Hello everyone, first post! I just got my first ball python yesterday after being totally blown away by my boyfriend's a few months ago.

I spent a few weeks reading up, studying and preparing before acquiring her and I had a few questions for those who are far more experienced than myself now that I've got her set up to some extent (no matter how much I've read and heard, I'm still worrying 24/7 that something isn't right for her).



Background info!

I've got her set up in a 10 gallon terrarium with a ceramic heat bulb on a timer and a UTH with a thermostat (temperature probe inside the tank right over the glass, thermostat set to 92 degrees Fahrenheit). I've also got a second thermometer with a probe right next to the thermostat's probe so I can be sure of the temperature in case the thermostat were ever to fail without me noticing. The timer on the heat bulb is just to make sure it never gets too hot or runs for too long. During the day it's on for an hour, off for an hour and during the night it's on for about 4 hours at a time and off for about 30 minutes at a time. This is because it gets rather chilly at night (50-60 degrees), even during the summer. I've also got a general thermometer/hygrometer in the tank.

I've got the ambient temperature steadily between 75 degrees and the low 80s, the hot spot hovers between 88 degrees and 94 degrees. The humidity is a bit of a struggle but after throwing a humidifier in my room, and keeping a wet towel over half of the screen top it seems to hover around 50-55% humidity. That seems to be the best I can do without directing the humidifier into the tank which raises it too high (80-90%).

She's on coconut fiber substrate and has a water bowl she can fit into should she like to soak, although I keep it relatively shallow and will refill it with bottled water daily. She also has some fake plants suction-cupped to the sides of the cage which she seems to enjoy climbing all over (they hold her weight very well!), and her hide is over her hot spot (about a quarter of an inch of substrate in the hide over the hot spot so I can control the temperature as accurately as possible >.<). She only has one hide at the moment because while I bought 4 to try out, she was bigger than expected and to big for all but 2 of them. Unfortunately I can only fit one of the bigger ones into her 10 gallon at a time so I'll need to upgrade her to a bigger terrarium next paycheck.

She can stretch out almost fully in this terrarium, probably about 5/6ths of her length.

She seems relatively content and was exploring for hours yesterday after I got her in the wee hours of the morning, she's been curled up sleeping/chilling in her hide since about 8AM today though.



Now the actual questions. Is the hot spot going to be okay? I've heard horror stories of UTHs burning the poor noodles and while I think I have it controlled I want it to be perfect for her.

Will she be okay with one hide for a month or so? I know I need to upgrade her to a bigger terrarium but I was ill prepared no matter how much I tried to be otherwise.

Is a ceramic heat bulb outside of the cage safe with the times I have it on for? I kind of need the supplemental heat to maintain the ambient temperatures unfortunately, but I would be willing to try something else.

Will she be okay in a relatively small terrarium for the moment? Similar to the hide question ^^;

I'll include some pictures if Imgur links work!

Terrarium: https://imgur.com/a/65fSYEy
Thermostat: https://imgur.com/a/MAOM0AE
Setup: https://imgur.com/a/jmAMQEn
Hide: https://imgur.com/a/O0nQQ9j
Noodle: https://imgur.com/a/YvKRTwV
More Noodle: https://imgur.com/a/BuJxikr
Image from Breeder: https://imgur.com/a/tTvtUyy