Need Help New Ball Python Owner :)

Hey all I just recently got a new Ball python he's about 1.5 feet long and his name is King, I will post some pics up later of him when I figure out how to do it. I have a tank which is 3 feet wide and 1.5 feet tall and I decorated it with a few things which I will show in the pictures but my main concern is the tank came with built in heat lights on the insde one for the day (white) and one for the night (red) and I wanted to know how safe is it with the lights in there I know he can get burned on it but he hasnt soo far and I have had him for 3 days now hes very friendly and I take very good care of him, I was instructed to feed him two small mice every week, and to keep the heat on the kool side at about 86 to 88 degrees. As far as for pythons I was told that that if the temperature were to drop too low that that would be better then the temperature going too high. Well thats it for my questions. If anyone can tell/show me how to put up pics I will show you the tank and him. Thank you.

This will show you exactly how to post pictures. I couldn't figure it out either until I saw this ^_^
http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=32416

And seeing as I'm still learning myself, I can't help you with all your questions, but I'll answer what I know....

Ball pythons don't need daylighting. As long as the room they are in has a window that is enough to keep their internal clocks going strong. So the white and red lights are unnessary. I'm not sure what some other people will suggest, but I have a ceramic heat emitter. It doesn't put off any light (too much white light can stress out a BP I believe) and it keeps the tank where it needs to be. And your right about your new snakes being able to get burned by those lights inside...is there a way you could move them to the outside of the tank?

When you get your pictures up it will be easier for everyone to help you with your set-up. Your temps on the cool side sound good. The warm side should be about 95 or so. You should have a snug fitting hide on both sides so the snake can choose which side it wants to be on with out having to sacrifice it's security.

I'm sure someone with more experiance will chime in, and the pics will help too ^_^ Hope this helps some and welcome to BP.net!!!! :D

Here are the pictures I hope they work

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/DSC00046.jpg

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/DSC00045.jpg

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/DSC00044.jpg

Hi, welcome to the forum. If you need information on ballpython care, first check this caresheet.
http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=59

Also read the questions and anwers in the husbandry forum, this helped me a LOT. And if you don't find the answer to what you want to know, just ask.
That's why we're on the forum right?

By the way, good looking guy you got there :P

Thanks :) I really like him he's soo mellow and nice, he loves to explore a lot too lol he hasnt striked at anyone except the guy at the store who handed him to me, but that guy smelled like mice :) I will try and catch good pic of him so you can see the full size but from what I see he looks to be around 1.5 feet

You're lucky to have a nice snake. My first ballpython strikes at everything that moves, even to my camera. She's dangerous, but i love her :sunny:

With the bulbs inside the viv like that your snake is going to end up getting burned, possibly severely. Bulbs need to be outside the viv behind a screen so they can't reach it.

Whoever designed that viv, it certainly wasn't properly designed for snakes with the bulbs right inside like that. It's just asking for the snake to wrap around those hot searing bulbs. I flinch just looking at it. Turn those bulbs off and get a UTH and a thermostat.

I am soo glad he is nice I worry a lot about him and I always make sure that his temperature is good I am just worried about the light on the inside so I think I am going to get a heating pad. Should I get 1 or 2 heating pads for hot side and for cool side? or is one okay?

I noticed it says your location is Netherlands my uncle lives in Amsterdam :) I cant wait to visit him.

Okay this week I will get him heating pad and remove those light bulbs

Good idea. Well I hope he doesn't get curious in the mean time.

I am making sure he gets it tommorow. Hey I have a Flukers Thermo-Hygrometer (Digital Thermometer and Humidity Gauge) how accurate you think these are? Are they any good?

I think the best way for you to truly understand how dangerous those hot bulbs are is to show you Orlah. She's an adult female we found in a pet store, her dorsal scarring is actually much worse than this picture shows and our herp vet was quite surprised she survived this injury. Since it occurred before we bought her our vet can only surmise, from her experience as a herp vet, that it did occur from direct exposure to those sorts of lights inside an enclosure.

This is what a snake can have to live with, please don't let it happen to yours.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...lahMay2006.jpg

If you cannot immediately remove those then at the very least grab a roll of hardware cloth from the store (only about $5.00) and make light guards. It won't take but a few moments and can save the snake from a very sad, painful and needless injury.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KingPython

Okay this week I will get him heating pad and remove those light bulbs

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Don't forget a quality thermostat to control the UTH (I'm assuming that's what you mean by heating pad) or it could get hot enough to burn him as well.

Hey KP,


Welcome to the site. :)

I also vote gaurding the bulbs - I have included pics of the gaurds I made for mine using nothing more than a pair of pliers. It wasn't too hard and I'm officially ambi-sinister (cr*p with both hands). I also have a picture of my male showing the scars he was left with from contact with a heat source.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...ramicgaurd.JPG

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...rtankgaurd.JPG

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...urdfixings.JPG

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...rmansscars.JPG


Hope this helps.




dr del

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Originally Posted by KingPython

I noticed it says your location is Netherlands my uncle lives in Amsterdam :) I cant wait to visit him.

