Habitat Frustration, UPDATED with new Enclosures

Hello. I am including pictures of my two ball python habitats.

I have one cold side hide sitting around 80-83 degrees belly temp and the warm side hide sitting around 90-93 degrees with an ambient air temperate of 80 degrees. Humidity is still a struggle but my main question is this. I am concerned about my snakes preference for one location over the other. My pinstripe seems to move as needed but my normal girls seem to stick to the hide that has the false leaves and logs. It was originally on the cool side of the enclosure but has since been moved to the warm side.
I figured having the more airous hide on the warm half of the habitat would provide a better temp for the over all tank and additionally wouldnt over heat them like the hollowed out rock was. Anyhow, here are my pictures please tell me your ideas and thoughts.

Two ladies enclosure:

http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/6025/img1033a.jpg

My pinstripe:

http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/1911/img1034.jpg

Thank you for your time!

You may not be getting the correct readings, as those stick on dials are HORRIBLE. I run a $12 Accurite Digital Indoor/Outdoor Thermometer/Hydrometer (most people here use one). You put the unit on the coolside, and tape the probe on the hotside, directly on the UTH using aluminum tape. If you aren't using anything to regulate the UTH, there's a pretty good chance the temps are going to be WAY higher then what those dials are reading now, potentially dangerous.

To help with the humidity, you can put a few layers of aluminum foil, shiny side down, on the screen top. Be sure to remember to cut an opening one side for ventilation. Pm Argentra, she sent me an excellent step by step tutorial on how to make a cover with aluminum foil and duct tape, and was very helpful.

Edit - the Accurite does not include batteries, so buy a pack of those too :)

How are you measuring the temps and humidity? If it's from those two dials stuck on the girls' tank, then the numbers are not only wrong, they are not from either end of the tank.
#1 problem I see. The two girls are in one tank. Two snakes in one tank will constantly stress over the best place in the tank, and struggle for superiority over each other. You should seperate them. Note, they are the ones acting odd too?
#2 problem. I don't see any way to hold in humidity. The screen lids are notorious at letting out any humidity, so that it will be too dry.
#3 problem. The girl tank, you might want to move the hides, so that they are on each end of the tank.. instead of one in the middle, and one on the end.
#4 problem. THe pinstripe hide that is a half log, many snakes don't feel secure it those.

Please post what you're using to measure the temps and humidity, but I think one of the main issues will be that you have two snakes in that one cage, which means they will not be comfortable at all, since they spend all their time fussing over which snake is dominant.

1) take those half logs and throw them in the trash. Get somthing that completly enclosed with a small opening. I realy like the ones from Reptile Basics. I have a few.
2) cover about 3/4 of the screen top to hold in the humidity. I taped a plastic bag over the top and that will work just fine.
3) get a second tank. DON'T but 2 balls together in the same tank.

Okay. Thank you very much for your suggestions.

For humidity and temperature I am just using the stick dials which Ive just learned are apparently terrible and I will have to hit up a shop tommorrow to pick up some decent ones.

The two girls are indeed the pair that are acting odd. Im moving into a new place in about a week and will have more room to get a third habitat for them so they can feel more secure.

Instead of using the half log, I am considering another one of those rocks that is in the larger tank for the pinstripe.

Now a question, which would you use for hot and cold side? The hollowed rock? Or the false leave log combination?

It's best to have identical hides on each side. Also, if space is an issue you can easily house in Rubbermade tubs. Lots of people here do it.

Oh, and here is a great website to order from...www.reptilebasics.com. The owner is very knowledgable, and answers questions quickly. You can get your hides, and the thermostat there. You can also make hides pretty easily out of tupperware containers, just make sure the sides aren't clear.

Don't forget, the thermostat is extremely important!! If you can't afford one right now, a light dimmer switch from a hardware store can be used to regulate the UTH, but it's a lot harder to dial in (especially if room temps fluctuate).

