New Ball Python Owner In Need of Guidance

[hotelvoodoo]

Yikes. Ok... So my first two babies arrive in two days and I'm already panicking. My whole life I've wanted snakes and for the past few years have looked into a breeding program and now I'm finally taking steps to make this happen, but I don't want to screw things up before I even start.

Firstly, I'm broke, living in a really small apartment with two other people, so before anyone starts in about multi enclosures and seperate room keeping, please keep in mind that I'm fresh out of college and am on a very limited budget.

I set up the kids' tank today (a big 40 gallon fish tank I found on craigslist). It's divided down the middle with covered plexiglass, giving my girl and boy their own space. I've got cypress substrate, climbing branches, a hot hide and a cool side.

My problem is heating. I've read so much on the subject and I'm getting a LOAD of mixed messages. I know the ambient temperature should be around 80-84 with a basking temp of around 90. So far I have UTH Zoo Med medium sized for either side of the tank and a dual light with 75 watt infrared bulbs which provide heat to both sides of the divider. The only trouble is even with those two things combined I can only acheive like 86 degrees at the basking site. I'm measuring under the hide with a probed digital thermometer. Obviously an issue.

I plan on buying a thermostat and upgrading to a 100 watt incandescent on either side to try and boost the heat levels. Does this sound like the solution I need or should I be trying to do something else?

Any advice is GREATLY appreciated.

[cmack91]

75 watts is probably enough for ambients, but how and where are you measuring them?

do you have something controlling the uth? it takes a while to get to stable temps, give it a day or so

[The Serpent Merchant]

Sounds good, the only other thing is I would suggest that you use a different substrate. Cypress is great for holding humidity but renders your UTH's practically useless. paper towels are the cheapest and easiest to keep the enclosure clean. The same goes for corrugated wrap. If you don't like the look of either of those you could use a very thin (less than 1/2"thick) layer of either aspen or Eco-Earth (coco husk)

[Annarose15]

Since both of them are arriving around the same time, don't worry about QT is separate rooms. If they are coming from different places, that would be ideal, but it isn't like you are putting them right next to snakes you've already had for a long period of time. Just try to be diligent about hand and utensil washing, etc., when switching to one BP from the other and you should be fine.

To your concern about a "basking" spot (the real question ) - make sure you are checking the temp of the actual glass under your substrate, not just the top of the substrate. To Serpent Merchant's point, paper towels and frequent misting might be a better choice than cypress until the weather warms up a bit.

[Slim]

Many glass tank set ups give owners fits trying to keep the humidity in the correct range. The bigger the tank, the bigger the problem. The stronger the IR light, the bigger the problem. My suggestion would be to ditch the tank (sell to someone else on CL) and head to to the Dollar store for a couple of plastic tubs. There are many threads on this Forum that talk about the best way to set up tubs. It's your best bet for holding both heat and humidity on a budget.

[hotelvoodoo]

Just as an update. I took everyone's advice and replaed the cypress mulch underneath the hides with damp paper towels. Whoever said to make sure to measure the temp against the glass and not on the substrate was a life saver. The glass was soaring at around 101 where it was reading at 84 above the cypress mulch. I just set up the thermostat and the whole electrical system and already the temperatures are climbing beautifully. It's been around 25 minutes and we are looking at a 77 degree ambient and an 81 degree basking spot. With a temperature max out at an hour for the lamps and two hours for the pads I think we are going to be just fine. Thanks for the advice. Super big help.

[The Serpent Merchant]

The basking spot is 81 degrees? It needs to be between 88-92. Maybe I misinterpreted something.

[Slim]

Just as an update. I took everyone's advice and replaed the cypress mulch underneath the hides with damp paper towels. Whoever said to make sure to measure the temp against the glass and not on the substrate was a life saver. The glass was soaring at around 101 where it was reading at 84 above the cypress mulch. I just set up the thermostat and the whole electrical system and already the temperatures are climbing beautifully. It's been around 25 minutes and we are looking at a 77 degree ambient and an 81 degree basking spot. With a temperature max out at an hour for the lamps and two hours for the pads I think we are going to be just fine. Thanks for the advice. Super big help.

Heat isn't going to be your main problem. Humidity is.