Housing for baby ball python

[Dabonus]

I'm interested in getting a new born ball python. I have a 30g tank that I used as a salt water aquarium for several years, and was thinking of converting that into a new habitat for a ball. Would 30g be too big for a young python? If so how could you properly set up a hot a cold side in a smaller (10g) class enclosure? Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

[BallsUnlimited]

10 gallon for a baby. get a under tank heater for the hot side controlled by a thermostat. Ranco,johnson,herpstat are all good ones. Adjust the thermostat before you put the snake in and keep the hot side at around 90 degrees and the cool end at low 80s. Have a hide on the hot side as well as the cool side. Provide a water bowl and try and keep humidity at around 50 percent. You can use aspen bedding,unprinted news paper,paper towel or cypress mulch. cover the top of screen with tinfoil to hold the humidity in but leave some part of it open for air circulation. Get yourself a temp gun. If the room is fairly cold you will want to provide a heat lamp as well to keep the ambient temps up in the tank. depending on how cold the room is will depend on what wattage bulb you would have to use. you could also use a 16 quart tub with the uth and thermostat as it will be easier to hold humidity.

[Dabonus]

Thanks a lot. I'm going to shop around this weekend and hopefully get it all set up. There is a reptile expo around here at the end of February where I will be shopping for my first reptile in 15 years! Really looking forward to getting back into them.

[BiggBaddWolf]

I have successfully kept babies in anything from 10 gallon to 40 gallon, they will do fine if you dont have the money for another setup!!!!!!

[Vypyrz]

You could always make a divider out of wood or plexiglass and partition off the tank to make a smaller habitat. Then you can just adjust the divider as the snake grows until it is no longer needed...

[Dabonus]

I went ahead and picked up a 10g along with an under the tank heater, digital thermometer and humidity readers for ambient temp as well as the temps in each hide, and a ceramic infrared lamp for ambient temperature because the room it will eventually be in normally sits at around 74 degrees F. Outside of a water bowl is there anything I'm missing?

[seeya205]

You may want to cover the back and sides of the tank for more security! Babies need alot of security! Don't handle or bother the snake for about two weeks to let it settle in then try to feed. If it doesn't take it then wait a week then try again! Good luck!

[BallsUnlimited]

make sure you run the uth on a thermostat or it will get to hot and burn the snake.

[jlawson]

Dont forget hides. Some say have one hide on the cool side and one hide on the warm side. It's your choice.

Good luck!

[Dabonus]

I had everything set up last night, and left the uth and infrared light on to test my temperatures. The ambient temperature of the cage stayed at about 83 all night, but the temperature in the hide rose up to 116. I was using a 10-20g uth so I figured I would drop down to a 1-5g and hook it up to a rheostat. After just two hours, and with the rheostat turned to as low as it could go, the hide temperature was still 97. Any suggestions?