BP Terrarium and Beginner Questions

[asmodeus]

Hey all! New to the forum but I used the care-sheets provided for some tips/advice. I was hoping to make sure I am prepared before I get my first BP in early February (so excited!). Attached are some pictures of my set-up. Thermostat with UTH on the right, red heat bulb on the left, two separate light switches controlling [one 2UVB 26W light (back right) and two 25W night lights (back left)], Baked Repti-bark, two water bowls, two hide boxes, and a Thermometer/Hygrometer combo.

My main concerns are that sometimes my hot side (left in the pictures) will get up to 92 F during mid-day (85 F at night) and my cool side (right in the pictures) ranges between 79 and 83 F. Also, even with spraying, two water bowls and a towel/plastic combo, my hygrometer readings sometimes get down in the 40% range. Stupid arid Colorado humidity. Are these significant problems?

And yes, I am very sorry that I did not take the plastic tub advice but I am hoping for just one pet as I am in grad school. Yes I heard that snake owners are notorious for not being able to have just one :)

Another question is should I buy food for the snake before I pick it up at the Denver Reptile Expo? A lot of posts recommend purchasing prey slightly larger than the diameter of the snake (but I won't know how large that is). I am planning on buying a female hatched in the past year or so feeding on F/T.


Thanks for any help/comments!










Extra Info: I have vinegar for cleaning the tank, plenty of baby wipes, combo lock, large hand sanitizer, and a great attitude! I also know I should let the snake chill for the first week, feed it, and then wait maybe two weeks before handling.

[shelby9189]

Was going to look at your pics but the link did not show up. Def give the snake some time to settle before you try to feed it or mess with it. It sounds like you kinda have the idea. I have my guy in a 55 gal tank I think I might still have pics of it on here but my cool side stays between like 65 and 75 my hot side depending on the weather outside stays 79-84 most days. I battle with my humidity I went and bought some moss I think from LLL reptile and it helps but you have to keep it damp. Def help when he is in shed

[The Serpent Merchant]

Hey all! New to the forum but I used the care-sheets provided for some tips/advice. I was hoping to make sure I am prepared before I get my first BP in early February (so excited!). Attached are some pictures of my set-up. Thermostat with UTH on the right, red heat bulb on the left, two separate light switches controlling [one 2UVB 26W light (back right) and two 25W night lights (back left)], Baked Repti-bark, two water bowls, two hide boxes, and a Thermometer/Hygrometer combo.

My main concerns are that sometimes my hot side (left in the pictures) will get up to 92 F during mid-day (85 F at night) and my cool side (right in the pictures) ranges between 79 and 83 F. Also, even with spraying, two water bowls and a towel/plastic combo, my hygrometer readings sometimes get down in the 40% range. Stupid arid Colorado humidity. Are these significant problems?

And yes, I am very sorry that I did not take the plastic tub advice but I am hoping for just one pet as I am in grad school. Yes I heard that snake owners are notorious for not being able to have just one

Another question is should I buy food for the snake before I pick it up at the Denver Reptile Expo? A lot of posts recommend purchasing prey slightly larger than the diameter of the snake (but I won't know how large that is). I am planning on buying a female hatched in the past year or so feeding on F/T.


Thanks for any help/comments!










Extra Info: I have vinegar for cleaning the tank, plenty of baby wipes, combo lock, large hand sanitizer, and a great attitude! I also know I should let the snake chill for the first week, feed it, and then wait maybe two weeks before handling.

What are your temps normally? You want the hot side to be between 88-92 degrees and the cool side to be between 78-82 degrees 24/7. No part of the cage should ever get above 95 or below 75 degrees. Humidity should be between 40%-60% normally, and 70%-80% during shed.

BP's don't need UV light. Fluorescent lights can be used for viewing, but watch out for compact fluorescent bulbs as they are known to be harmful in some species.

Your pictures didn't work, you will need to upload them to a site like photobucket, then copy and paste the "IMG" code into a post here.

