Newbie :)

hey guys whatsup? im totally new here just registered! i tried to post this wolla go but i think i did it wrong and if it shows up twice thats why....im dumb. anyways...i just got my first baby bp about two weeks ago! he is my love. his name is Hardwin ( it means brave friend ) i have read a ton about pythons but that doesnt make up for experience that i dont have. any advice that anyone could throw my way no matter how off topic or wierd would be greatly appreciated! i love my hardwin and i worry so much about everything that he does!!! please let me in on anything!!! :) P.S he just ate today for the first time since i have had hiim!! im so flippin proud of him!!!

Welcome...glad you stopped in.:D

If you could post a little more about his new setup (type, temps, humidity, furnishings, etc.) then we could critique and offer up any suggestions that might make him/you more comfortable.

Also, is that you with him in your avatar? If so he isn't a baby.

k. 20 gallon terrarium. aspen beeding. rock water bowl. half log hide thingy. red heating bulb, with heating pad stuck to the side of the glass ( not underneath.) um....im sorry i dont know real names for everything. im so new. but i love my snake and want to know the best ways to take care of hiim. you know those :cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r:ty little stick on thermometers? i have one on the back glass. so its about 90 hot end 82 cool end. he just ate for the first time today. im excited. i dont know a lot about snakes but im not ignorant either. i know enough to know that im doing ok takiing care of him but i want to be better than ok. that is not good enough for him. i wnat better. ya know?

im not sure what to do about humidity. it scares me. he doesnt look ready to shed yet...i hope that isnt my fault. i got my yearning for a snake cause my uncle has a six foot ball. ( the one in the pic with me) and his name is feet. feet is in a 20 gallon tank. way to small...with a heating rock. those two things are bad. so im looking for outside sources for help. i just didnt wanna even ask him about humidity ya know? not to much to rely on. oh and i have a towel sitting on the top of one side of the terrarium to keep in heat.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by i_love_my_hardwin

k. 20 gallon terrarium. aspen beeding. rock water bowl. half log hide thingy. red heating bulb, with heating pad stuck to the side of the glass ( not underneath.) um....im sorry i dont know real names for everything. im so new. but i love my snake and want to know the best ways to take care of hiim. you know those :cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r:ty little stick on thermometers? i have one on the back glass. so its about 90 hot end 82 cool end. he just ate for the first time today. im excited. i dont know a lot about snakes but im not ignorant either. i know enough to know that im doing ok takiing care of him but i want to be better than ok. that is not good enough for him. i wnat better. ya know?

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Wow...where to start. I would suggest you read this thread

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=56846

It talks about setting up a proper tank...you have a lot of "errors" that should be corrected and this thread will explain them all.

Once you do then ask specific questions about what you don't understand...and we can help.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by i_love_my_hardwin

k. 20 gallon terrarium. aspen beeding. rock water bowl. half log hide thingy. red heating bulb, with heating pad stuck to the side of the glass ( not underneath.) um....im sorry i dont know real names for everything. im so new. but i love my snake and want to know the best ways to take care of hiim. you know those :cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r:ty little stick on thermometers? i have one on the back glass. so its about 90 hot end 82 cool end. he just ate for the first time today. im excited. i dont know a lot about snakes but im not ignorant either. i know enough to know that im doing ok takiing care of him but i want to be better than ok. that is not good enough for him. i wnat better. ya know?

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Welcome! Couple things stick out....

1. Get a better thermometer Acurite makes a good one that has a probe so you can monitor the hot side with the probe and the unit itself will monitor the other side for ambient. It will also show you your humidity which you should know and keep around 55% (everyone will say differently but that seems to be the census).

2. How are you regulating your hot side? You should have the UTH (Under Tank Heater) on at the least a rheostat but a thermostat would be better.

3. Not really an issue (personally) but most people recommend two identical hides on either side of the tank and not those half log things (doesn't make them feel secure enough i guess).

