Lighting/Heating Issue

[jimbob69]

Hello,
I am a new user here on the ball-pythons.net website and now the proud owner of my very own ball python. I lurked these forums for about a week before creating my account, learning all I could about these beautiful and intriguing creates before getting one of my own. I now have one as mentioned, and with my purchase of my snake I bought a 'starter kit' at the store as well. However, I feel like the items included within the kit are not nearly enough to maintain a comfortable and safe living environment for my little guy. I only purchased Severus Snake (my ball python) not even 12 hours ago. I didn't have time to do much shopping for supplies and whatnot, as I didn't arrive at the store until 8:30 and it closed at 9. The kit I purchased came with a 20 gl tank, a mesh pad equivalent to the size of the bottom of the tank, a heating lamp, a temperature/humidity gauge, and a heating pad which is roughly 1/3rd the size of the bottom of the night. I'm going back to the store this afternoon, and I want to know what I need to purchase (within reason) to maintain appropriate living conditions for my new snake. I want him to be 100% comfortable. I can tell he is currently quite stressed out as things stand now. My main concern or question is how the combination of lighting/heating lamps/heating pads works exactly. I know my snake needs to be on roughly a 12 hour day/night schedule, but the only consistent source of both light and heat is the heating lamp atop. If I turn it off for the night, he'll freeze as I don't think the heating pad is nearly enough to keep the enclosure warm. I currently have the heating lamp on top of the tank focusing its light and heat onto the middle of the tank. I also have a makeshift water bowl which is located on the far right of the tank, and the heating pad is located on the far left. From what I've read this is a pretty standard setup. The middle is the basking area, the right is the cool-down area, and the left is just a cozy medium between the two. I'm just confused as to what I need to be able to keep the tank at an appropriate temperature at all times while having the option of switching the lights on and off for the schedule. On my purchase list so far is two hides, a real water 'bowl', some substrate, and various artificial plants and vines. I want to make his enclosure perfect. I don't want to keep him in the current conditions for more than one day as he's very unhappy; to a point where he struck at me when I was making slight adjustments to the tank. I don't want our potential bonding and pet-owner relationship to be foiled because he doesn't feel I'm a suitable and safe caregiver. I plan on being quite sociable with my snake, and if he ends up becoming aggressive it'll really ruin the whole experience. If any experienced ball python owners could give me some suggestions, hints, tips, tricks, or any information at all it will be heavily appreciated.
If you want to see what Severus looks like, check out the following thread: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...Severus-Snake!

[ekansnakekans]

Hiya buddy, how's it going, that's a very nice looking snake you got there , firstly everyone has been in your situation at somepoint so we all know how confusing it can be at first, so I'll try my best to help you now, first things first, firstly I find and prefer wooden vivariums, I find that they are easier to heat and keeps temps right than glass which seems to lose heat quicker, just my opinion, others may disagree , so if you have the cash I'd get him a nice small Viv and fill it with plenty of hides as royals like it cramped they feel more secure, next you may want to get a log or two for him to climb as they seem to love to climb, just don't make it too high as they are a heavy bodied snake and could hurt them selves from a too high of a drop, and put a lot of plants in if you are keeping the glass tank to hide up the sides and back of the tank, this will also make him feel more secure , as the last thing you want is a stressed out snake that won't eat, now substrate and heating: you can typically use anything. From paper towels to aspen to reptile carpet which you have, I personally prefer aspen as it's easier to clean and maintain, it looks more natural and holds humidity better, for the heat source use a heat mat, now I'm 100% sure if you can put a heat mat under a glass tank like yours as the weight could damage it so I'd personally put the heat mat in the tank on one side under the substrate and this is a MUST connect your heat mat to a thermastat and put the probe over the heat mat on top of the substrate to prevent it from over and under heating, you typically want your heat mat covering a quarter to a third of your tank but no more than half so that the snake can regulate his temps, now the cool side of your tank proving your house isn't freezing should naturally be around the 80's which is fine, they need an ambient air temp at this, typically room temp, as for a bulb I wouldn't put one on this setup as you would have to buy another thermostat to regulate the bulbs heat and it'll just start getting confusing, this being said you could always use led strip lights, this is what I use as they give of no heat, and come in a variety of colours, also always make sure your snake has access to clean water and your all good to go, don't worry about humidity most people including me only spray them or use moss when they are shedding as if you over humidify them it can lead to illness and respiritry infections. Hope this quick guide was helpful, just let me know if you need anymore help or assistance Tim

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[ekansnakekans]

Also the snake will strike due to stress more than anything, best thig to do is when you get home take him out, sort the tank as quick as you can while still making sure it's safe n right etc, put him back in then leave him alone , ie no touching or trying to feed him etc for around. 7 days after this time period he should be settled and you can start to handle and feed him

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[jimbob69]

Update: Issue resolved. Thank you for all the help, ekansnakekans. I picked up an infrared light, which apparently is good for 24/7 use and it's not nearly as bright as the old heating lamp light.

[artgecko]

Welcome!
Be warned, they're addictive creatures... I bought my first snake in July and am now up to 4 (oddly enough, no BPs yet, although that will be remedied soon enough).
That said, I've got a few recommendations for you that I needed to learn when starting out.
I'd start with a good thermometer to read your temps.. The dial ones don't work that well. A great one is the Acurite indoor / outdoor one with a long probe. It will read the cool side temp (put the base unit on the cool side of the tank away from your under tank heating pad), the hot spot temp (place the probe directly over the heating pad) and also reads humidity.

Did your kit come with a thermostat to control the UTH? If not, this is a necessity as UTHs can get over 100f without a means of control. If you're in a tight spot, a lamp dimmer can work IF you monitor closely with a good thermometer and adjust it to get the temp right where you want it...See this sticky for how to set up that option. Another relatively inexpensive option is a hydrofarm thermostat.. It is meant to control heating pads for plants but can be used with reptile ones... These are on Amazon and run around $35. If you want to go all out, nothing is better than a herpstat proportional thermostat. These aren't cheap, but they work great. I've had my herpstat 4 for several months now and LOVE it. You'd probably be good with the herpstat intro or one for just one tank.

One last husbandry thing to think about is humidity. BPs like around 60% and it can be hard to get that in a glass tank setup because of the screen top. Read this sticky about how to retrofit your screen top to hold in more humidity.

I'd also advise blocking out (using paper, paint, whatever) three of the sides of your tank... I used black construction paper on the sides and back of mine. This will help the snake feel more secure in his home. Adding an extra hide on the cool end will also give him somewhere else to go.

Good luck with your new addition!