Am I doing this right?

[micharoo47]

Hello everyone! I just got a young ball python (the previous owner wasn't sure of the age but placed her between 2-3 months) and I wanted to make sure I have everything set up the way she needs it. I got her and her tank as a package deal so I'm not sure as to some of the exact details because those were set up by the previous owner. Here's what I have:

-20-gallon glass tank w/screen on top
-brown wood-like substrate (looks synthetic)
-half-log hide
-3" water dish w/ good water from MOM's
-UVB light, 75 watt daytime heat lamp w/metal shade, 75 watt blue nighttime heat lamp w/shade; all 3 are 12" from the base of the tank
-spray bottle (used once daily) for humidity
-frozen fuzzies
-1 beautiful snake!

I also have a heating pad I was thinking of putting under the tank to heat it up a little because the lamps are 12" away and it says on the boxes that that means it will be 68 degrees (night lamp) or 86 degrees (day lamp) and that seems too cold based on the Caresheet.

The previous owner had her on 2 live mice a week and she's pretty big already- I want to keep her kind of small while still being healthy, so I was thinking of taking her down to one F/T fuzzy a week after she gets settled in.

She is still in the same tank with the same setup she grew up in, and she seemed very curious (nosing around the tank, especially the top) when I brought her home so I took her out the first two days and played with her for about 30 min. She seemed to love it; she was exploring, going from hand to hand, and being very active. However, today when I tried to take her out again she bit me. I made a rookie mistake and held my hand in front of her face (I thought she wanted to climb onto my hand rather than have me pick her up) and I think she thought it was a mouse and struck. Her teeth barely went into my finger though, it barely hurt at all and she drew back super quick without holding on at all. Was she trying to warn me to back off, was she hungry and mistook me for a mouse, or is she irritable for some other reason, like too much handling or bad conditions? Should I have waited a week for her to get acclimated (even though it's the same tank) before trying to handle her?

Her eyes are also a bit cracked-looking, but I assume those are just caps that will come off during her next shed.

My questions are as follows:

-should I set up the heating pad and where should I put it- under her hide (but still outside of the tank)?
-is it okay to use tap water in the humidity spray bottle, and is this even the best way to keep the humidity up? (I'm a broke-ass college student so if it's not, low-budget suggestions would be appreciated!)
-will she be okay eating only one mouse a week?
-why did she bite me?
-is it okay to pick up her hide to take her out?
-is MOM's water ok (it might be filtered)?

Thank you so much for your help and advice!!!

[barbie.dragon]

Please read the caresheet on the forum as a starting point. I would add a humid hide on the warn side for the humidity issue.

You have to base her feeding portion according to her weight. Use a kitchen scale from walmart that measures in grams and feed her 10-15% of her body weight every 5 daus or so.

A stressed ball python is ususlly very active. I would leave her alone until she eats 2-3 times

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[micharoo47]

I did read the Caresheet as I mentioned in my post, I just wanted to get everyone's sage advice since I want to provide optimal conditions. The scale idea is good, I'll get one the next time I go to Walmart. Answers to any of my other original questions will be much appreciated!

[Grave334]

I'm no expert, but from what I know heating lamps will hurt your humidity a bit, a UTH is a good idea, put one hide on top and one hide on the cooler side, making sure you have a Thermostat to control the UTH (Under tank heater). And for my BP if I wanna take him out I usually lift his hide carefully and slowly pick him up he doesn't seem to mind it, but she might need to get settled and used to you. Maybe some time and some meals in she'll be more comfortable and won't strike you.

Next time just move a little slow and keep your hand away from her face so she doesn't attack you. As to why I can't say why but again I'm no expert these are just my two cents and what I know/read/heard. Hope it helps!

[Raven01]

Reverse osmosis de-mineralized water(not spring water) is $2-3 for a 18-19 litre jug and will not leave hard water deposits on the glass and will not expose your snake to chlorine.
Personally, that is what I use for humidity and the water dish.

While you are at Walmart getting the scale you will probably find the Accurite indoor/outdoor thermometers to be a good tool in ensuring a comfortable habitat for your snake and considerably cheaper than pet specific ones.

[Dracoluna]

Couple things, like Raven mentioned, pick up a digital thermometer. That way, you never have to guess what your temps are.

Also, if you're going to use the heating pad or an under tank heater (which should always be put outside the tank), you'll have to get a thermostat to regulate it. Human heating pads can get extremely hot and I know you don't want to burn the little guy. A relatively cheap and effective one is the hydrofarm thermostat from Amazon. (http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTPR...arm+thermostat). You just place the probe between the heating pad/UTH and the tank bottom so that it will shut it off once it's warm enough.

As for the biting, you mentioned that her eyes looked cracked. That sounds like retained eyecaps and though they might come off with her next shed, still mean that she can't see much, is uncomfortable, and will be defensive. Think about it this way, if you're small like that and can only see vague shapes and something huge comes at you from the front, you're going to want to defend yourself. I see this quite a lot at a Petco I go to and am working with some of their employees to learn how to avoid it but it's easy to show them the difference in behavior between a snake that can see and one that can not.

[micharoo47]

Great advice Dracoluna! Yeah, she drew back her fangs at the last second because once she got close enough she saw it was me and not food. What is the best way to get the caps off? I have the humidity up now (I added a humid hide) and I want her to be comfortable.

[Annarose15]

Dented eyes means she is dehydrated, but does not necessarily mean there are stuck eye caps. Just keep her husbandry correct and wait for her next shed.

And FYI, ball pythons do not have "fangs".

Add: Definitely get an Acurite while you are at Walmart. You need to KNOW your temperatures before you can make adjustments to them. Good luck!