I'm sure you will get a bunch more posts adding stuff hopefully you will be able to piece them all together and make sense of it all :D

Also, rule #1 of these boards is PICS PICS and more PICS!

wow your right. i do have errors.....bad ones. geese. i know he is comfortable in his home......but i am so freakin out about temps. i feel that ill never get it right :( and humidity omg! how should i place everything in the tank to accomodate for now? does it matter what is where ? like wether his hide should be under the lamp or not? i put his water as far from the heat lamp as possible.... im gonna put a pic of him up. just so you can see....if i can figure out how.

holy geez how do i put a pic up?

Posting Pics ;)

[IMG]https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/images/file_bmp.gif[/IMG]





https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/images/file_bmp.gif



https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/images/file_bmp.gif

oh my bujeezez i have no clue what i did. i dont think i did that right. im so confused

Here ya go, he's a handsome little devil!

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...5/hardwin3.bmp
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...5/hardwin1.bmp
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...5/hardwin2.bmp

Can you post a pic of the setup that you have for him? We need to see what the setup is that you have him in to be able to give any advice or tips on anything. Hides, water, temps, substrate, lighting, humidity...so much to keep track of...lol:O

yes i can!! i would love to! real advice is precious lol! isnt my baby beautiful? !!!!!!!! im sorry. im just crazy about him ...!

[IMG]https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/images/file_bmp.gif[/IMG]

i totally didnt do that right............again. wow. geez. but anyways when u click it its his house at night. but everything is rearranged now because he just ate and he wanted to be in the heat. he kept trying to bask on the colder side so i moved everyting around and then he got comfy.

Can you take a bigger picture? (Of his ENTIRE setup)

yes sir i can. one minute and ill have it up ;)

wow this completely isnt working now. i cant get any pics on here at all. this hates me. i have no clue what to do now
:confused:

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Originally Posted by i_love_my_hardwin

wow this completely isnt working now. i cant get any pics on here at all. this hates me. i have no clue what to do now
:confused:

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Just upload them to photobucket and post the link.

you are so gonna laugh at me but i have no clue what you mean? photo bucket? im sorry im computeraly challenged

lol...

just use this:

http://imageshack.us/

click browse and upload your photo... then just post the link here.

[IMG]http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h8...gurl/home2.jpg[/IMG]

OMG I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! thats his nite lite. he just ate so he likes to bask....so....naturally i rearrange so he is comfortable and doesnt have to move

Lol, good job!

Alright here's a few tips... you should get two hides, one on the warm end and one on the cool. Just go to Lowes and pick up small plastic flower pots and cut a hole in each. They're cheap and work much better than that half log.

What are your current temps/humidity? If you don't know you need to buy a digital thermometer. Your warm side temps should be from 88-94ish. Cool side ~80. Your humidity should be 50-60%. If you need help on that, you can do a few things, such as putting the water dish over the heat source, misting the cage, changing your substrate to cypress mulch etc.

Other smaller things... you could add some shrubbery for purely aesthetic reasons, you can cover 3 sides of the tank to keep him feeling more secure and keep in heat (depending on what you use), also you may need to get a UTH to put under the tank depending on your substrate temps. Also you will need a thermostat/rheostat to keep a UTH under control.

i put the uth on the side. my boyfriend is a freak genius and insists on putting it on the side. i offer no arguement. hardwin likes it too i think...he gets in that warm corner where the light and pad heat just right for him. i have to get better thermometers badly. i hate it that i dont know the exact temperatures of everything. i worry constantly. did i do ok with the lamp? and the towels are kinda damp for humidity...there is just so much. it worries me. but i love the challenge. and hardwin. did u see the bp in my pic? he is so cool. feet is his name. he was my first love.

One thing about the covering the 3 sides. If you use any kind of fake plants make sure the fake plants,vines or whatever. Dont have anything your snake can get caught in. I know some of the vines have little circles at the end for hanging them up. Ive herd of smaller snakes trying to go through them and getting them stuck. I havent herd of any dieing from it but they have had some nasty sores from them.

see i was gonna buy this plastic like vine but the " bark" on it was so rough and up turned that i immediatly thought of those under belly scales. i worry about everything. ive already figured everyway he could possebly burn his self or in some freakish way drown. lol stupid i know but they are such con artists....

