Hello!
I recently got a ball python on 10/24. I was planning to go buy everything and then come back and pick her up. The reptile shop guy said he had everything I needed there. Unfortunately, he gave me some bad info and I was using a red heat light instead of a CHE. I now have a CHE connected to a dimmer on the warm side. I have a UTH but I’m afraid to use it since the only thermostat I have is a Reptitemp thermostat and it only has an alarm if temp gets too low or high but doesn’t shut off everything in case of failure. I’m terrified of her getting burned. I won’t be using the UTH until I have a quality thermostat.
I don’t know how old she is or how much she weighs. Only that she eats adult mice though she hasn’t eaten with me yet. Shop guy told me to try on 10/26 because she was due to be fed the day I bought her. She struck it but released it. I don’t think it was warm enough for her. I haven’t tried again. When should I?
Her enclosure temps are usually fine during the day with the cool side being 82 and the warm side being 88. Humidity is a struggle since she’s in a glass enclosure. I have the top sealed off with foil tape. Three sides are blacked out. I try to keep the humidity between 65-70%. I live in the SoCal desert and temps drop low at night. Cool side drops 74 and warm side to 84-86. I don’t know what to do to keep the cool side up at night.
As far as behavior, I’ve only seen her use her hides a few times. I have identical 2 and 3 inch plant pots. I also had repurposed mushroom containers in there. She used one once and never used it again so I think it may have been too big. Sometimes she curls up in the back of the enclosure behind a fake plant but lots of times she lies right in the front, even during the day. Sometimes she’ll rest her head on top of her hide while her body is on the cypress mulch substrate. I don’t know if she’s exhausted from husbandry issues and just conks out in front or if she’s just weird. Or maybe her enclosure isn’t cluttered enough? Even when husbandry issues seems to be on point, she’s still out front sleeping or scoping things out. Today she slept on a small, flipped over empty rock water bowl right in front of her enclosure. She has a big water bowl to help with humidity.
I’ve tried to avoid interacting with her so she can get settled but if I have to change her water bowl or something and she’s awake, she’ll start climbing the tank. Even touching her head doesn’t make her retreat and I have to physically move her so I can put the lid back on. Everything I’ve read says a hiding ball is a happy ball and that they hide during the day. Current temps in her tank are 82 cool, 88 warm, and 65% humidity. I use Acurite thermometers/hygrometers.
Any tips or suggestions? I’m planning to get a good quality thermostat within the next month, but until then what can I do for the temp drops at night and what’s the deal with her daily behavior? Are the current temps still wrong and she’s still stressed? Or did the red light mess up her day/night schedule? Should I black out most of the front of her enclosure as well and only leave the parts where I can see the temps visible? I feel like at this rate she’ll never get settled.
https://ibb.co/6tMvq5b pic of enclosure
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