I'm a long time lover but first time owner of a Ball Python. I have a 3 yr old female named Scarlett. After I got her and got her all set up, I went to my local pet store to ask a few questions. One of the things I was wondering about was her light on the top of her tank. The guy told me to turn it off when I go to bed and back on when I get up in the morning. Easy enough. Problem is, I'm noticing a pretty dramatic temperature drop by turning off this light. Am I doing the wrong thing? Should I be leaving it on all the time to keep her temperature from dropping?

Also, in all the research I've done, it's quite unanimous that misting the tank is a good way to keep humidity up. My question here, is should I actually be misting Scarlett directly too, or just the tank around her?

I'm pretty sure based on her cloudy eyes, dullish looking skin, and newly developed habbit of hissing at me every time I open her tank, that she's going to go into her first shed since she's been with me. I've stopped handeling her completely as to not upset her (even as hard as that is), but if anyone else has some advice for a first timer, I'd be unbelievably appriciative. I just want to make sure I'm doing everything on my end to make sure she has an easy shed.

Thanks, from a girl that loves her snake more than she ever knew she would!