Well... he's probably always in that corner because he is cold. Go to Wal-Mart and pickup an Acu-Rite thermometer/hygrometer with a probe. You will be able to read the substrate temperature and the humidity in the cage.

Yeah the lamp is fine, it's not needed, but at least it will keep your temps up.

Btw I'm not sure what a "freak genius" is, but putting your UTH on the side isn't a "genius" idea. It's much better off below.

Here is a few links to thermometers,Hides and stuff
DIGITAL THERMOMETER AND HYGROMETER W/ PROBES http://www.undergroundreptiles.com/tempcontrols.htm
heres one for Hides http://www.undergroundreptiles.com/hideboxes.htm

Here is one with better thermostats http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/...d-thermostats/

did u know that if u put a uth on the bottom of the glass and a hot lamp is directly on it if its gets heated enough and cold water touches it then it will crack the glass?

The under tank heater is made to go under the tank. So the snake can get belly heat. Helps break up the mouse/rat better I guess. If you do move it to under the tank the tank should be raised up atleast 1/8 of an inch. Thats just so there is air moving around and all that.

thank u so much for that link! thats exactly what i was looking for! you guys are great! i couldnt have asked for better advice! i know book facts about python keeping but i dont have realy experience. so this realy is a big help

is the digital thermometer better? or does it matter?

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Originally Posted by ama1997

DIGITAL THERMOMETER AND HYGROMETER W/ PROBES

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The link I gave you for the thermometer and Hygrometer. Like said if you go to the local walmart you can get one that does the same thing for a bit cheaper. Im sure they work just the same. I have the one from walmart only doesnt have 2 probes.

now im excited. i cant wait to get one. i just want everything to be perfect. i have another question.....sorry lol......is there any vitamin supplement that i need to use? i see all these sprays and vitamins for water? whats the deal on those?

Ive never used any of them. Are they good or safe for your animal. I dont know someone else might be able to help out with that one a bit more than me. Pet shops most of the time will try and sell you as much as they can just to make the sale. Even if the pet doesnt really need it. Id be careful of that if someone is trying to sell you this and that id check on here first just so you dont spend way more than you need to.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by i_love_my_hardwin

is the digital thermometer better? or does it matter?

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Yah the digital it takes the temp at the probe where ever you put the probe so much better. The stick on ones I think they take the temp of the glass.

yeah the guy at peto was tryin to push it all on me. but i try not to be so gullable lol i just want him to be healthy of his own accord and not stress him with unneeded things of that sort. i was surprised when i got him. he is very curious and never retreats to his ball, so i take that as a sign of at least slight if not more happiness and dont want to tamper with it

i can tell that this stick on one is really....ill considered on my part. i should have known better either way. its...yeah....unaccurate for what he requires

I really dont know how accurate the stick on ones are. The only reason most dont use them is because they want to get the temps on the floor of the cage or in the hides. With the stick on ones you cant move them around and get different readings. Also if your new to keeping balls your not going to know everything. Ive been keeping them since 1993 and im not even close to knowing everything.

yeah thats what i really dont like . and they show temperatures by change in color on the ther. so its not accurate really at all when u think about it. im def. gettin a dig. im so glad you told me about that. it didnt cross my mind to get one with a probe.

Just make sure the one you get has the probe makes it a bit easier. Also make sure it can measure humidity.

The analog ones that I had that stuck to the glass were very quickly removed and thrown as hard as I could throw them, a total waste of money!! I found the analog hygrometer to be as much as nearly 20% off the temps as much as 10*F. I got 2 thermometers with the probes and one hygrometer. I have one of the probes under my hide (tucked slightly under the cypress mulch substrate) on the hot side and the other taking care of ambient air temp..I need another one to keep temps in line on the cool side as well, will be getting it tomorrow!