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Amsterdam is soooo cool!! I go there a lot to shop. But there's more than shopping, i don't think i have to tell you what... :D

Thank you all for the tips I will defenately try to fix this situation before it goes bad, I keep track of him a lot when he is out on the tree or near the light so far I have not seen him get curious near the light. The only thing that concerns me now is why did that pet store person tell me that its okay to have those lights in there he told me he would never burn him self, those darn liars. As far as those heating pads go how do I set them up and can I control the temperature on them by a switch. Also is there anything on the market that keeps a steady 88 degrees temperature. I worry about the temeparature dropping or raising when I am not at home.


Lol I know exactly what you mean Nordin haha

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KingPython

Thank you all for the tips I will defenately try to fix this situation before it goes bad, I keep track of him a lot when he is out on the tree or near the light so far I have not seen him get curious near the light. The only thing that concerns me now is why did that pet store person tell me that its okay to have those lights in there he told me he would never burn him self, those darn liars. As far as those heating pads go how do I set them up and can I control the temperature on them by a switch. Also is there anything on the market that keeps a steady 88 degrees temperature. I worry about the temeparature dropping or raising when I am not at home.


Lol I know exactly what you mean Nordin haha

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Well, the thing that would control your heating pad would be able to make sure it stays a steady temperature in your enclosure. You should have a heat gradient of 80-84 on the "cool" end and 90-94 on the "warm" end. A UTH (Under Tank Heat) pad will help there. What you need to control it is called a thermostat.

There a two different kinds of thermostats. Proportional and On/Off. Proportional are more accurate at keeping temps "perfect", as they increase or decrease the temp to keep the temp exactly where you set it. The On/Off varities are still good, but can be off one or two degrees in either direction.

A few brands reccomended often on BP.net are:

Proportional:
-Herpstat (I personally use one of these)
-Helix

On/Off:
-Ranco
-Johnsons

You will likely have to buy them online, unless you have a VERY well-stocked herp store nearby. A few places I know of off-hand are:
www.reptilebasics.com (he carries Helix, Johnsons and Ranco)
www.spyderrobotics.com (the makers of Herpstat)
www.thebeanfarm.com

Hope that helps!

Thanks for the input Kim I will defenately have to find another way for now till I can afford one of those Herpstat's I guess now I will just go get 2 heating pads one for hot side and one for kool side and adjust the temperatures so that he's happy. I will buy another temperature reader for the warm side and remove those 2 heat bubls so he doesnt get burned. Ill keep you all informed what happens next lol I never thought it would be this much work :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KingPython

Thanks for the input Kim I will defenately have to find another way for now till I can afford one of those Herpstat's I guess now I will just go get 2 heating pads one for hot side and one for kool side and adjust the temperatures so that he's happy. I will buy another temperature reader for the warm side and remove those 2 heat bubls so he doesnt get burned. Ill keep you all informed what happens next lol I never thought it would be this much work :)

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Well, here's what I'll say about it. I know that $75-$130 sounds like a lot to spend...but over the course of your BP's life, it equates to very little money for peace of mind.

On 2 heat pads from a pet store, you're probably going to be spending $35-45, depending on the size of the heat pads (since you're talking about 2).

What I would do is this, go to www.reptilebasics.com and buy 1ft of 11" Flexwatt heat tape (does the same job as a heat pad does) and a pre-wired Johnsons or Ranco thermostat. This will come out to $83 plus shipping. The flexwatt is really inexpensive, and in my opinon, it's worth it to have a good heat source AND a good way to control it. Spending the money now will be so much more worth it for you and your little one in the long run.

I understand money constraints, but a thermostat is definitely something worth saving for and purchasing. :)

The nice thing is once you've got an enclosure set up and stabilized it really tends to tick along with very little real work for the keeper other than general cleaning and keeping an eye on things. We have 15 snakes and they really take no time at all each day to manage (all in seperate enclosures of course).

As to why the pet store gave you incorrect information, there's a few reasons for that. If they sold you that enclosure, it's called making a buck off an unsuspecting customer. It can be about untrained pet store staff who don't know a ball python from the hole in their head they talk out of. It can be old fashioned information that they still cling to. Remember these are the same type of stores that still market and promote electric heat rocks years after they've been proven to be dangerous to almost any living thing. You can occasionally find a really wonderful pet store and great staff in it, but they are almost always private stores not chain stores or tend to stock exotics/reptiles only.

Thats why I am here looking to find out more I will invest more money into his cage as soon as my check comes in I def need something that can hold the temperature on both ends so that when I am at work I dont have to worry about having to adjust his temperature. If anyone knows of anything that can do that and hold 2 temperatures on each side that would be great. Example would be 92 to 92 degress on hot side and 86 to 88 on cool side so that it doesnt drop or raise any higher than those. I am not sure if they have anything like that on the market but I would love to have it. Till I get some spare cash I will try and cover up those lights so that he doesnt go near them. If anyone has anymore input on items I should get please let me know and also list a site or store where I can get it I would def. appreciate it. Thank you

You need 2 UTHs or wired pieces of flexwatt, both identical.
You also need one thermostat and one lamp dimmer

COnnect the thermostat to the warm side UTH and stabilize the temps there to your target temp. connect the lamp dimmer to the thermostat as well and the cool side UTH into the lamp dimmer. While the thermostat keeps the warm side where ytou wnt it, adjust the lamp dimmer so the cool side is at your cooler target temp.

