My Set Up.

[Vesta]

Good or Bad? Suggestions?

I got a 29gal tank with a undertank heater which is placed under her hiding spot, a little hut sold mainly for small animals, but she loves it. The lid is a mesh top with lid locks (two on both sides). I use retro bark and I have a little stick in there with a blue water dish (this will be temporary, though I may keep it because she likes to wedge herself and move things around anyway), and some plastic foliage. I switch lights from daylight in the morning to infrared nocturnal light at night. Temps stay good, I keep a little blanket over top the one half of the tank when the room gets cold and take it off when it's hot.

All in all, she's a very happy ball python, loves her environment. The most docile thing I've owned, even when starting to shed I could tie her in a knot (figuratively speaking) and have her not be aggressive.

[Beto510]

You need another identical hide on the cool side

[Wh00h0069]

Personally, I don't like glass tanks for reptile enclosures, but if you are going to use one here is a great post: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=56846

[CoolioTiffany]

I agree with the first post. You need an identical hide on the cool end of the enclosure. This way the snake can thermoregulate. If you do not have an identical hide but you have some type of hide on the cool end the chances are the snake will not like that hide and may not even go in it at all. Don't let your snake choose between heat or safety if you do not have two identical hides.

Also, do you have your heat sources controlled by a thermostat or at least a rheostat/dimmer? If not, I highly recommend buying one. UTHs and heat lamps can unexpectedly get very hot. I did a test to see how hot a 10-20 gallon UTH would get on a 20 gallon enclosure. I took the snake out just in case. In little time, the UTH got as hot as 113F and was still rising. So, it's not really that safe to keep a UTH running without a thermostat or at least a rheostat.

Besides those two things, your enclosure seems to be just fine.

[Vesta]

I wish I had the room for another hide. The tank is too small. I'm looking to get a bigger one soon with a UTH specifically for that size, another hide and all.

I have the thermostat in there definitely, it's never gotten hot in there, nor the UTH... I usually shut off the UTH every other week to let it cool for a day then put it back on. I've actually been having trouble with regulating the heat at the right temp because of the central cooling we have, and how low it's set. So, she's definitely not burning. Humidity stays pretty good but I might definitely put moss in there to help it stay up when I'm not home and at work.

[tbowman]

You say you have a thermostat, why would you let it cool for a day? Are you mixing up thermometer and thermostat?

[CoolioTiffany]

I wish I had the room for another hide. The tank is too small. I'm looking to get a bigger one soon with a UTH specifically for that size, another hide and all.

I have the thermostat in there definitely, it's never gotten hot in there, nor the UTH... I usually shut off the UTH every other week to let it cool for a day then put it back on. I've actually been having trouble with regulating the heat at the right temp because of the central cooling we have, and how low it's set. So, she's definitely not burning. Humidity stays pretty good but I might definitely put moss in there to help it stay up when I'm not home and at work.

Maybe taking some plants out would be best to fit in the cool side hide. I can fit another hide in my 20 gallon ever since I took out this one plant. The snake really needs that cool hide, so I would say get it in there as soon as possible or whenever you can.

[Vesta]

I have just a small thermostat for the tank. I'm going to buy a probe thermostat for the warming spot where the UTH is.

But I shut the UTH for a day so that it won't come to a point of overheating. It's precautionary.

[Wh00h0069]

You do need something to control your heat mat. They can get extremely hot, especially on glass. Your snake will burrow down to the heat and burn itself.

If you buy a digital thermostat, you can set it to the desired temp and leave it.

[Vesta]

Maybe taking some plants out would be best to fit in the cool side hide. I can fit another hide in my 20 gallon ever since I took out this one plant. The snake really needs that cool hide, so I would say get it in there as soon as possible or whenever you can.

It the one hide I have that is large. But she likes it and wouldn't take it out for the world because if I place it on the bed and hold her... she tends to find her way to it still haha. So I guess I'll have to go towards a 40 gallon to put another one in.