How is my setup?

[Alyvrae]

Hello all! This is my first post here besides my introduction that I made in the subforum of the off-topic cafe. I'm a first-time snake owner, and my little guy (at least I think he's male - I haven't gotten him sexed yet but we're calling him a male for now until we can get him properly looked at) has been with me for about 5 days.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the enclosure right now but I'll have some taken soon and then I'll add them to the thread. I just wanted to run by how I have his enclosure set up and see if it sounds good as is or if there's things I need to add.

So to get started, here's a couple pics of Ikky (short for Ikiriyo):





The tank is a glass hexagonal vivarium/tank, 65 gal TALL. I know this is very large but keep in mind it's a tall tank, not a long/wide. The floorspace of the tank seems to be pretty perfect, as I have been able to fit a ceramic water bowl, two hides, a moss bowl (to help keep humidity) and a little fake tree (for aesthetic purposes) in there with no problem. It's cluttered enough that the snake seems to enjoy it, but open enough that he can move around the tank with no issues.

His favorite hide is a stone, hollowed-out "tree" type hide with two holes of entrance/exit. Underneath this "main" hide is a UTH set on "warm". I've felt the bottom of the tank directly above the UTH after it warmed it up and it's warm to the touch but not hot. His second hide on the "cool" side of the tank is a half-log, which he seems to like to hang out in as well. The water bowl I have in there is a long, ceramic bowl that sits right in the middle of the tank towards the front. He's slithered into it a couple of times and appears to have no problem in that regard.

The warm side of the tank get anywhere from 85 to 90ish, the tank is in my living room and sits within reach of a skylight which warms up the tank because of the sunlight, so I haven't had much of an issue keeping the tank warm, especially during the day. During the night the temperature does dip, but the UTH keeps at least the ground warm on that side though I imagine the ambient air temperature takes a hit.

The cool side stays 70 and above, around 78 to 82 during the day and down to 75-78 during the night. I'm not sure if that's too cool, but I'm in the process of getting a heat lamp set up (with the red bulb) to keep the temps up during the night and on cloudy days.

Substrate is this: http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...ductId=2752443

Now as for the snake himself, he seems to love it here. I mean, I'm not a snake but as far as his activities and his feeding he seems to be doing very well. When I first got him the woman that sold him to me told me he hadn't eaten in a week, so I decided to purchase two mouse fuzzies (live) to see if he would take them. I knew it was a long shot because he'd just arrived in a new environment, but he ate them up with no problems at all. I have handled him every day for short periods since I got him and he actually seems rather content with that - he has never tried to strike me or nip me, and actually when I put my hand in there sometimes he comes out and peeks at me, then tries to slither up my arm.

Anyway this is a lot longer than I thought it would be! Sorry!! Hope I didn't bore you all to death. Let me know what you think of my setup!! Pics coming soon!

[Jason Bowden]

Sounds like a nice set up. I think with the temps stated, that your snake can thermoregulate just fine. Just make sure he has a secure feeling hide on both the warm and cool side. I'd stay away from the heat lamp/red bulb. It will dry out your enclosure.

[Vypyrz]

You are going to need a thermostat to control the UTH. Your body temp is around 98 degrees, so if it feels warm to you it may be too hot for your snake. Since you said the temps drop into the low '70's at night it is very possible that he may try to get down to the glass for extra warmth and there is a high risk of him getting burned.
I don't know the dimensions of your tank, but if it is that tall then I'm not sure a heat lamp is going to do much good, plus, it will suck out your humidity even more. I would start by covering most of the top with something like aluminum foil, aluminum tape, or a piece of plexiglass. This will help keep the humidity in. If you don't already have one, you need to get a digital thermometer, preferably with a probe. You place the probe on top of the glass, under the substrate, over the UTH. This way you can keep track of the hottest temp you snake will come into contact with. I use the Acu-Rite Indoor/Outdoor Thermometer. One unit will tell you the warm side temp, ambient temp, and humidity. You can get them at some Wal-Marts in the Home Hardware section or at Lowes or Home Depot in the Outdoors section. They cost about $12 and look like this...



If you can't find one, another option is to get a temp gun. You can order them from places like ReptileBasics.com. You may also find them at stores that sell tools and also some auto parts stores sells them. If you have to go with the temp gun ,remember to push the substrate aside and shoot the temp on the glass directly over the UTH...

