Hi everyone,

Two of my sisters and I are planning to get our first ball pythons this weekend. I’ve been researching like crazy for the past few months, and we just finished building a melamine rack for the 3 snakes this past weekend. Everything is set up, but I have a few questions.

1. The temperatures are ranging from 78-80F on the cool side, and 90-92F in the hide on the warm side (above the heat tape). Humidity is ranging from about 57-59% (I went ahead and filled one of the water bowls to test the humidity, and have not misted at all). These are all being measured with an Acurite thermometer/hydrometer. I know that the recommended humidity is 50-60%, and I’m a little concerned because the humidity is so close to the upper end of the range. Will adding the snake make the humidity in the bin go up? What level of humidity is actually too much?

2. Is it a problem to buy snakes from different breeders at the same time (quarantine-wise)? We’re hoping to purchase all three balls from the same breeder, but obviously won’t decide until we get there.

3. Since we’re new to snakes and we haven’t handled snakes much, do you think it would be a good idea to have a snake hook on hand (probably for peace of mind more than anything else)?

4. Have you ever had a ball python strike at you and not let go? When I was researching sand boas, I read somewhere that having bitter apple spray on hand isn’t a bad idea in case of this happening. I haven’t heard anything like this mentioned on BP.net, and I’m wondering if it’s entirely unnecessary (for either ball pythons or snakes in general).

5. We have two thermostats – a Herpstat 1, and a Hydrofarm that we’re using as a backup (the Herpstat is plugged into the Hydrofarm). I currently have the Herpstat set at 92F, and the Hydrofarm set at 95. I believe that the Hydrofarm one shuts off when the temps reach 2 degrees over the set temperature (so it would shut off at 97, correct?). If my notes are correct, the maximum temp for a ball python is 95F, so the Hydrofarm should be set to 93F, right?

I think that’s all for now