Just got our first BP today. Few questions?

[Johnnyb]

Hello all like the title says today my Fiance and I got out first BP. In fact this is the first snake we have ever owned. We bought her from one of her brothers friends who is getting deployed next week. He got her from his friend who breeds them. He says that the snake is a she Im not sure how to tell so if you could help out that would be great. She is 7 months old and we just measured her and she is 24 inches. Not sure on weight yet but she looks healthy. She is in a 20 gallon tank with about 4 inches of coco substrate soaked with water with 2 hiding logs, 2 vines and a water dish. For lighting all there is is a heat lamp on top. We just took the temp and under the heat lamp on bottom and the temp is right at 80 F. My few questions are....

What else do I need?
He is feeding 1 small live mouse per week is that enough?
Is the substrate ok?
Just any other tips or tricks that we need to know?

Thanks!

[iCandiBallPythons]

You need to get your hot spot up around the low low 90's F. The substrate does not need to be soaked, a bp laying on constantly wet substrate can lead to a case of scale rot. I would also bump the prey size up to a small rat. Lights arent necessary ( unless you need help with ambient temps) because they are nocturnal. An reptile untertank heating pad connected to a thermostat would serve you better. here is a great caresheet on bp's- http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet As far as sexing them there is noway to tell visually. They either have to be popped or probed you can search either on youtube

[Johnnyb]

Ok great! So when the substrate drys out there is no need to wet it down again?

[iCandiBallPythons]

Read over the care sheet it pretty much covers from A - Z. It will also explain proper humidity levels.

[Tree]

She is in a 20 gallon tank with about 4 inches of coco substrate soaked with water with 2 hiding logs, 2 vines and a water dish. For lighting all there is is a heat lamp on top. We just took the temp and under the heat lamp on bottom and the temp is right at 80 F. My few questions are....

What else do I need?

I have the same coconut substrate as you do. What I have been doing is once a day misting the exposed substrate with a spray bottle full of room temp water. not soaking it down just getting it moist.

A Red bulb for your heat lamp will keep your ambient temps up in the cage and will not bother you snake with too much light. Ultra Therm and ZooMed make a UTH (Under Tank Heater) witch is just a heating pad. This will give your snake a hot spot on one side of the tank to digest there food.

You will also need a thermostat http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTPR...5665841&sr=8-1 This will keep the UTH from getting to hot. You want to keep it between 90-92 degrees.

[Johnnyb]

I have the same coconut substrate as you do. What I have been doing is once a day misting the exposed substrate with a spray bottle full of room temp water. not soaking it down just getting it moist.

A Red bulb for your heat lamp will keep your ambient temps up in the cage and will not bother you snake with too much light. Ultra Therm and ZooMed make a UTH (Under Tank Heater) witch is just a heating pad. This will give your snake a hot spot on one side of the tank to digest there food.

You will also need a thermostat http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTPR...5665841&sr=8-1 This will keep the UTH from getting to hot. You want to keep it between 90-92 degrees.

Great Thanks! Going out in an hour or so to get him his meal will get another red bulb the one only keeps it about 80 degrees on the basking side. I will also get an UTH heater and thermostat. Do I put the UTH on the same side as I put the heat bulb? Thnaks

[Tree]

I use the heat lamp mostly to keep the air temps up. I have the heat lamp more in the center of the tank. I do have a climbing stick under the lamp just for when she wants to get a little closer to the light.

[RestlessRobie]

X2 on the UTH and Tstat it will solve a lot of problems you run into later. For Humidity I use the EcoEarth Coconut husk as Substrate as well I wet it to reconstitute and mist it once a week. You will need to stir it up once a week as well or it can develope mold. I solved all my humidity problem with a peice of Plexi from HD it was the perfect size to cover 3/4 of the tank. I drilled holes in it for ventilation and covered it with foil tape to keep the heat in and is working great. Other than those couple things I think your setup sounds good. Once you get the UTH and Tstat it should solve your heat and basking spot problem. See the photos below for how we set up the Plexi. Hope this helps
Robie





P.S. Temps were a little off in the second photo we had just cleaned the tank