New Owner, need some advice!

[quillian91]

So, I just recently brought home a brand new baby Ball Python! My first one ever. I once had a corn snake, and I currently have a Bearded Dragon, so I am not new to reptiles, but it has been years since I had a snake! I named him Crane, after Jonathan Crane, the Scarecrow from Batman.

Anyways, I wanted to get advice about my setup, to make sure everything is good for him. He is really small, about three and a half weeks old, if I remember correctly.

Here is my current set up, in a 20gal long tank:



I hesitated about offering the branches, since I heard that Ball Pythons prefer the ground, but ten minutes after I put Crane in his cage, he was crawling on them, and has been doing it ever since. He seems to really like them, so I figured it couldn't hurt. The aren't far off the ground in any case.

I am not sure if the hides are too big. I got them before I realized he would be so tiny and now I am thinking that I may need to swap them out for something smaller. They dont 'hug' him, as I have read BP's like. Any thoughts if they are too big?

Now for the temperature advice.

The basking spot is always anywhere from 93-97 degrees. That doesn't really change. However, the ambient temperature is what is causing me problems. I can't seem to get it to stay in the 80s. It keeps dropping into the low 70s. I tried turning on the heat in my room, but that didn't seem to really help except make it really, really stuffy and unbearable to be in it without having a window open, which defeats the whole purpose.

Would getting a lamp for it help to raise the ambient temp up? I thought about getting a heat lamp, but then I don't want to sacrifice the humidity, which seems to be pretty good. Right, now, it is at 56%. Any ideas on what I can do to raise the ambient temp for the cage alone and not my room as a whole?

Also, is the placement of my acu-rite thermometer correct? I have it about two inches from the substrate, on the inside of the tank, and the probe is stuck to the glass bottom, right over his UTH. Is that correct?

And one final question, I am waiting about a week before I offer him food, to let him get settled and used to his new surroundings, but what size mouse/rat should I feed him? There is so much different opinions about what size I should feed, so I have absolutely no idea. The breeder said mice fuzzies to pinky rats, but I am just double checking to make sure that that is correct before I go out and by the wrong size.

Thanks for answering the questions! I have a ton, and I would rather be safe than sorry! I really want Crane to have a proper environment to live in. I am afraid I have fallen completely in love with him, and want to give him the best of care.

Thanks again!

[A.VinczeBPs]

Yes, those hides should be smaller, and for that big of a tank, I would add two more hides as well in the middle.

Your temperatures...93-97 is not good. 90-94 is what you should aim for. To raise the ambient you can get a lamp, and if you lose humidity just put a damp towel over the top of the tank or mist. Or you could have two UTH, hot side (90-94<--Max) and one of the cool side to keep it in the 80's, which should raise ambient as well.

Probe placement is fine, you can always temp-gun the top of the substrate to see what that is as well.

Size of rat, probably go for fuzzies or pups. Or, the thickest part of the ball python. Or 15% of his body weight.

Hope that helps.

[Vypyrz]

You are definitely on the right track with your set-up. My suggestion is you don't necessarily need smaller hides. You can scrunch those down into the substrate or put some crumpled up paper in them to fill in some of the space. One thing I didn't see you mention was the use of a thermostat to control the UTH. This will keep your temps from getting too high and potentially burning your snake.

For the ambient temp there are a couple of options. You can use a heat bulb or a Ceramic Heat Emitter on a timer or dimmer at night to keep the temp up, or you can add another UTH on the cool side with a thermostat to keep it at around 80.

One thing that may help with humidity is to cover the screen top with aluminum foil, foil tape, or something similar, and just leave a hole big enough for the heat lamp/CHE...

Good job so far...

*Edit* After looking at the photo again I noticed that white thing in the front, which I am assuming is a dimmer for the UTH. And I like that haunted background...

[quillian91]

Thanks you guys! Yeah, the white thing in the front is the dimmer for the UTH. I have since adjusted the UTH temp and my thermometer says it is at 92 degrees, so that's good.

I will buy one of the Ceramic Heat Emitter lamps as soon as possible!

Thanks again you guys! It really helped!

[Crazy4Herps]

Everything looks great. Good work! The AcuRite in the picture has an ambient reading of 77, which is just fine, as long as the basking area is 88 to 94. In fact, I don't start to worry unless the ambient temps drop below 74 (as long as basking temps are correct, which they always are in my cages, since I use t'stats).

Thermostats are the ultimate way to go with UTHs, but rheostats are just fine as long as you monitor temps.

A CHE will definitely even out the temps, but it will wreak havoc on the humidity. Try it out and see if you can get some system to work for you. But in all honesty, you have nothing to worry about, your setup as it is looks just about flawless.


(Sorry if I've made any typos, there's currently a very stubborn boa hogging the warmth of my computer screen. I can't see what I'm typing very clearly at all.)

[stevepoppers]

When I had a tank, I had to use a CHE. I placed it over the water dish and it raised both temperature and humidity. I think they get thrown out as options too much. It worked for me. It MAY work for anyone else. Worth a try and cheaper than a second UTH and thermostat/dimmer.

And for what it's worth, I just ordered three feet of preassembled Flexwatt from reptilebasics, and the Flexwatt, clamps, and shipping together are cheaper than one medium/small UTH.

It's good to see someone who's done their research, knows what their doing, or has at least read the caresheet.

[Crazy4Herps]

When I had a tank, I had to use a CHE. I placed it over the water dish and it raised both temperature and humidity. I think they get thrown out as options too much. It worked for me. It MAY work for anyone else. Worth a try and cheaper than a second UTH and thermostat/dimmer.

And for what it's worth, I just ordered three feet of preassembled Flexwatt from reptilebasics, and the Flexwatt, clamps, and shipping together are cheaper than one medium/small UTH.

Fair enough. Just because they didn't work out for me in my situation / climate / house doesn't mean they're out of the question. I've heard many people recommend CHEs.

Same here. I got a few feet of wired 11" for $20 with my AP cages. Good t'stats can be pricey (though worth it!), but flexwatt is dirt cheap.