New Ball Python questions

I've been into snakes since I was a little kid, but was never allowed to have one, now that I'm 19 and out on my own I finally went and bought a Ball Python.

I've spent countless hours researching and obsessing over giving him (I say him but I'm not sure if it's male or female, the guy at the store said female but at the juvenile stage I know it's sometimes hard to be certain.) the best of care.

Anyway, he's in a 10x12x20 tank, I started out with just a hide log, a bowl of water and a 100watt Neodymium daylight bulb. Ive since decided this was far too much for him and switched out for a 50watt "moonlight bulb" and an 8x8 undertank heater. Ive got a thermometer and hygrometer in the tank now as well as a second bowl of water on the opposite end (an empty chip dip container with a hole cut in the lid). After wrapping half the screen lid in saran wrap and a few mistings on the mulch Ive finally been able to maintain a 50% humidity level. As you can imagine this was impossible before with the 100watt bulb.

In the close to 6 weeks now that I've had him he's never given me a problem, eats great every 5-7 days and never struck at me. However, now at the 6 week mark im beginning to wonder when he's going to go into shed...After eating yesterday, he's spent ALL of today soaking in his chip-dip "pool" and I'm wondering if that's a sign of coming into shed OR if the tank is too warm for him with the 50watt moonbulb AND undertank heater going at the same time.

The bulb and heater are both at one end of the tank (the same side an open bowl of water is on to help humidity), his 'pool' is on the other side. The thermometer on the warm side of the tank reads about ~90F with the moonbulb and heater on and now that I turned the bulb off (heater is still on) it's reading ~84F.

So, 50watt moonbulb and undertank heater on 24/7, is this too much? Should I just use the bulb to help supplement heat in the winter? I don't get how he could be hotter now than he was with a 100watt bulb on 12 hours a day...

((also ive included a picture of Legion, posing like a green tree python :D ))

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y12...c22/Legion.png

The soaking doesn't necessarily mean he is too hot, it's quite common for snakes to do that from time to time. The bulb may not be necessary, I would try with the under-the-tank only for a while and see how that does. It will hold humidity better that way as well.

I just wanted to say congrats on Legion!!! He is a very handsome snake and that is a great picture of him:D

I am a newbie to owning a BP myself so I'd rather leave the suggestions to the experienced for you.;)

Good luck and congrats again!

Thanks for the advice so far guys, and man I dunno if it's just because he's my snake or what but I definitely think he's gotta be the most handsome normal BP ive ever seen :P

VEry nice snake.......sounds almost like me wanting a snake forever but couldent have one since it was illegal in Hawaii .........living in vegas now and my wife and I have 14 LOL everyone calls us the Adams family........snakes,tattoos,peircings lol

Mein Gott, constrictors are illegal in Hawaii?! :O

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Originally Posted by Psycl0n_B

Mein Gott, constrictors are illegal in Hawaii?! :O

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all snakes are illegal in hawaii......hawaii has thier own kinda like hr669 law nothing invaisive allowed no snakes iguanas etc..........

Sad, but I suppose I can understand...speaking of HR669, has everyone sent their letters to their local representative? I know I have.

http://www.nohr669.com/

Beautiful snake!!

I never use bulbs... my snakes have under the tank heat pads in winter and as of now, are outside (in an enclosed/screened area) with natural Florida heat and humidity, which they LOVE! lol

But yeah, I think you likely don't need the bulb IMO

Pick up a lamp dimmer from home depot(about 10 bucks) for the uth. If your using a tank you want to be able to control all heat devices. Lamp on one end (50w) bulb should be fine, and uth on the other. If you have the dimmer you can control the heat sources to give you 92(uth side) and (80-82) lamp side.

Get rid of the log hide and get a nice snug fitting rock hide or make one yourself. But you want it snug. And place that over the uth. Pick up a digital therm. Accurites are best because they measure hum. as well and place the probe under the hide. Your snake will spend most of its time under there so knowing that temp is most critical.

Damp towel works better that saran wrap as you can bump up your humidity as much as 20% + if need be. You'll have to worry more about the Hum. in the winter as furnaces dry the air in your house. It's also to important to watch the room temp in your room. If your room temp goes up so will your enclosure temps. The only way to avoid this is to run a t-stat.
Hope this helps.

Well I've got some "GREAT" news, apparently the reason he's been soaking all this time isnt because he's been too warm...He has MITES.

Ive only had him for like 6 weeks I dont see how this could have happened. I dont know what to do...Would taking everything out of the terrarium and cleaning it with a water/bleach solution work? Then soak the snake to get rid of any on him and put em back?

Thats too bad ... :(

There is a product called "Prevent-a-mite"[PAM] or something. I have seen it reccomended for pretty much every time I have read about mites.

were you using aspen bedding?

It was some kind of a wood mulch (not the kind that is bad for them though I know that).

