I recently purchased 2 ball pythons. The 1st is approx 6-8 months old and approx 22-24" long, the 2nd i'm unsure of approx age, he was purchased from an individual, and is approx 39-40" long.

Originally I had the smaller of the two snakes in a 10 gallon tank and had no problem maintaining proper temperature and humidity. After I got the larger of the two, I purchased a 50 gallon tank. It's not the fish aquarium type, it is (so i was told) made for herps. I have a screen type locking cover. There is a head pad under one side of the tank, above that sitting on the cover is a 100 watt infared bulb with a metal reflector. Sitting on the floor on the heated side is a large cave (made of what seems to be glazed ceramic type material - i've noticed it absorbs a lot of heat). On the opposite end of the tank is a large water dish and a smaller cave of the same material. The substrate i'm currently using is newspaper (due to a mite issue). I bought a temp/humidity meter as per the advice of the breeder at the pet store.

Now that you have an idea of what type of set up I have, maybe someone can give me suggestions as to what i can correct. The problem is that the humidity in the tank is only about 30%. I'm told that 40-50% when not shedding is ideal. I'm also not having much luck getting the temperature above about 83 degrees on the warm side of the tank. At night the light is left on (also per suggestion of pet store) to help temperature from getting too cold. I'm getting down to about 70 at night with all the heat sources.

I've tried using aluminum foil to cover approx half of the tank on the side with the heat sources with a circle cut out for the heat lamp. When I had no luck with that, I covered more area - approx 3/4 of cover. Again ... No luck getting daytime temperature near 90. I then took advice from a boa owner and covered about 3/4 of the tank with a heavy blanket. I also put a small crock of water in the corner of the heated area to attempt raising the humidity. Guess what ... No luck yet again.

I'm obviously doing something wrong. I am following the advice of my vet as to how to properly "arrange" the tank for the desired temp ranges as well as the advice of the breeder of my youngest snake who sold him to me.

I'm getting frustrated because I'm not successful in providing my snakes with an environment in which they will thrive.

I believe the issues I'm having with temp and humidity are affecting the mood/temperment of the older of the snakes. He has been with me for 4 weeks now and has not eaten. The prior owner said it had been 2-3 weeks since his last feeding when he sold him to me. I am aware that they need proper temp to even digest properly ... could low temp be causing him to not eat and even become rather aggressive - regularly hisses at me when i reach in to handle the youngest snake, seems to always be in strike position and has even run nose first into the glass trying to strike me as i walk past.

Also, may be important info ... the youngest snake has developed sores (not too bad, just slightly unattractive) along the top of his back. Vet said that he believes humidity or lack there of is the reason.

Please, I would love to get any information that will help my snakes live a long, healthy and happy lives. Also, I really would appreciate photos of tanks similiar in size (50 gallon - i dont recall exact dimensions, approx 36"x18" maybe?) and glass with the screen type covers that are housing healthy ball pythons. I do want my tank to be pleasing to the eye as it sits in the back of my living room. And ... (sorry for more), if you wouldn't mind giving me specific brands of heat pads (i'm not convinced the one i have even gets as warm as it should), temp and humidity monitors, types of lights ... anything. I am afraid that my lack of ability to figure this one out may cause long term damage to these beautiful creatures.

I'm sorry for so much information (i'm sure some is irrelevent), I just want to paint as clear a picture as possible of what I currently have so to get methods to correct the problem.

Thanks