2,5 years later, finally seeing if I'm doing ok. Setup and shedding questions.

[jschwe]

That sounds like a great start. Once you know that she's safe and happy, you can start worrying about more snakes/the rest of the enclosure. Just make sure that you get her temps right (and remember, she needs heat, but she also needs a 'cool' side too), get her a hot and cool hide, and get her humidity up, and move on from there. Good luck!

[Annarose15]

Aight guys, I think I go this.


GAME PLAN: First up, I'm grabbing some proper digital thermometers/hygrometers. I'm going to see where my levels are, and report back (lol). I'm a bit concerned about heat for the little girl - If I remove what's causing the low humidity (the heat lamp), I also remove one of her warm spots. So, I guess I need to pick up some of that heat tape or whatnot. But, doesn't matter. We'll see how my levels are first, and I'll work on making a flat level across the entire middle section.

Excellent game plan. Even though the heat lamp might be drying things out, focus first on getting your temps right - heat is an absolute necessity. I think you'll notice an improvement in humidity just by reducing the total open space you're trying to control. Like the others said, one step at a time.

[Rmorse]

Uh-oh, this isn't good.

I bought a little hygrometer/thermometer combo at wal-mart today; it's a little digital box. I set it under the heat bulb (where the upper level is) about a half hour ago and it's already at 22% humidity and 90% temp and rising/falling. I feel horrible, like the worst dad ever.

I also ordered that thermostat from Amazon, and will hook that up to the cave where the under tank heater is.

[Kinra]

Uh-oh, this isn't good.

I bought a little hygrometer/thermometer combo at wal-mart today; it's a little digital box. I set it under the heat bulb (where the upper level is) about a half hour ago and it's already at 22% humidity and 90% temp and rising/falling. I feel horrible, like the worst dad ever.

I also ordered that thermostat from Amazon, and will hook that up to the cave where the under tank heater is.

You're willing to learn that makes you a good owner. We all have to start somewhere. My first ball python had to put up with me learning for the first few months I had her. She had horrible sheds and was losing weight. Now she's thriving and breeding for me.

I have faith that you will get things fixed up nicely for her.

[Rmorse]

You're willing to learn that makes you a good owner. We all have to start somewhere. My first ball python had to put up with me learning for the first few months I had her. She had horrible sheds and was losing weight. Now she's thriving and breeding for me.

I have faith that you will get things fixed up nicely for her.

Thanks, I hope so.

I do have a couple questions in regards to the shelf that I'm going to make though. I found "white panelboard" at Lowe's, but nothing that specifically called out Melamine. The piece of panelboard that I found is 1/8" thick. If I throw an UTH under it, will that even warm it up? Also, what do I do for the ambient temperature besides UTH if I can't use a heat lamp?

[Kinra]

Thanks, I hope so.

I do have a couple questions in regards to the shelf that I'm going to make though. I found "white panelboard" at Lowe's, but nothing that specifically called out Melamine. The piece of panelboard that I found is 1/8" thick. If I throw an UTH under it, will that even warm it up? Also, what do I do for the ambient temperature besides UTH if I can't use a heat lamp?

I'm not sure if that is the same thing as melamine and it probably won't conduct heat so you may have to put the UTH on top of it and cover it with something that will conduct heat.

As for raising ambient temps I can't really help with that. I don't pay for heat so I suffer all year round and keep my apartment at least 75.

[Rmorse]

Ah well. I'll figure it out...

That being said, here are some new (as of 5 minutes ago) pictures of Cleo. Does she look a little small for 2.5 years?

[jschwe]

She looks fine to me--all snakes grow at different rates, so there's no 'right' size. As long as she looks healthy (which she does) and eats regularly, she'll grow when she feels like it!

[Rmorse]

Bumpity bump. Maybe I should start a new thread, since this is turning from a "How am I doing" thread into a "New enclosure build" thread.


Anyway....


So, I have one of them thermostat things along the way, plus I have a digital thermometer/hygrometer in the tank, under the hot spot.

Remaining known issues:
Humidty is too low (at 16%). Need this mother UP.
Tank is too high for a ball python, they aren't climbers.


Here's what the current game plan is. This weekend, I'm buying some white panelboard from Lowe's, and cutting it to fit the enclosure. I'm going to make a shelf with it, at the very top. The left side will have a hide with an UTH inside of it, and the thermostat taped/glued to the UTH, to regulate the temps so Cleo doesn't burn. That will take care of the one hot spot, plus the tank being too high issue.

I'm currently exploring options to get that humidity level up. I need that bulb out of there; it's wrecking my style. What about these:

http://www.reptilebasics.com/rbi-radiant-heat-panels

I throw one of those on the inside of the enclosure, in place of the heat bulb. Will they put off enough heat? What size wattage you think I should get?




More pics will follow on Saturday or Sunday, after I get to cutting a bit.

[pigfat]

Do you have anything to hold the 1/8" up? If its no thicker than 1/8" then it sag drastically in the middle...You'll need at least something thats 1/2"....I know...frustrating .

As for humidity, just for right now I would go get a spray bottle at walmart, you can get them for $1, that way you can mist the enclosure. Are you going to put anything down for substrate? The first thing I thought of was to put a big piece of repti-carpet over the heat mat under her hide....you could cover the entire level with repticarpet as your substrate but it will be a little expensive at first, but you can wash them and reuse them. I dont know how well repti-carpets holds humidity though .

One thing that would save you some money is instead of getting a radiant heat panel, go to walmart or lowes and get a dimmer switch, and wire it into your heat lamp, that way you can adjust how much power is going to it, so it wont get as hot.

Now you know why so many people keep theirs in tubs lol