Quote Originally Posted by frownifdown View Post
First of all, thanks so much. You've been an enormous help. I'll definitely check some guides on here later as I'm on my iPhone right now.

I'll check the guides before asking a bunch more questions but two I have right now are about heat and misting.

Why is a heat lamp better for tall cages? For mine if I make it 1.5 feet tall, would a uth be fine? I actually think the tank I'm buying with the snake has two heat lamps but I'm just curious.

For misting, does this just involve spraying the snake with several blasts from a mist bottle?

Ok one last question, sorry. Lol. I'm just really excited to get the snake and want to learn as much about care as possible so I can give I a really awesome home and life. Are there any special sprays or stuff like that that I'd ever need to buy? Like a medication type thing that I'd have to use under Amy circumstances? Again, thanks so much.
No problem man! We were all where you are right now at one point, its exciting to see a new member joining the community, I'm happy to help .

Ok, so first question.. I personally don't recommend heat lamps period. They can work, but it makes it really difficult to maintian proper humidity. The key thing to realize here is that you're getting a ball python, and while it isn't impossible for them to climb, its highly improbable. As such, ground temperature is most important. In a 1.5 ft tank a heatpad would be just fine. In taller enclosures, I've seen people use both, lamps or radiant heat for the air temp, and a uth for the ground. In your case, I think an under the tank heater with a thermostat would be just fine.

So for misting, you generally don't want to spray the snake, but very lightly spray the substrate or hides and other decor. The point is simply to increase the amount of evaporation occurring and as a result, the humidity. I usually just lightly mist the substrate every few days, just make sure the humidity is at least 40%.

Real plants eh? I know that some people have done it, but honestly, it sounds like a huge pain. I don't think that it would be a problem for the snake as long as they were welll maintained and healthy.. but you'd have to be careful. You certainly wouldn't want to just uproot some plants from your back yard, got to be mindful of lurking parasites and such.

About the special sprays... as far as I'm aware, no. You don't need anything like that. In the case that your snake gets mites or something like that, there are some sprays/cleaners available for such treatments, but I wouldn't go out and buy something like that until it happens.

A quick note on "sprays", make sure that whatever you use to clean the snakes cage is bio friendly. Some people use diluted bleach, others use clorohexidrin (not sure about spellign..) but I would just make sure it isnt harmful to humans, and wash out thoroughly as wel as make sure its dry before you put your snake back in .

Hope this helped..

-Fatal