Well, the probe placement is a big one. While that probe placement might work for lizards or something, it is definitely not where you want to put it for a ball python. You want to put your thermostat probe directly on the UTH on the bottom of the tank. Aluminum tape works well for adhering it.Originally Posted by mommanessy247
For raising the tank, just use the little rubber feet that come with the UTH. I know for a fact that the zoomed UTHs come with them.
The best substrates for ball pythons are paper towels, newspaper, cypress mulch, or aspen. I wouldn't really go for any of that jungle bedding stuff. Its hard to spot defecation and pee just gets lost in it.
If you want to use a specific cleaner, I would go with chlorhexadine. www.reptilebasics.com carries it. Otherwise, a 10% bleach solution or plain old soap and water works well. I wouldn't buy any "reptile cleaner". Just sounds like a ripoff to me.
Tap water is just fine for your snake. You can give it bottled water if you want, but there is nothing wrong with the water straight from your tap
If you want to feed live, it is going to be a little more expensive. Especially since you can only get feeders from a pet store. I would try and find a local rat breeder whom you can get live prey from really cheap.
I know you said you don't want to keep frozen feeders in with the meat you eat but honestly, it is really not a big deal at all. I keep mine in ziploc bags and then put them in an opaque plastic bag so you can't see what is in them. Its not like you are putting a rat in the same bag as the meat you eat...There is nothing to worry about in terms of germs. www.reptilebasics.com has some feeding tongs I believe. Those people saying that feeding your snake live is risky are full of crap. There are plenty of people who only feed live to their large collections and have only had a handful of scratches and bites.
In all honesty, if you breed rats with only one snake, you are going to have way too many rats that are either too large or too small for your animal. There will be a point where you will have to kill them off when they are a certain age so that your snake can eat them. Now while you think it is more cost effective it probably won't be. A couple of mice from the pet store every month is about....maybe $10? Raising feeders means you need to get a seperate enclosure, do bedding changes twice a week, and feed and water these animals. In my opinion, it is not worth the cost if you only have one snake.
Thats just some of the stuff that stuck out to me from the other threads. Lol have fun reading that book! hahaha
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