Newbie wanting to get everything close to perfect :-D

[GalaxyMom]

**If my questions have been asked and answered (I browsed the caging forum but didn't see anything...), please forgive me. But I am concerned about my newest acquisition, and like the title says: I want to get everything as close to perfect as possible.

So, I have never kept balls before. Western hognoses and corns and rubber boas, yes. But no ball pythons. I have read as much as possible, and picked the brains of our amazing East Bay Vivarium staff. And I bought a 24 x 15 x 15 wood enclosure, finished it with a PolyMin sealer combo, and made/secured to the inner top of the cage a wire cage for enclosing the heat emitter. I got a dimmer, a rheostat, 100w ceramic heat emitter, and several digital thermometers/hygrometers and some analog ones for the hell of it. I got everything set up, temps stablized (I thought), and I bought a female pinstripe hatchling 3 months ago (she hatched in late April 2013).

She seems happy, is eating well and routinely, and I was happy to see her shed for the first time. BUT she shed incompletely, and it looks like the breeder's set up caused burns on her bqck which only became apparent during/after the shed. I freaked out, trying to figure how she got burned in my setup since the temps are never higher than 92 (usually hover at 90 on the hot side and 76 on the cool side).

I have to constantly fiddle with the dimmer switch that is connected to the rheostat and heat emitter to keep at this temp range. It is a pain in the butt! My home in NorCal is usually about 75, with the windows open wide for summer heat, and sweaters on the humans when the goosebumps come out in the winter. Really, I heat my snake enclosures like other people heat their homes. I make my kids and hubby suffer. (The cats have their own fun coats so I don't worry about them.) :-) Anyway, I have had to drill and place 4 more holes/cover with plastic vents to keep the air flow good, but it's still not PERFECT!

Keeping a humid place is more difficult--I initially put a Tupperware with moist sphagnum moss on the hot side for her to be in, but she never goes in. (Fast forward to bad shed.) Then, I tried to increase the whole cage humidity but that is totally messing with the temps, for some reason--or maybe messing with the thermomters?

Anyway, ANYONE GOT SOME SUGGESTIONS?? I am hoping there is a "quick fix" type thing out there--my friend has a larger wood tank for her adult male ball, and doesn't seem to have these issues! I am mimicking her setup as much as possible, but I have no idea what to do! All I want is a happy, healthy ball python! I am deeply attatched to my Galaxy, and am frustrated and pissed off that the hours and hard work I have been constantly putting in for the last 3 months isn't paying off! I don't want to accidentally injure her, or cause illness or death, but I am following the myriad guidelines, etc., and I feel like I am failing her.

Yes, reading my post, I realize it's a bit of a rant, but darn it! I am worried! And I talk/write a lot when I get anxious!! :-(

Thanks in advance...

Here's to the compassion of the ball python community and the collective hive mind! ;-)

[dr del]

Hi,

The simplest way to avoid the fiddling with the dimmer problem is to buy a thermostat.

What kind of heater are you using? Bulbs, radiant heat panels, het mats or ceramic bulbs?

[Skilla6000]

I think if the snake had a burn you woul have seen it before you purchased it, I think your snake got burnt on your care, as you don't have a thermostat and the temps could have went up to 150f or something while you were at work.

[treeboa]

Ceramic heat emitters get very hot. She could have burned herself very quickly by contacting it. A radiant heat panel or a UTH if the wood isn't too thick would be a better option. As Dr Del said a thermostat is better than a dimmer. Sometimes you can pick up a nice used one cheap on the classifieds.

[Crazymonkee]

I'm by far not an expert... but I don't think a prior burn would show up after a shed... (please correct me if I'm wrong). Can your snake come in contact at all with the heat emitter? Especially since the burn is on it's back? What was the breeders setup?
Are you positive it's a burn and not something else?

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[GalaxyMom]

Okay, so first off, thank you all for the responses. Sorry it has taken me a while to get back online and respond, myself.