I think after this, no more wood substrate, im gonna try paper towels and newspaper for awhile. I just got back from the local grocery type place and found a ten gallon aquarium brand new for 8 bucks. So right now ive got him soaking to drown any mites that might be on him while im disinfecting and baking all his 'furniture.'

After that im just gonna stick him in the new aquarium with paper towels and see how it goes...I dont think the problem is severe yet as I only saw one crawling on him and a few in his water dish.

I love paper towels. You can see when they go so much better. I had aspen, and I only changed it after shed. With small cleanings of course. Then I switched to paper towels when I noticed wood mites. My female seems to go twice as often. lol. And now I know I'm getting everything cleaned up when I do clean. :) I think you will like it.

Regarding your temps, how are you measuring them?

Also, all heat sources (most importantly, UTHs) MUST be controlled with a thermostat or else you could cook your snake.

Also, provide two identical tight fitting hides (the rock cave type). One for the cool side and one for the warm side.


Check out the sticky ball python care-sheet. Read it twice and then ask some questions :)

Welcome!

Why does everyone say identicle hides? I have two identicle hides that my baby BP does not even touch, a 1/2 log thing that it likes and a bush that it hides under..... Do we really think that in the wild the snakes would have identicle hides?

I was just using one of those junk stick on liquid crystal thermometers to measure temperature. Clearly I need to get a laser one or something that I can point at certain areas and check. As far as the thermostat goes, are you talking about like a "dimmer" for the UTH or an actual thermostat that reads temps and can be set by them?

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Originally Posted by k2l3d4

Why does everyone say identicle hides? I have two identicle hides that my baby BP does not even touch, a 1/2 log thing that it likes and a bush that it hides under..... Do we really think that in the wild the snakes would have identicle hides?

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Identical hides are important because in the wild, ball pythons have a variety of hides to choose from and this allows them to thermo regulate. In captivity, we can't offer them that. Ball pythons WILL sacrifice being at the proper temp for security. If they favor one hide over the other, they will stay in that one, which means they could become sick from not thermo regulating. Make sense?


To the OP. I would suggest getting a thermostat now. Dimmers are a quick fix while you wait for a thermostat to arrive in the mail (since you can't really find them in stores). With a dimmer, you will have to constantly check the temp and adjust the dimmer switch. With a thermostat, you set it once and then you never have to worry about a temp spike.

Snake mites have an average life day life cycle. Try to get some Provent-A-Mite if you can and use it exactly as directed (it does NOT go directly on the snake). Most other products may get rid of the adult mites but if you don't deal with killing off the eggs, guess what comes back in about 30 days again.

Also, just because the stick on thermometer reads 90 doesnt mean it is 90 degrees where your guy is laying. If you are using a UTH it could easily be up and over 100 degrees. I tape my thermostat and thermometer probes to the bottom of my tank between the tank and the bottom of the tub. I have it at about 96 degrees. Where he lays on the inside it is just around 90-91. Dont wanna cook ur lil dude, hes very cute btw!

Just checked today and I found a mite crawling on Legion (this is after I bought a new 10 gallon tank, soaked him in water to drown any that might of been on him and put him in)...Anyone have any luck with Reptile Relief? I know everyone is singing the praises of Prevent a Mite but I cant find any stores that carry it around here (and i really don't want to wait ordering it online, I doubt Legion wants to wait either lol..).

Go for the PAM. With reptile releif, you will just have to keep treating for mites over and over. with PAM, it gets rid of them forever. You won't be able to find it in stores so just order it online. Your snake will be fine for a few days while you wait.

Alright then I think i'll just go ahead and get the PAM, hopefully I dont have to spend more than a week worrying about him and the mites lol..

I managed to eradicate mites on two separate snakes on two separate occasions with Reptile Relief. You just have to be diligent. I didn't feed my snakes while I was using it, because the treatment is a little stressful, but it was only about a week. I began the treatment, sprayed the snake and then rubbed with a paper towel. Cleaned the cage completely with a MILD bleach solution, along with the furniture, then baked. Three days later I repeated the process, regardless of whether I saw mites or not. Same thing in another 3 days (basically 6-7 days total) and didn't see another mite after that. Takes effort, but it's possible.

Regarding the mites; there is a product called Reptile Relief- PLus; its made by natural chemistry, www.naturalchemistry.com

This CAN be sprayed directly onto your snake/ lizard (not safe for amphibians). Also I would recommend washing the tank and all of your snakes "furnishings" in either a very diluted bleach solution or spraying it down using the above mentioned spray; this will take care of all those eggs mentioned in a previous post. Use newspaper for the substrate for 2 weeks; and keep an eye open for any more mites, change newspaper and rinse everything once more.

I had to do this for my Mountain Horned Dragon and it took care of everything very quickly and all my other reptiles were safe too (he was quaranteened in a different room).

Hope this helps!:gj:

Well, I've already got the Provent a Mite on it's way, so I guess i'll just wait on that now. He's been soaking in his water dish all day again :(