Hi there! I recently bought a ball python (my bf talked me into it) but neither of us have owned one before. We've found a lot of conflicting information on the internet so when I came across this site, I was hoping that someone here would be kind enough to assist with sorting fact from fiction and help out by guiding us with their own experience so we can be successful owners.


First, I'll share some information about our snake.


We bought her from a locally owned pet store, not one of the big store chains.
He told us she was a super lesser (blue eyed lucy) and that she was about one month old. Her eyes are red like they are in the picture, (not just red eye from the flash) with a blue outer ring which has me a little concerned. The pictures I've found searching of other Lucy's have had darker inner eyes with the blue outer circle. Is there any definitive way to know she what she is beyond taking his word for it?
https://goo.gl/photos/CBuxphRcgacjKSkQ7
We fed her a hopper on Friday and plan on giving her another one on Wednesday. Next week, we're going to try her on a small. She's about a foot long and I'm not sure how much she weighs.


We've found conflicting information on care as far as temperature and humidity. One place says 80-90, another says 78-95, and one fellow at PetSmart claimed we shouldn't have her habitat over 75 (that sounds completely like BS to me). Humidity, I've found sites claiming anywhere from 40% to 60%, leaning toward the high end when she's moulting.


For her habitat, we're currently using a 10 gallon Grreat Choice terrarium.
http://www.petsmart.com/reptile/terr...alue%3Dfaceted


It came with a thermometer/hydrometer which we've stuck at the 'cool' end of her habitat. It's been giving a pretty steady reading of 75-78. We've stuck a thermometer film on the other end, but the darn thing never seems to read a temperature. The heating film that came with the kit has been put on the bottom of the end with the temperature film. It didn't really seem like it was warming much of anything up, so we purchased another small heating film and placed it low on the warm side. The substrate on that end is warm to the touch.
http://www.petsmart.com/reptile/heat...pfm%3Dcategory


For the most part, Lucy hangs out at the warm end. There is a 4 inch (across) water bowl on the cool end and the humidity has been keeping around 50%.


For substrate, we've been using about an inch of absorbent coconut fiber to help maintain humidity levels. It seems to be keeping the moisture pretty well, only showing drying spots after one week. We're spot cleaning the scat (is that what it's called with snakes?), and spot hydrating with a spray bottle with a full re-dampening at the one week mark and plan on a full change of the substrate once a month.
http://www.petsmart.com/reptile/subs...alue%3Dfaceted


For a hide, we got her a medium sized, hollowed out split log.
http://www.petsmart.com/reptile/habi...pfm%3Dcategory
We've placed it in the middle of her habitat so that one end opens on her warm end and one end opens on her cool end.


We haven't done anything special as far as lighting. Where she's located gets several hours of natural light during the day and there's usually a room light on in the late afternoon.


She gets played with for around 30 minutes a day except on feeding days when we leave her alone for the whole day. This is another place we've found conflicting information, with one place saying you can feed them inside their habitat just fine and another saying snakes should be transferred to a feeding tub.


There's a small mark on her underbelly a couple inches above her genitalia. It's in a straight line directly at the center line. Could this be a scratch, or a residual mark from her umbilical cord?
https://goo.gl/photos/wpeZ8MNjdCvxaTKk6


If someone could at least let me know if we're on the right track, that would be greatly appreciated. Lucy is a beautiful creature and I am completely paranoid that something could happen to her due to our ignorance. Thanks in advance!