Perfect set up? Please help

[Izza420]

I adopted a ball python a day or 2 ago. And the people gave me everything. Tank And heat lamp and the snake. I need to get him a heat pad. Rite now all he has is his to hides water dish and some newspaper. Noe humidity or heat thermometer. This snake is about 3 years old also. Now a few things i don't understand is how to control the humidity. Just put big water dish in? Also How hard will it be to regulate everything. Like the cool side and hot side. But the python seems to be doing good. He ate the first day i got him but then again the people said he wasn't fed for at least 3 weeks. please help me I am just confused on how to regulate everything. thanks

[dr del]

Hi,

Have you had a look at our caresheet? It has some good info.

The link to the glass tank setup is broken so bear with me till I try and find the right link.

Found one.

There are a couple of things you will probably need but the main ones are a good reliable digital thermometer with a probe (Wallmart sell an acu-rite for about $12) so you know what the temperatures are - though a lot of people prefer to use temp guns as well. The other thing is to get some method of controling the heaters so they keep the temps at the right level.

If your house temp doesn't change much you can try and use a rheostat for that but a better option is usually to invest in a good thermostat.

It might help if you could post some pictures of the tank you have so the information can be specifically tailored to your needs but remember to look at some of the posts on the board for ideas and inspiration too.


dr del

[Izza420]

Alright i will try to get some pictures. One qestion about the heat pad a picked up. you just plug in and let them heat up? or is their a way to regulate the heat?

[dr del]

Hi,

Depending on the make heat pads can possibly reach 120+ f so regulating them somehow is a must.

Thats what the thermostats and/ or dimmers do. So you would have the thermostat plugged in to the wall and the heatmat plugged into the thermostat with the probe placed somewhere that it can get a good reading but not be affected too much by the snake.

This is normally achieved by putting it on top of the heatmat outside the tub/tank.


dr del

[Izza420]

I bought one last night and a guy said that the one that i had in my hands warmed about to about 70 and thenstayed at 70 but when i turned it on it seemed to get pretty hot. but it did not burn me i was nervous about putting it on for the snake though

[Izza420]

Here is Link to what i got.

http://www.petco.com/Shop/Product.as...sultRedirect=1

[Inknsteel]

Yeah, I think the guy at the pet store didn't know what he was talking about. I have the same UTH on one of my tubs and it will EASILY hit 120 if not regulated. At the very least, you need to put that on a dimmer to dial down the amount of current going in. Dimmers work ok if you have the tank in a room with a steady temp. Ideally, you would want a thermostat to keep a constant regulated temp though. With the thermostat, even if your external temps fluctuate, the internal temp will be nice and steady...

[starmom]

It would be great to see pictures of your set up

[Izza420]

I know Sorry the best i can do is explain what i have rite now. I do not have a camera.i just have hides on each end and water dish in the middle and heat lamp on one side and a heatting pad on the other. not plugged in yet and a stump wood thing in the middle