New snake owner, general questions and concerns!

[Pkiefer131]

Hi everyone!

New owner here and new to the forums. This is my first snake ever, I'm super happy! My girl got shipping to me on Tuesday from Hippie Herps in Atlanta GA, via Jason, super nice guy (she was born on 7/15/2013 I think or maybe 2012, I can't recall or know if that fact matters). As a new owner I have some general concerns now that I've had her for a few days.

1) Humidity - I have been able to maintain around 50% (it bounces from 40% to 60%-ish). However, I went to bed at 1am and woke up at 7am and the tub was at 99%! Her hides are cardboard so of course they were soaked ans she was in one. I changed everything including the hides to new stuff in a panic. So, should the spike be a big deal? I'm wondering about respiratory issues. Call me an over protective parent!

To solve the issue I moved her water dish to the cool side (it was about halfway from warm to cool side) hoping that will help the water evaporate slower and moved a fan near the tank (not really a fan, I have an ionizer and the exhaust I angled just a little toward the tank, it seems to help and is nice fresh air) but I'm at work so I can't monitor it right now. Her water dish has only about 1/2 inch of water in it and it was nearly all evaporated. Is that enough water if she needed a bath?

2) When I saw her this morning she had her head hidden in her coil, why would she do this? Any other time I find her, her head is on top. Obviously I'm wondering if this is related to the poor tub conditions last night.

3) She moves around from hide to hide and appears active but has not gone near the water dish at all so far. Any ideas?


Here is my tub setup since I know this helps answer better:

28qt rubbermaid with air holes drilled around the top ( a lot of them probably 60 or so).
Two under tank heat pads that create a 10 degree grade, 85-88 on the warm, 74-78 on the cool.
Newspaper bedding and cardboard hides (I know the hides should probably be plastic, any ideas on what to use that would be big enough for her?
Water dish is a plastic rectangle Chinese food container, like a to go box.

SNAKE - Female Ball Python, last weight from dealer, 270 grams and I think born this year but I could be wrong since I don't have the paper work in front of me (like I said, I'm at work). Appears healthy, nice round size, no dry skin, such and such.

[bumblebee1028]

Welcome to the forum! And congrats on your first snake!

I'm new, so I'm not experienced enough to really help, but whenever one of our boys pees, they soak their entire tub (newspaper substrate, hides, etc.), and the humidity shoots up to 99%. So maybe that's what happened. For hides, we're using plastic deli cup type take-out containers with holes cut in the sides (and then melted a little with a match to there are no sharp edges), but I know a lot of people use cheap bowls from the dollar store, and cut holes in them. That would be a bit of a pain to have to change her hides every time she pees!

I rarely see our boys near the water bowl as if they are going to drink, though they do seem to like to slide over it/through it.

It sounds like you did your homework, and your setup sounds good to me

Hope that helps!

[Pkiefer131]

Welcome to the forum! And congrats on your first snake!

I'm new, so I'm not experienced enough to really help, but whenever one of our boys pees, they soak their entire tub (newspaper substrate, hides, etc.), and the humidity shoots up to 99%. So maybe that's what happened. For hides, we're using plastic deli cup type take-out containers with holes cut in the sides (and then melted a little with a match to there are no sharp edges), but I know a lot of people use cheap bowls from the dollar store, and cut holes in them. That would be a bit of a pain to have to change her hides every time she pees!

I rarely see our boys near the water bowl as if they are going to drink, though they do seem to like to slide over it/through it.

It sounds like you did your homework, and your setup sounds good to me

Hope that helps!

Thanks a million! It for sure was not pee lol. The water dish had 1/2 inch water and then it was gone so I assume it all evaporated from being on the hot side! oh no! Actually I'm going to try and move or repost this thread to a better area! Thanks for the help!