A newbee question

[motormike40]

Hey, Im getting my first Ball real soon. I was wondering how do you adjust your heat for day and night time, and what do you use, heatpad, or a lamp, or both. How do you regulate it so its half cool, and other half warm. Also how big should the waterbowl be? Thank you alot.
Mike

[jglass38]

Mike,

You should get started by reading the caresheet on this site. You can access that at :

http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=52

As far as temps. You want 82-84 on the cool side and 92-94 on the hot side 24 hours a day. This can be accomplished in a temp stabilized room by an undertank heater (UTH) on one side and that should get a good temp gradient in the tank. You will need to regulate the UTH with a thermostat or at the very least, a rheostat. The waterbowl should be just big enough for your snake to drink from. Welcome to the site!

Jamie

[motormike40]

Thanks alot, Ill will defenitly read that.

[JLC]

Hi and !


If you live in a dry environment and have trouble keeping the humidity up in the cage, you can use a larger water bowl. More surface area for the water to evaporate from will help keep your humidity up.

Once you've read the caresheet, feel free to ask whatever other questions you have!

[motormike40]

thanks, I just took a look, and for the warm and cool side, am I going to need two different pads, with two different thermostats, and have each of the pads on either side, with the approiate temps or will one pad heat the whole thing?
thanks alot.

[JLC]

Whether one pad will be enough to heat the entire encosure depends entirely on what size and type of enclosure you use, and what the ambient temps in the room are.


You may have to do some experimenting to see what works best in your situation. Your BEST bet is to start setting up the environment well before you plan to bring the snake home. Once you are certain everything is working properly, then you get the snake and can feel confident he's going into a perfect home.

[motormike40]

cool, thank you alot, Im pretty stoked about getting my snake soon.

[LBWilson]

Welcome! I'm a newbie snake owner, too. I had to get two pads and two thermostats for my snake. It sucked, but anything is worth it for the snake. I'd suggest making sure you have the temps and humidity up before getting the snake. Helps the snake get comfortable quicker.