Especially since you have 3 snakes, I would really suggest switching to plastic tubs. If you want a nice display animal, try a different kind of snake or an amphibian. Ball pythons just hide all the time :P

You really should have identical TIGHT fitting hides. Ball pythons really like to wear their hides as "hats", so they barely fit into them. It makes them feel very secure. Remember, a hiding BP is a happy bp :)

I think you notice the girls on the cool side because your hot side is way to hot. Especially if you have no form of heat control. I would suggest investing in a quality thermostat since you seem to have caught the ball bug :P.

Make sure when you get a new thermometer, they are not only digital but come with a probe. This is really crucial to finding accurate temps inside the cage.

Well, Im actually going to be hitting up "The Container" Store today and they have a fairly good set of plastic tubs that I may or may not invest in, as well as a good thermostat. Seems pretty obvious that buying the 55 gallon was a huge mistake. I'll be trying to sell it I think.

Also, since im setting up the tubs tonight, could I get some suggestions on tub layout? Like Heat location, hide location etc.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3503/...eb5bc5.jpg?v=0
I setup my tubs a little differently now. I have two of the white hides, one for each side of the tub and I have the water bowl in the center. Heat goes on one side of the bottom of the tub. In this picture, I have a UTH on the left side where the hide is.

Got my tubs last night. And am moving into my new place over the weekend. I'll take pictures and post them up when I get it done.

Kudos to you for first asking for help and then secondly, for following up on it and acting.

okay got the tubs setup, all snakes separated, dual hides on each side, four digital thermometers with probes and each tub has a ZooMed UTH with water bowl in the middle. Im also using a zoomed rheostat to help control temps. Having a few issues getting the surface temp to around 92 and the UTH temp is around 100 when put directly on it. but i'll figure that out, pictures to come tommorrow!

Also, hopefully you fixed it, but not only are those gauges not really accurate, but they are WAY too high, you need to put the gauges at the level of the snake, it serves no point to know what the humidity & temperature that high is, you need to know what it's at within the snakes level.

Oh yeah. I fixed it all. Each snake now has a 30 gallon plastic tub. Zoomed UTH, Thermometer, and Im using a Zoomed Rheostat to dial in on the correct temp. Did some work after my last post, one snake ive dialed in to around 93 degrees warmside, the other is still sitting at a low 88 but I can amp that up a few degrees here. If it wasnt for all the suggestions I probably wouldnt have done anything. :) I'll have pics tonight for sure.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PythonJiuJitsu

Oh yeah. I fixed it all. Each snake now has a 30 gallon plastic tub. Zoomed UTH, Thermometer, and Im using a Zoomed Rheostat to dial in on the correct temp. Did some work after my last post, one snake ive dialed in to around 93 degrees warmside, the other is still sitting at a low 88 but I can amp that up a few degrees here. If it wasnt for all the suggestions I probably wouldnt have done anything. :) I'll have pics tonight for sure.

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30 GALLON? Or 30 Quart? My largest females are in 41 quart tubs. I can't imagine how large a 30 gallon tub is.

Its like a rubbermade clear tub. It is most likely 30 quarts but I will have pictures tonight to post once I move my last snake into the remaining tub. Im really proud of it and really apprecaite all the suggestions. Will be nice to look back at the thread and see the change from start to finish/change.

Okay I got some pictures of my new habitats for my lovely's. A far change from what they once were. Please feel free to comment :) I got the temps just right finally. between 91.5 and 92.5 on the warm side for belly heat, and around 82 on the coolside belly with water between. Ambient air temperature is 75. :) Busted out some rheostats, and some decent digital thermoms with probes.

http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/7716/img1035.jpg
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/6804/img1036g.jpg

Hera:
http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/7913/img1037b.jpg

Eros:
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/2885/img1038j.jpg

Helio:

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/8859/img1039m.jpg

Sent my last post too soon and my edit button seems to have dissappeared! :) But I wanted to thank everyone again for the help.