Hi there,

I'm new in the ball python world, I've owned a normal male(2ft) for about 1 year now and I recently purchased an about 2 year old female pastel(3.5ft) hoping that in a few years I could breed them. I just read the article on 'Housing and Caring for a Ball Python in a glass Vivarium' .. I had a few questions of concern because I obviously want the best for my snakes but find it a little over-whelming to keep up with some of the procedures.. and find that I'm doing a lot of things that i don't think my snakes are actually benefiting from.. First things first and I want people's thoughts on this cause my snakes overall well being does matter to me.. due to the fact that money is an issue I try to cut some corners in housing both of the snakes.. so I thought of the idea of putting a 15 gallon tank inside of a 40 gallon tank.. obviously the bigger female inhabits the larger side.. now, I find it silly to focus most of my attention on hot/cold sides because really, i bought the snakes initially because of their beauty so I want to be able to see them! having all kinds of different hiding spots seems crazy cause they would literally be in hiding all their lives! lol.. so I decided to focus my attention on the 'hot spots'. So basically i have 1 hiding each, on the bottom of the hiding is a heat pad and on the top is a 50w UVB bulb.. this gives that area sufficient heat for the snake.. if he/she wants to get cool they just got to leave that area, no worries right? Humidity levels work the same for me, its obvious when the mulch is dry so i spray it down a couple of times a week, I went to home depot and bought a piece of Styrofoam and placed in on top of the screen to keep the humidity in.. my snake has always shed in one whole piece.. I always make sure that water is changed but I was reading that some people are changing the substrate like once a week?! is this true? I'm always spot cleaning and re-mixing the mulch around.. it never smells and I don't ever get any bugs (knock on wood*) so I think that department is good.. Anyways, like I said before I'm open to new idea's to keep my snakes in the best of health but to have all kinds of lamps(which my snakes never go under) timers, t-stats, sensors, gauges.. i'm surprised the cops dont think some of you guys have grow-ops in your basements, lol, .. give me a piece of your mind! i'm open to new suggestions.. but i don't want anyone who keeps their snake in a plastic shoe-box with newspaper to answer! no offense!