My new setup, how does she look?

[BallPython29]

Nice setup. A bit big but nice. Just take the advice to heart of the other keepers here concerning the setup and you'll have a happy BP.

[BPsRule]

What I would do is maybe keep that log hide and stick it somewhere in the middle as an extra place of security for him. Then, get another hide identical to the one on the hot side and put that one over on the cool side. That way, he won't choose security over comfort or vice versa since both hot and cool hides will be exactly the same. The log hide can just be in there to take up some space and give him something else to crawl through. Add some more branches or plants to give him some more stuff to crawl through. Whatever you can do so it's not so open in there. Just my opinion. Awesome looking snake btw!

[Kaorte]

A good thing to do would be to cover the back and sides of the tank with dark paper.

If you don't have digital thermometers and hygrometers, then you don't know what the temps and humidity are. If you don't have a digital thermometer with a probe placed directly on the glass where the UTH is, then you don't know how hot it is actually getting. If you let a UTH run on full blast, it will burn a ball python. This is a pretty common mistake and many people come onto this forum with burned or dead snakes wondering what happened.

Take initiative now and get a digital thermometer with a probe (home depot has a $12 accurite weather station that measures two temps and humidity) and a rheostat (home depot has a lutron light dimmer for about $10).

It is money that you need to spend before spending it on useless pieces of wood.[

[Freaky_Ferret]

I personally wouldn't keep a snake on shavings and as everyone said, cover one side of the log. Anyhoo, I have a male who's 36" atm. Males are normally 3-4' and females 4-5', so I'd say he's going to grow more. When he starts really thickening up, that when he isn't going to be getting much longer.

[vantranist]

Why are wood shavings no good?

Also, about the log, i bought it months ago for my 10g along with the water bowl you see in there, it didn't fit so i saved it till i got a bigger tank.

The only thing i purchased new was the tank itself, the wood shavings, and the stick thermometer stuff, and the half log hide all for about $100.

I plan on getting more on the next trip to get a mouse, which should be tomorrow.

How is the humidity gauge inaccurate? well i don't think humidity will be a problem anyways since i live in Tampa, but i guess if it comes with the digi thermometer thing i might as well use it.

So what, does it come with a probe or something i stick on the ground level where the UTH is? All the way down to the glass or just where the substrate starts?

Also i keep my snake in a closet with the doors closed, will that suffice for putting paper on the glass to give him comfort?

So, can anyone give me a list of the things i still need? I know i need to fill the tank up with some more structure but besides that? I dunno how to work these things either but ill prob figure it out if its not too difficult.

Please spare me the snake lingo most of you speak in, i am not familiar with some of these terms.

Thank you, all.

[vantranist]

hell, might as well put paper up anyways, its only paper after all.

[seeya205]

An indoor/outdoor thermometer has a probe that measures the outdoor temp. That probe goes inbetween the glass and the uth or on top of the glass under the substrate. The unit goes on the wall at the the other end of the tank and that will give you the indoor(cool side) temp and the humidity! You will need a dimmer or thermostat on the uth so you can control temps. The warm side should be 90-94 and the cool side should be 80-84. The air temp should be at least 75!

[justinsane82]

Snake lingo? How would you like people to dumb down the names of equipment? Use google if you don't know what these pieces are.

1) Digital thermometer (If you can get one that also measures humidity then all the better) Try to find one that has two probes to measure temps as you can then also check ambient temps to see if you need any additional equipment for heating.

2) Rheostat (Dimmer Switch)

3) Not sure what you are using for bedding, but pick up some aspen and switch it out. Or even go with just newspaper

[BabysMomma]

So, to itemize what people have already said into one handy list,

1) Those stick on thermometers are wildly inaccurate. Get an Accurite digital thermometer/hygrometer from Wal-Mart or Home Depot for about 15 bucks, and put the probe right on the glass on the hot side.

2) After doing this you'll probably find that your hot side is way too hot. Get a simple lamp dimmer from Home Depot for about 7 bucks and plug the UTH into it.

3) Those half log hides do not make the snake feel secure. Get another hide identical to the one on the hot side, or make two new ones out of margerine tubs or whatevs.

4) Clutter up the tank a bit. You could even pick up branches and things from outside, so long as you clean them and pop them in the oven to kill parasites.

Once you take care of that, you should have a happy, healthy snake. Any changes you make after that are gravy.

[Punkymom]

Please spare me the snake lingo most of you speak in, i am not familiar with some of these terms.

I think that you could have worded this a little different. Maybe try ASKING what the "snake lingo" means instead of being rude about it. You are, after all, on a SNAKE forum, asking for help with *shocker here* a SNAKE! Snake lingo is, after all, the default way to talk about things around here. When you get your glass box with metal mesh lid set up for your snake, you will want to get a very big pair of tweezers to feed it a rodent with. Also, you will want to get a temperature monitor and don't forget a temperature control thingy for your under the tank heater. Wow. That was harder than I thought it would be! BTW: this is all in good humor, but these people didn't HAVE to respond to your post and help you. They chose to bc they care about you and the animal you're caring for! Good luck with your snake and learning "snake lingo"!