New owner and site member, BP Dehydrated from store.

[Reed12321]

Tape is generally considered a bad idea inside cages. Snakes can get stuck to it and suffer injury when you peel it off of them. Might consider going the hot glue gun route.

The tape is packing tape, so it takes a lot of effort to actually lift it up, so I'm not too worried. I've had the tape for like 2+ weeks now and haven't had any problems. The tape is also mostly hidden under part of the hide so it would also require a lot of digging and moving of heavy objects to get it up.

[Karokash]

Aright i'm going to move the lamp back, that's how I originally had it but I saw on here to move it to the center so the ambient temp on the cool side doesn't drop too low and so that the humidity would rise with it being over the water. I'm worried if I put the lamp over the UTH, that side will rocket into the high 90's again. The UTH is still reading like 92 with the dimmer almost off and a pseudo tile barrier between it and the tank bottom.

But i'm going to go move it like you said and see what that does. And yes I still plan on ordering a thermostat as soon as I can afford it again (recent hit to my bank account) I was just hoping the dimmer would hold me off until then

[Spoons]

Here's a quick shot of my setup, a 20 gallon long, with the mixed bedding. At some point I'd like to get more plants and stuff to stick in there, but for now this will have to do! The lamp on top is a 65 watt Ceramic, the UTH is the ExoTerra HeatWave 16 watt medium size, and the thermostat on the wall is Hydrofarm's.

Quick edit to add: Snakes are pretty resilient little things. They can forgive mistakes, so long as you're on your way to figuring things out, which you are. I think you can rest assured that your snake even now is getting much better care than he was at the pet store and is very likely already much happier and more comfortable.

[Karokash]

Thank you for the encouragement. I know the two big things now are changing the bedding and getting that thermostat. I just went back in and the readings looked a little better: 88 on the hot side, 81 on the cool and the humidity got to 37%.

So weird that the humidity is the thing i'm battling with most, I didn't think it was possible to have a humidity of less than like 80% anywhere in Louisiana. I swear just walking around feels like you just got out of the shower.

[Reed12321]

Aright i'm going to move the lamp back, that's how I originally had it but I saw on here to move it to the center so the ambient temp on the cool side doesn't drop too low and so that the humidity would rise with it being over the water. I'm worried if I put the lamp over the UTH, that side will rocket into the high 90's again. The UTH is still reading like 92 with the dimmer almost off and a pseudo tile barrier between it and the tank bottom.

But i'm going to go move it like you said and see what that does. And yes I still plan on ordering a thermostat as soon as I can afford it again (recent hit to my bank account) I was just hoping the dimmer would hold me off until then

The coverage on top of the tank will prevent the cold side from getting too cold. Also, I noticed your cheap humidity and temp gauges are placed in odd locations. I just have mine in the middle because that's where I gauge everything from. I suppose there is no right or wrong way to put those gauges, but so long as you can maintain an accurate temp you're fine. And your hot side, the top of the substrate should be like 88F (that's why I have the thermostat set to 90 because with a layer of substrate and the fact that the temp varies across 3 degrees, it'll give a better condition for the snake) I have a very similar size tank to yours and I think I even have a 100 watt bulb in there so you may be set in that area.

I work at a boarding school, and the school pays for all of my housing, so my apartment is set to 73-74F inside so that helps maintain some temperature.

Also, just for reassurance - you're not a bad snake owner. I faced all of the same problems that you did for the first week or so after I got my first snake. Now that I'm confident in my abilities to create a nice habitat, I'm thinking about getting even more snakes.

[Reed12321]

Here's a quick shot of my setup, a 20 gallon long, with the mixed bedding. At some point I'd like to get more plants and stuff to stick in there, but for now this will have to do! The lamp on top is a 65 watt Ceramic, the UTH is the ExoTerra HeatWave 16 watt medium size, and the thermostat on the wall is Hydrofarm's.

Quick edit to add: Snakes are pretty resilient little things. They can forgive mistakes, so long as you're on your way to figuring things out, which you are. I think you can rest assured that your snake even now is getting much better care than he was at the pet store and is very likely already much happier and more comfortable.

I'm pretty jealous of that setup. I just bought fake plants from wal mart, cut the long stems off of them and made it it more visually appealing that way.

[Karokash]

Reed: The little cheapo ones are only there because I was too lazy to take them off once I put in the accurite one, heh. And If you are confident that you're making comfy habitats you should totally get more.

My dream plan, at least herp wise, is to breed one day. Not for profit really just because I really love them and would love to see new ones come into the world and watch the variations that develop. So I really hope I can also get confident in my ability to care for these creatures. I feel very responsible for Kaa; I feel he deserves a happy and comfy life and all I want is to give that to him to help him forget the pet store. And if I can accomplish that, then I will plan on repeating it with as many new babies as I can comfortably support

[Spoons]

Reed, If you're looking for cheap plants, don't go to WalMart, go to JoAnn Craft stores. They have a huge floral section with all kinds of fake plants. Seasonal ones too if you want to deck out the tank for holidays. Just be sure that the ones you buy, if they're the "chain link" kind of fake plant, you cut the loops so they don't wedge themselves in there. Also on their website and their app they have crazy good coupons all the time.

Side note, I really like the name Kaa. Is it from something or did you come up with it? My guy is still unnamed so I just call him snake. lol

[Karokash]

Kaa is the name of the python in the jungle book. In the original story he was extremely wise and powerful and had this ambiguous view of everything. You never knew which side he was on and generally he was viewed as not really having a side. He was sort of "beyond" the triviality of good and evil. Representative of strength and intelligence.

He was also ancient, so I was hoping it would bring my little guy good luck as well as inspiration.

[Reed12321]

I like the name Kaa too. I like when people name their pets and they have actual meaning behind it. I named my little guy Akeda. It's Matisyahu's newest album name and it's the hebrew word for "The Binding." It sorta fits because BP's are constrictors. I named my cat August because I really like August Burns Red. They're a hardcore/metalcore band and my cat is a hardcore cat. She got frostbite from her previous owner and the tips of her ears fell off because of it. My other snake is named Cleo (cleopatra) and you'd need to ask my girlfriend why she named her that.