Congratulations on a successful first feeding...

[alittleFREE]

You are going to need a thermostat to control the UTH. Your body temp is around 98 degrees, so if it feels warm to you it may be too hot for your snake. Since you said the temps drop into the low '70's at night it is very possible that he may try to get down to the glass for extra warmth and there is a high risk of him getting burned.
I don't know the dimensions of your tank, but if it is that tall then I'm not sure a heat lamp is going to do much good, plus, it will suck out your humidity even more. I would start by covering most of the top with something like aluminum foil, aluminum tape, or a piece of plexiglass. This will help keep the humidity in. If you don't already have one, you need to get a digital thermometer, preferably with a probe. You place the probe on top of the glass, under the substrate, over the UTH. This way you can keep track of the hottest temp you snake will come into contact with. I use the Acu-Rite Indoor/Outdoor Thermometer. One unit will tell you the warm side temp, ambient temp, and humidity. You can get them at some Wal-Marts in the Home Hardware section or at Lowes or Home Depot in the Outdoors section. They cost about $12 and look like this...



If you can't find one, another option is to get a temp gun. You can order them from places like ReptileBasics.com. You may also find them at stores that sell tools and also some auto parts stores sells them. If you have to go with the temp gun ,remember to push the substrate aside and shoot the temp on the glass directly over the UTH...

Congratulations on a successful first feeding...

Did you secure that with just a bolt through the airhole, or something?

[stevepoppers]

Get the above thermometer and a thermostat. Never trust unregulated heat pads. It's not that your body temp is 98 degrees, it's about how the heating pad feels to what your hand has been feeling. If you were just washing dishes in hot water, it wouldn't feel too hot, but if you were just filling a pitcher with ice from your freezer, it'd feel really hot. Also, they can just spike to up to 140 degrees.

This is a nice inexpensive thermostat. Put it's probe directly on the UTH. Set it according to the thermometer reading.

That tank is so tall and the heat will rise, taking the humidity with it. It can make it really hard to keep them where they need to be. If nothing helps, a cheap plastic tub actually makes the perfect ball python home.

Temps under 75 can cause respiratory infections.

I've heard you shouldn't put them in sunlight, but I don't know how concrete that advise is.

[Vypyrz]

Did you secure that with just a bolt through the airhole, or something?

I do have one that is hanging on a bolt that is stuck through an air hole and secured with 2 nuts and washers, but that particular one is mounted by using 2 strips of Scotch brand velcro. I believe it is 1 inch wide. I just cut 2 strips about the same width as the Acu-Rite. I put one across the top and the other near the bottom just above the battery compartment. Something I do now is right at the bottom of the Acu-Rite, I melt a hole just big enough for the probe to fit through and I also put one one the other end. That way I can run the probe out, around, and back in the tub on the other end, so all of the excess probe wire is outside of the tub and not bunched up under the substrate...

[alittleFREE]

I do have one that is hanging on a bolt that is stuck through an air hole and secured with 2 nuts and washers, but that particular one is mounted by using 2 strips of Scotch brand velcro. I believe it is 1 inch wide. I just cut 2 strips about the same width as the Acu-Rite. I put one across the top and the other near the bottom just above the battery compartment. Something I do now is right at the bottom of the Acu-Rite, I melt a hole just big enough for the probe to fit through and I also put one one the other end. That way I can run the probe out, around, and back in the tub on the other end, so all of the excess probe wire is outside of the tub and not bunched up under the substrate...

Whoa, that's a great idea that I never would have thought up. I'm always at a loss with what to do with all of that extra wire! I might have to try that out myself. Thanks!

[Kaorte]

My concern is that your thermometers are not correct. If your thermometers aren't digital then you aren't getting a correct reading.

As others have mentioned, the accurite weather station is a great device for single setups. It has a probe that you can put right on the glass where the UTH is to determine the hottest temperature the snake can reach.

Personally, I don't think the enclosure is appropriate because it is so tall. Heat rises which means the lower half (where the snake is) will always be much cooler then the top half. Also, ball pythons are terrestrial snakes and do not climb very much (if at all).

I would also think about getting different hides. Your best option would be to get two identical hides. You can get the nice exo terra rock cave hides or you can go the cheap route (like I do) and get some plastic bowls from the dollar store. You will want something that has one small entrance and is very tight fitting. Your snake should be able to barely cram itself in there.