Quote Originally Posted by Ash View Post
- Keeping ball pythons on calci-sand substrate
- Using heat lamps rather than under tank heaters
- Feeding a ball python mice it's entire life (this one has to do with me personally. The pet shop I used to get feeder rats from recently went out of business and now I can only get mice, and one of my BP's will NOT take frozen/thawed, only pre-killed at best).
- Not using a thermostat, only a thermometer, to monitor and (manually) control temperature.
1- Keeping BPs on Calci-Sand will cause impaction. It also does not hold humidity in at all. Paper towels is best to use and cheap. If you don't want to use them no more, I would suggest Aspen Bedding, Sani Chips, or Cypress Mulch. Never use sand. It's too dry for a BP and BPs need the humidity. They live in the jungle in Africa, and it is humid and hot there. Their humidity level needs to be between 50%-60%, and 70% when shedding.

2- I use heat lamps, and no longer have a problem with them. Temps stay between 90F-93F on the hot side. It's best to use UTHs because BPs need the belly heat to properly digest their meals. I will soon be switching over to UTHs, and most likely be using dimmers.

3- Rats are larger than mice, and will fill up an adult BP. You don't have to feed a BP rats, but it would be best because they get pretty thick and will need something about the size of the middle part of their body to fill them up. I'm switching my female BP to probably f/t rat crawlers, as well as my King snake. My Dumeril's boa is already eating rat crawlers and isn't as thick as my BP.

4- Of course I have a thermometer, and every snake/reptile/amphibian owner should. It's to tell you the temperatures of the enclosure, which is very important because your tank could be too cold (the BP could get RI from being too cold) or it could get too warm (cooking your snake under the heat lamp/UTH). So having a thermometer is a must. Also, having a thermostat is a must. It's to control your temps so they stay right where you want them to. Using a dimmer wouldn't be bad, it would control how hot and how cold you want your enclosure by dimming the light. For my light, I use an infrared heat bulb. You can leave it on 24 hours, but always make sure it is not too hot in the enclosure.