Thoughts on planned setup?

[Cthulhu]

Here's what I'm thinking about for my upcoming BP:

55 gallon tank with a screen top.
Eco-Earth/Bed-A-Beast type expanded coconut coir fiber substrate.
A hide at each end, water dish somewhere near the middle.

Now, heating.

Ambient temps in my apartment tend to be around 70-68.
I'm thinking a ceramic heat emitter on one end for my warm side and basking. On the other side have a red or black bulb for a warmer cool side as well as night viewing.

I'll also have a 20" dual-incandescent fixture in the middle with about 50W of white light to help simulate daytime, since I keep my living room lights off during the day and Western Washington doesn't get a lot of sun.

Plus all the normal thermo/hygrometers and timers and whatnot.

So...anyone have any thoughts on this setup? First time herp keeper, so I'd rather not screw anything up.

--Maarken

[steelsack]

Ah I know how you feel......want to get it all good to go b4 the bp gets home.....
Setup sounds good, but you'll know once and for all once you get it up and running. With the glass and screen (which I have as well) you'll most likely find yourself fiddling with humidity. Substrate will problably hold it pretty good (a little unsure as I use astroturf myself), but get a roll of duct tape just in case. Check out pics in photo albums of other members' setups and make sure you take some of your own 'cause we all want to see them!
Hope this helps, welcome to the wonderful world of boids!

[emroul]

Your setup sounds on the right track but this is just what I would adjust.

First, the screen top. These really don't do anything for humidity except bring it WAAAAY down. (Like steelsack said). Humidity in the ball python's cage needs to stay at a consistent 60%-70%. You can try using pegboard. Well, how about this, I have a 55 gallon tank that is housing an adult male ball python right now. This is what it consists of:

-An Under the Tank Heater (UTH) on one side set on a Helix thermostat @ 90 degrees and another UTH on the other side set on another thermostat at 80 degrees. This gives an ambient air temperature of 85 degrees. I don't like fiddling around with lights bulbs at all for any of my ball pythons, they don't necissarily even need light changes throughout the day, and the light bulbs soak up the humidity and dry the cage out (from my experiences with them).
-Reptile Bark as a substrate, I've noticed it helps keep the humidity up.
-A hide on the warm side and one inbetween the middle and cool side.
-Big water bowl (for a big bp, lol). I change it around. Basically, when he is not in shed, I keep it on the cool side. When he is in shed, I put it on the warm side (warm water evaporates faster, making it more humid in the tank).
-For the top/lid, I have pegboard instead of a screen top. This also helps hold in the humidity like you wouldn't believe.

Man, to think, I do all that just to keep in the humidity, and it is still only standing at roughly 67%... I can imagine what it is with tanks that have screen lids and a tiny water bowl, lol.

Well, there's my long post for the day. Hope it can come in use for someone somehow.
Jennifer

[BallKingdom]

Sounds good so far, you might consider a rubbermaid instead. Not a rack sized one, but a tub. I just wrote a do it yourself article on it. I'll post a link when it's finished.

[Tigergenesis]

Like others said - be prepared for problems with holding humidity and heat in a screen tank. But you can make it work - just have to find what method(s) work for you. If you set it all up and get it running before adding your snake you'll be at an advantage. I'd go with a UTH set on a thermostat over a ceramic bulb for heat. Ceramic bulbs tend to dry the air out more (from what I hear) making the humidity issue more of a problem. I cover my screen with duct tape. Pegboard, foil and saran wrap are other ideas I've heard. As long as your constant humidity is 50-60% that's fine - just get it up to 70% during shed.

I got my humidity in great range (with no daily misting or other work) by adding a Tropic-Aire Humidifier and Air Exchanger w/ air pump.

Can't wait to see pics!

[Cthulhu]

Tigergenesis: I'm used to cycling fishtanks, so having a tank setup but empty for a week or 2 while I'm tweaking it doesn't bother me.

I think what I'll do is get a screen top, and see what my humidity is like with this substrate. I can always modify it later with plastic wrap/duct tape/etc.

You guys/gals have a favorite UTH brand? I know some people use human heating pads, but I'd also seen several posts around about them just keeling over which makes me a bit wary.

So, ditch the CME for two UTHs, on on the hot site and one on the warm side, probably with a red/black/whatever bulb for night time viewing and basking.

Hrm..now I suppose I really should setup a couple cages/tanks in a spare bathroom closet for rat breeding...

--Maarken

[wolfman38]

As per the humidity issue, I have a glass screen enclosure (20 gallon long for now), and I am using Cypress Mulch for a substrate. I have one water bowl in the enclosure on the cool side and the humidity styas around 55 - 60%. I add a second bowl to the enclosure when he is getting ready to shed and that puts it up to around 65 - 70%. And if it begins to drop to low, I place a dish towel over the screen lid, and i do not use any kind of misting technique.

I use Zoomeds UTH (I think that is who made it), but you can get it from any pet shop that sells reptiles. I leave it on 24/7 with no thermosate attached to it, and the temp stays around 80 - 85 degrees. i turn on my heat lamp when he needs more heat. The cool side of the cage stays around 75 - 80 degrees depending on how often my house heater cuts on. Zeus really loves the cool side at that temp. I tried to keep it at around 80 and the hot side around 85 - 90, and he wasn't as happy with that temp range as he is with the cooler temps. But everything sounds good man. Hope that everything works out for ya.