Heat mat and light?

[Stings]

when i get my snake shouldi buy a heat mat and i bulb? i have a 30 gal tank that i will house it in. do i put all the heat at one end of the tank? what would be a good setup for a tank my size? i looked at all the stuff i need to buy but i would like to find a good setup.

[Shelby]

I would not recommend a bulb, as they suck all the humidity out of the tank.

The best thing you can get is a foot of 11" flexwatt and a thermostat to heat the enclosure. You can get both (all wired and ready to go) from Matt (justcage)

This is his site: http://www.mgreptiles.com/

You do put the flexwatt to one side of the tank, not in the middle.

As for other 'furnishings', it is necessary to have two hide boxes for your snake, one on each side of the enclosure. You can use lots of things.. you can buy things at a pet store, just keep in mind that the smaller and tighter the hide is, the happier your snake is. I use things like cleaned plastic trays from TV dinners and whatever else I find around the house.

If your snake is a baby, I would actually recommend you start with a smaller tank size (a 10 gallon for example) because ball pythons are shy snakes and actually get stressed in bigger enclosures. It's also easier to heat a smaller cage.

You should head to target/walmart and get an indoor/outdoor thermometer/hygrometer (temperature/humidity reader) The brand most use here is Accurite.

Put a good size water dish in the middle of the tank. Some snakes enjoy soaking in the water at times.

[Stings]

if i get the flxwire do i need aother source of heat for a basking area or will that be enough?

[Shelby]

Flexwatt is enough.. though if your house is really cool you may need two pieces and two thermostats.