even on a 10 gallon tank correct?

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92-94 on hot side. 82-84 on the cold side of thing.

Yes, two feet of flexwatt for the 10 gallon.

Also he hasent replied from a few emails for awhile.. ill wait but if possible I would like to get the stuff ordered soon . I will need 2 foot of 11 inch flex watt.. ill have him soldier it. A few foot of foil tape... and the thermostats ? Do i get the raw units, recepticle ends or what ? I have plenty of power strips if that refers to a surge protector type plug in wiht numerous plug ins?

Wait a sec here. 2 Feet of 11" for a 10 Gallon? That will cover the whole underside and not provide any gradient.

Thats what i thought also ...... but they said one heat pad for cool side and one for warm side?

Oh...Two separate 1 Ft pieces. Got it. That makes sense. What did you say the temp in the room is?

Around 72-77 degrees.. setting up the 40 gallon i had trouble getting it over 78 degress in the tank.

78 on the cool side, right? What was the warm side? Are you measuring directly on the surface of the substrate?

nope 78 on the warm side... 70 max on teh cool side... ahh well those temsp are gonna be used anyways as im setting up a 10 gallon till its bigger.I just need to know what to but as far as flexwatt and wich thermostat setups... liek the raw unit or what? Then ill be set.

I'm not sure on Rancos. Best to call Matt.

Get it with the 6 outlet power strip.. then it comes already wired.