This thread goes over the process step by step: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...with-pictures)

Here are 2 good thread that you should checkout if you haven't already:

care: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet

cage heating: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...t-Thermometers

Can you tell us exactly how you have your heating set up? (like what each heat source is doing for the cage)

For cleaning your cage I would ditch the vinegar and other stuff you mentioned. What you want is chlorhexidine, or F10 vet disinfectant. Both are safe to use around reptiles/animals, and will kill just about any bacteria in the cage:

http://www.reptilebasics.com/cleaning-products

[AKA Reptiles]

You sound like you got it down but the heat is a little excessive. I have found that with high heat or low heat there is an impact on feeding. Ball pythons can be picky about feeding but should do well when their needs are met. I try keeping it below 90 at the most. As far as humidity goes that's always going to be an issue unless you get a rack setup properly with the right amount of ventilation. I can't see your pictures but in case you have your setup in a screen top tank try covering some of the screen to reduce the amount of ventilation. This should help you keep your humidity up. Prey size really depends on the size of your snake. After you let her get acclimated to her new home for a week or more try offering her a weaned rat and see if she takes. Again depending on her size you might want to offer something a little bigger. If she doesn't take to rats try an adult mouse. Even with my setup being in a controlled environment I have found that a number of my snakes still know when it's winter and will fast or hibernate. It's really hit or miss but there should be no cause for alarm unles she starts loosing a substantial amount of weight.

Welcome to the forums and feel free to reach out with any questions you may have.

[asmodeus]

Sorry for the picture problems! I created a Photobucket to help view them. Is this better?








http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9f6464dd.jpg

http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/...ps41b3df08.jpg

http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/...psd7b11691.jpg

[asmodeus]

Thank you very much for the info and quick reply. Hopefully with the pictures I can describe the setup. In the back/far side top of the cage I have a compact flourescent exo-terra light structure. It has holders for three compact bulbs (max 26W each rating). The bulbs available are: one Reptile UVB100 25W Compact Bulb (not in use!), One Repti Glo 26W 2.0 UVB Compact Bulb, and two 25W Night Heat Lamp Bulbs. On the left front is a heat clamp lamp (that I can adjust vertically away from the cage to increase/decrease intensity) with a 50W Nocturnal Infared Heat Lamp. Underneath on the right side is a Medium UTH hooked up to a thermostat.

The most recent purchase was the heat lamp as without it I had a 84 F warm side and a 76 F cool side. The house temperature is about 65 F and CO can get below zero outside which drops our house temp sometimes.

I will look into the other cleaning supplies however I read in a few posts that ammonia and vinegar are good options for cleaning. Is this not true?

Thanks!

[The Serpent Merchant]

Ammonia and vinegar will work, but they aren't as safe or convenient as chlorhexdine or F10 which were formulated for the task of disinfecting animal cages. ersonally I would stay away from ammonia and bleach as neither are safe, and the cages have to be aired out before the snake can be put back in.

84 really isn't warm enough for the hot side of the cage. As I said before you really want it to be between 88-92 degrees.

It looks like you are using the UTH for the cool side. I don't really recommend this. UTH's don't increase the air temperature in the cage. they only heat the surfaces that they are in direct contact with. They even have issues heating through substrate layers that are more than 1/2" thick. UTH's are great for generating the hot side temperature/basking spot. the air on the hot side does't need to be any hotter than the air on the cool side as long as the UTH is creating a 90 degree hot spot for the snake to bask on. I would then take your heat lamp and center it on the cage. The heat lamp will be used to keep the air in the cage/ the cool side 80 degrees.

2.0 UV bulbs are fine, but I wouldn't use anything higher than that. 5.0 and 10.0 bulbs should only be used with reptiles that need UV/B.

[FrankieCarbone]

me personally i would get 2 identical hides, and some more decor and stuff which you can pick up at a arts and craft store called Michael's.

But my personal pref aside, here is feel is missing from your setup

1. instead of using all those towels and stuff get a piece of plexi glass cut to the size of the top of the tank, and drill holes in them, like this http://www.imagebam.com/image/b4f176233985592 that will give you great control of humidity.

2.black out the sides. get some, i forget what its called, but u get it at like a hardware store, its basically like paper you peel off and it has a sticky side, get black, and cover the back and sides of the tank, this will make your BP feel more secure.

3. buy one of these https://www.google.com/shopping/prod...ed=0CFwQ8wIwAQ if u have a wal mart near you, u can find one there for like 6-8 bucks. If ur anal like me, you can buy 2, i have one on the hot side and one on the cold side

[sorraia]

3. buy one of these https://www.google.com/shopping/prod...ed=0CFwQ8wIwAQ if u have a wal mart near you, u can find one there for like 6-8 bucks. If ur anal like me, you can buy 2, i have one on the hot side and one on the cold side

For $12 at Walmart you can get an indoor/outdoor version that will simultaneously measure the temperature on both the hot and cold side. Using instructions from this forum I've rewired mine so I have two probes instead of one, and can keep the unit outside the tank. Works great!

[FrankieCarbone]

yeh i though about it, but im not a fan of having wires inside my enclosure, not even if there hot glue'd on