Hey new in town got a few questions???

[tsshields]

Hi guys just recently bought my new baby female ball python but have a few questions.

1. Just got her yesterday and let her sit for about a day and half do you think it is a good time to start holding her or should i still get acclimated before holding her.

2. Right now i have her on aspen bedding no ceder or pine of course but is there a better substrate besides repti carpet i cant stand cleaning it.??

3. She is in a 10 gallon tank and has a heating pad underneath will this be efficient enough heat. and do i need to mist. My boa i do so i want to make sure.

3. I think that all so thank and help out please.....

[blackcrystal22]

Hi guys just recently bought my new baby female ball python but have a few questions.

1. Just got her yesterday and let her sit for about a day and half do you think it is a good time to start holding her or should i still get acclimated before holding her.

2. Right now i have her on aspen bedding no ceder or pine of course but is there a better substrate besides repti carpet i cant stand cleaning it.??

3. She is in a 10 gallon tank and has a heating pad underneath will this be efficient enough heat. and do i need to mist. My boa i do so i want to make sure.

3. I think that all so thank and help out please.....

What do you have controlling the heat pad? It needs a thermostat of some sort controlling the heat, otherwise it's getting much too hot.

You can use paper-towels or newspaper, but aspen is probably the easiest to spot clean.

[Kaorte]

1. Just got her yesterday and let her sit for about a day and half do you think it is a good time to start holding her or should i still get acclimated before holding her.

Let her settle in for a week before handling. After 7 days, try feeding her. Then give he 1-2 days of no handling to allow her to digest.

2. Right now i have her on aspen bedding no ceder or pine of course but is there a better substrate besides repti carpet i cant stand cleaning it.??

I think aspen, paper towels, or newspaper are the best substrate options

3. She is in a 10 gallon tank and has a heating pad underneath will this be efficient enough heat. and do i need to mist. My boa i do so i want to make sure.

As long as the heat pad is controlled with a thermostat or at least a dimmer, it will be fine. You should measure your temps with a digital thermometer with a probe. Put the probe right on the glass under the substrate over the heat pad. It should be 92-94* on the heat pad. As long as the ambient temp of the room is above 75* the snake should be fine with just a heat pad.

Ideally you shouldn't have to mist the tank. You should have a digital hygrometer to measure humidity. It should be between 50-60% normally and 70% during shed cycles.

[tsshields]

Hey guys im just replying in the heat pad.... heres the thing its just one of those repti heat pads i dont have a controller and if it does where is it.

[Beto510]

Ou need to eaither buy one online or make one from a dimmer switch. I got mine a bigappleherp.com

[omnibus2]

You need a thermostat for that heat pad, I know it's a pain.

Give it a few weeks and make sure it's eating a few times, then you should handle it.

[tsshields]

I have a thermostat in there it reads i think i little over 83 right at the hot spot of the mat is that good enough

[dr del]

Hi,

It depends what kind of thermometer it is and where you are measuring temps I'm afraid.

If it is one of those little round analogue ones they are, sadly, complete junk.

What we recommend is the digital acurite weather stations with the probes you can buy at walmart for about $12.

You want to measure the temps in a few different places to get an idea of what is actually going on in the tank.

Under the substrate under the warm end hide - this should be the hottest place your snake can reach and you want it to be around 93-95f.

On top of the substrate inside the warm end hide - this should be around 92-94f.

On top of the substrate inside the cool end hide - you want this to be around 80-83f.

That's why the probe is so handy - it can be easily moved .

The base unit of the acurite measures temp and relative humidity so you can put that on the cool end to get a fair idea of ambients. ( note some snakes delight on peeing on them. ).

Have a read through the caresheet to see if it gives you any more questions.

The reason you need the control on the heatmats is that some of them can get over 120f if not controlled and this is easily hot enough to burn your snake.


dr del

[tsshields]

Yea i have a probe that i bought so i just need to get some temp measurements then perfect.... Thanks alot i will get to it.

Hey Dr. Del

dont mean to go off topic but i just tryed feeding my baby girl a pinky and she dosent seem to want to eat it now she has eaten before no prob but it wasent by me so i let the frozen pinky in her tank and just let it sit there but she dosent seem to be interested any advice...

[lps2]

I'm assuming you let the pinky thaw?... If not, let it thaw and then warm it up a little with a blow dryer or by putting it in a plastic bag and putting it in hot water (the bag should keep it dry). Whatever you do, do NOT put it in the microwave, it will have hot spots that can harm your snake.