I do want to clarify some things: I do have a dimmer attached to the thermostat. I was using a lamp foot dimmer switch + Hydrofarm heat controller. I changed to the CA brand RF1000 heat controller + a NEW dimmer switch. So far, so good: it keeps the hot side around the set 90 degrees (88.6-90.5). The change is because I was babysitting a friend's leopard gecko and his tank setup uses the CA heat controller for the UTH; there was a 1-2 degree margin of difference between the set temp and what I was getting with the ZooMed digital temp gun. (And yes, I am fully aware that there is a huge difference between a UTH and a ceramic heat emitter. But it seemed like several things needed to be changed, and the heat controller was one of them.) FYI, I am working on the info that I need her hot side to be around 90 and the cool side to be about 75.)FYI, I am working on the info that I need her hot side to be around 90 and the cool side to be about 75.) I am routinely using the ZooMed digital thermometer "gun" AND have added 2 more digital thermometers. Everything is synching up at this point with 1-2 degree changes. This is a significant improvement in temperature variation. However, I am still not happy with how small the temperature gradient is (90 on the hot side and down to maybe 84 on the cool side). She currently spends most of her time in the hide on the cool side--a small pet water bowl with a cut-out that lets her actually be under the bowl full of water and measures at 77 degrees. Maybe this is okay, so long as it is a stable 77 degrees? I also drilled and installed two more 3" vents on the cool side; hopefully, this will also encourage the cool side to be more, well, cool. And, if necessary, I can keep adding those vents to the ceiling, but really, it's looking pretty tacky now, IMHO.

PROBLEM: Even with the above modifications, plus the wire cage around the heat emitter, said heat emitter is registering at 150 degrees! WTF? How can I fix that, to prevent further burns? I am not able to move things around much as it is a small tank, and I don't want to stress her out by getting a bigger tank. HOWEVER, this is NOT DOABLE! It seems totally effed up that the tank temps are so low but the emitter is so darned high! Any suggestions or helpful hints here?


And as far as the burn goes, yes, it is a burn. A lesser degree burn, but a burn nonetheless. She is about to shed again, so I am trying to leave her alone as much as possible. But she is healing well, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that this shed will be better. I am misting daily, and monitoring her closely (but without bothering her too much). And whether she could have come into contact with the actual heat emitter, NO, no at all--but she definitely could have come into contact with the wire cage that is surrounds the emitter. It sticks out 1" further than the emitter itself, and that is securely mounted and has not ever come off without me unscrewing it from the ceiling of the tank. And even though I have never seen her coming anywhere near it, obviously she does things when I am not around. I am stumped at how all the digital controls set to maintain the ~90 temp are allowing it to get that high (especially with the dimmer, too!), and I had hoped that switching to the CA RF1000 would fix that, but it hasn't.

I wish I could figure out how to attach pictures!! I know they would be helpful! Yet another thread I need to read!


So, bottom line, thank you for the info/advice. I am constantly still checking the temps (especially with the temp gun), and making sure that she survives this burn and never gets another one. But more help is still needed!

And now I hate the way the tank looks, but figuring out what other tank to go with is another huge task! There are plenty of threads that discuss THAT topic!

Thanks again, everyone!

Laila

[MootWorm]

It seems like your current CHE is simply too strong. I use a 100 watt for my lizard that needs temps well over 100 degrees, so that's a bit overkill for a ball. I'd recommend switching it out for a 50 watt to start.

[Crazymonkee]

I agree with Moot

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[GalaxyMom]

Oh! What an idea! Seems like a duh moment for me! ;-) My only concern: if I need it to be 90, isn't it kind of asking for an electrical problem if I am making it go 40 degrees above what it's rated? I don't need more of a fire hazard... But it's a neat suggestion!! And I certainly have the lower watt ceramic heat emitter. Here's to giving it a try!! Thanks, guys!!

Laila

[MootWorm]

Oh! What an idea! Seems like a duh moment for me! ;-) My only concern: if I need it to be 90, isn't it kind of asking for an electrical problem if I am making it go 40 degrees above what it's rated? I don't need more of a fire hazard... But it's a neat suggestion!! And I certainly have the lower watt ceramic heat emitter. Here's to giving it a try!! Thanks, guys!!

Laila

Wattage does not equate temperature output... You'll have to play around with your CHE until you find what works for you