Either im just too tired to understand this or im confused but I will give it a shot :) . THanks

That's assuming a UTH will work and it's a glass or plastic bottom that will conduct the heat.

the bottom of the tank is wood

Well I don't know what to tell you then. Frankly if it were me I would return that monstrosity to the moron that built it and get my money back, but that's me.

I can't think of one single animal that could be kept safely in a cage built like that.

Where could I get a better tank?? lol I will try and return it

I'm not sure, I don't use that type of cage. I currently use glass aquariums for my corn snakes and a sterilite tub for my ball python. I have a rack on order that will house all of my corn snakes.

If you kept the viv you have you could probably mount UTH's on the inside, as long as they are relatively watertight and controlled by thermostat(s). You'd want advice from someone familiar with that type of viv though, and probably not from the store that sold it to you and said those exposed bulbs inside are ok.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KingPython

Thanks for the input Kim I will defenately have to find another way for now till I can afford one of those Herpstat's I guess now I will just go get 2 heating pads one for hot side and one for kool side and adjust the temperatures so that he's happy. I will buy another temperature reader for the warm side and remove those 2 heat bubls so he doesnt get burned. Ill keep you all informed what happens next lol I never thought it would be this much work :)

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You CAN use the bulbs. You just need to put screens around them like those in Dr. Del's pics. It's whatever is easiest, or makes most sense for you and your situation.

Freddie's tank has a hood like an aquarium, with the 3 diff. style bulbs, and the owner didn't have anything between Freddie and the lights. And doofy snake Loooooooooooved to curl up inside around them. Lucky for him I wasn't using them at the time (and they didn't break!). I've since gotten a lid w/screen that fits in between, so that I can leave the heat bulb on all the time for the temp and the snake can't get to it and get burned.

As for the wooden bottom. A couple ways you can do it.....


1. put the UTH under plexiglass/sealed w/silicone to prevent water w/the thermostat attached, or,

2. you can attach it to the SIDE of the tank. I own a couple of the Scotland made brands of UTH that are sealed in plastic(?) and since Freddie's is an acrylic tank, I have the UTH on the inside but I always monitor the temps, even though it's already attached to a thermostat.

If you're going to invest in a Helix II, it can monitor and control both the hot side UTH (set to 92-94*) and the cool side (82-84*). If you use a rheostat (dimmer is another name) YOU have to manually make the adjustments all the time to keep the temp steady...and from personal experience w/dimmers...they're a royal PITA...unless your room temp is VERY steady and constant.

Yea my room temp stays okay it varies I keep the window cracked open just a tiny bit but those I need something that controls the temperature on both sides so that I dont have to worry about you think the Helix 2 will do it? The dimmer switch thingies I have are a pain in the a** I hate the fact u cant adjust them and keep them in one temperature they are always off.
And also I am in the process of picking up a 50 gal fish tank that I will set up with under tank heat mats so that I can transfer him in there, till then I will just fix that light situation I msg Dr Del about that cage thing he designed, but no response yet, my mom is going out tommorow to hardware store or homedepot to check it out and get it for me so that I can keep him safe. Thank god he hasnt gotten burned on it yet. He has been feeling very stressed lately I am not sure what it is, I think he might be hungry today when I held him he was acting weird he jerked and twitched a couple of times I hope hes alrite when I deposit my check ill take him to the vet to check him out just to make sure hes fine.


Oh and I had a question about the humidity what percentage should it be at mines is usually around 45% if it needs to be higher how can I raise it?

50% is good, unless he's in shed. Then U want to boost it to 60-70%.


You can take your pick of options:

Misting as often as necessary w/a spray bottle (labor intensive)

Automatic mister w/timer (sort of expensive)

Make a DIY humidifier (DIY thread here) or buy a simple humidifier and aquarium air pump

Coconut husk bedding which is moister (but can't be water squeezeable when U first put it in, or that's TOO wet)

If you've got a screen lid, you can cover it (except about a 2" diameter hole on opposing corners <Example: upper right and lower left for ventilation>) with the plastic wrap or tinfoil and tape it down to trap moisture inside OR use a damp towl covering the lid, remembering that the towl would need to be changed and washed daily due to bacteria growth.

Move the water bowl to under the heat lamp/ onto the warm side of the tank to increase the rate of evaporation

I've used the coconut husk bedding. I have one that has a humidifier and air pump system hooked up to it, two of my tanks are sealed w/tinfoil or saran (plastic) wrap and one is plexiglass with holes drilled to repair where the screen was torn. I have another cage that I occas. mist with a spray bottle for a quick little "upper".

Alright I am going to try and get that going I am a big nub at this right now till I learn everything but I will take your advice and try and get him some more humidity in there. Alrite im off to work Ill reply to any more msgs later tonight.