New here! Am I doing it right?

[Caramell]

Hello everyone, I'm new to this site and to snakes.
I just recently joined this site to learn more about my ball python.
Last week, my mom made a very serious impulse buy. She went to the pet store, saw the ball python, and immediately took it home. At first I put aspen bedding in the spare 10 gallon tank we had that already had a zilla heat mat under it, and had the tank at a steady 80 degrees. She had a half log hide and a ziploc container for a water bowl.
After being directed to this site, I've changed a lot of things. I changed the substrate to paper towels, added an infra red heat lamp on one side to raise the temperature of other side of the tank to 90-93 degrees and the cool side is still 80. I switched the half log to a plastic container and added another hide on the other side. Also since she has a bit of stuck shed on her, I raised the humidity to 70-80%.
Yesterday we fed her, and she took the f/t fuzzie with no problem and no constricting, so I guess she's used to eating f/t. I fed in a different container, and she didn't mind very much.

So far, is everything okay? I want to make sure I'm doing it all right!

[anatess]

Caramell, welcome!

You seem to be doing everything right. But, you didn't read the TOS of the site properly. Every new poster is required to....


POST PICTURES!!!!!!



We'd love to see your baby!

[seeya205]

Here is a care sheet: http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules/...warticle&id=59 Everything you need to know is right there! Congrats on your new pet! I wish my mom did that when I was a kid! Enjoy it!

[hunter94]

Sounds pretty decent to me. Looks like your doing a good job. Also Aspen is okay to use, but you have to move the BP out of its enclosure to feed so your BP doesn't ingest the Aspen. Iv used Paper Towels for substrate on a Beardie before and to be honest its not easy to clean. But if you like using it thats fine. Also I'm glad you joined to further your education on Ball Pythons.

[Jsh]

Everything sounds good.
You can feed him in his inclosure if you want and aspen is a good substrate as well.

[hunter94]

Everything sounds good.
You can feed him in his inclosure if you want and aspen is a good substrate as well.

If your going to use loose substrate you don't want to feed your BP in the enclosure because of the chances that they will ingest the substrate.

[Jsh]

If your going to use loose substrate you don't want to feed your BP in the enclosure because of the chances that they will ingest the substrate.

I've been feeding on aspen for quite a while with no problems. I feed off tongs so strikes are towards the ceiling not the substrate. Sometimes I flip hides for them to feed on but it's rare. I'm not saying their isn't a slight risk, its just not high enough for me to worry about it.

[seeya205]

I always need in the enclosure with aspen and never had a problem!!!

[ballpythonluvr]

The OP can always put down some newspaper or paper towels on top of the substrate when feeding. Then there is no chance of the snake getting any of the substrate in it's mouth. They do not need to feed the snake in a separate container.

[Oxylepy]

1. No need to swap enclosures or put things down, a lot of people think if the snake ingests some bedding it will be the end of the world, but a lot more have no issues with it. Aspen is a great bedding, I used to use it.
2. The OP stopped using aspen and started using paper towels, so I dont see where you guys are getting the urge to tell them to switch when they already did.
3. Temps are fine, humidity seems fine, if the stuck shed doesnt come off in a week or so I'd suggest soaking in warm water for half an hour or so and if it's just on the body you can gently rub it after and it should come right off if it doesnt in the water.

What size is the snake? Hoppers to adult mice are good if it's not tini-tiny, use the widest diameter of the snake as a set for you widest diameter feeder. You may want to add a second identical hide. Try blocking out 3 sides so that the snake is more secure (this doesnt seem necessary in your case but is always nice in a tank). Use aluminum foil on the screen lid to aid in maintaining humidity (1/2 to 2/3rds the lid).

Where are you getting your temps? You need to test the glass right on top of the heat mat, it could be getting to hot (but if you have a 5-10gallon heat mat chances are it wont, but it can). BPs dont seem to bask often so a heat lamp could be overkill and may not be necessary, but if the belly heat on the pad stays where it is and the ambient temp stays where it is you should be fine and may well just keep the heat lamp.

Aspen is fine, paper towels arent necessary, you can spot clean aspen, but with the towels you will need to pull all of it and put in a new set once a week/every bathroom use.