I need some advice on my setup. I just got a Ball Python from a friend who breeds them and need some pointers.


I included a picture of my setup. 40 gallon tank I think, 24 watt UTH Heat Wave one. I use care fresh about 1" deep as a substrate, and a hide box. I have a plywood top on the aquarium and it has 20 small holes on each side (cool and warm)

With this setup in my half bath the heat was getting up to 70-73 degrees max with just the UTH and the humidity was 90%+ so i had to toss in a space heater to keep the temp up to 80-85 degrees, and the humidity went down to about 55-75%

Any advice or pointers? He spends most of his time on the cool side of the tank, (the hot side is the right, and just substrate), or in his box... sometimes he will go to the warm side but not for a long period of time..... will the UTH make the glass too hot and burn him? Do i need to stick something like a piece of slate or ???? over there to keep him from direct contact.


Also, is there a way to give him enough heat without having to have a space heater burning up electricity and heating the entire room and subsequently driving down the humidity a bit?


From what Ive read min 75 degrees, 80-90 degrees during day, and 55-75% humidity? Let me know if I have this right.


Any other advice would be appreciated as well. How often do you guys feed a 1 month old ball python? I was thinking a 3 week old rat every 7-10 days?


Thanks again

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/dxkj21/ballPython.jpg