Looking to get a BP; Have a few questions.

[wthNick]

Hello everyone, looking to get a Ball Python in a month or two. I'd like to make sure the cage is set up as accurately as possible first. I have the following supplies that my cousin gave me. A 20 gallon long tank, heat lamp with 40 and 100 watt ZooMed Sunlight blue Daylight bulbs, and a 20-30 gallon UTH (which I plan on replacing) with a lamp-dimmer. Just a few questions and concerns;

-The room I plan on keeping my BP in is always at 70F, I've heard they need a warm side of 85F-90F, but is a cool side of 70F too low? How would I raise the cool side? I live in MI, so it get's cold during the winter!
-Should I provide a day/night cycle for my BP? I already have the heat lamp and daylight bulbs, I could use the 40w to keep the heat emitted down to a minimum.
-How important is the humidity? Should it be something that I constantly monitor?
-How many hides do I need? Just one of the warm side and one on the cool side?

Any other information or links to anything I could read would be really helpful. I mainly was just worried at the above though, and couldn't find exact answers.

[SRMD]

Here is the care sheet:
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=127203

They need a warm side of 88-92f And a cool side of about 80-82f (no lower than 75f on the cool side) you can boost the ambient temperature of the enclosure by boosting the whole room temperature.

You will need 2 of the exact same secure hides, one on the cool end one on the warm. The reason for them to be the same is so your BP doesn't choose security over thermo regulation. Try to find hides that only have one entrance/exit.

They need humidity at 50-60% which should be monitored and 70-80% during there Shed cycle you monitor this with a digital Hygrometer. You may have read that bathing your BP is something to do when they are in shed, please DO NOT do this, it causes unnecessary stress for your BP.

Day/night cycle is not necessary. My BP is providing with natural daylight that comes through my window.

You will also need thermostats to regulate all of your heat sources as well as digital thermometer to constantly monitor temps and maybe a temp gun.

Best of luck, welcome to BP.net

[wthNick]

Could I use like an infrared builb to raise the ambient temp of the cage, and then an UTH on the hot side to raise it further? Getting the room to 80 during winter in MI would be really difficult lol.

Thank you for answering the questions I had!

[The Golem]

Why do the hides need to be identical? I have 2 different hides, haven't noticed a problem.

[tbowman]

If you're interested in raising the temperature of the entire room, the most popular method seems to be a combination of an Oil Filled Radiator such as this:

https://www.google.com/shopping/prod...d=0CJYBEKYrMAA

Attached to a thermostat capable of regulating such a device, such as

http://www.etcsupply.com/ranco-etc11...FQwEaQod3RkAag

As well as some type of fan for air circulation. This type of setup may not be practical for you , but that is what I do. That way you only have to worry about maintaining temperatures on the warm end.

Humidity plays an important role in the health of your snake. Too low, and you will be sure to have shedding issues, dimpled scales and you will probably notice little dents in your snake's eyes. There may be some respiratory issues as a result of low humidity as well. Too high, and your snake will run a greater risk of respiratory illness from bacterial infection. Especially in a poorly ventilated enclosure.

As for the question regarding hides. Generally the minimum is two identical hides on opposite ends of the enclosure for thermo regulation. Depending on the size of the snake compared to the size of the enclosure, the snake may benefit from having more places to hide (Crumpled up newspaper works well too to add security) The more the merrier really.

[Viol8r]

Why do the hides need to be identical? I have 2 different hides, haven't noticed a problem.

This question was answered in the next sentence.... "so your BP doesn't choose security over thermo regulation"
If you bp likes a tighter hide over one with more space it may choose to stay on one side of the tank and not get the benefit of both sides as needed.

[The Golem]

This question was answered in the next sentence.... "so your BP doesn't choose security over thermo regulation"
If you bp likes a tighter hide over one with more space it may choose to stay on one side of the tank and not get the benefit of both sides as needed.

It's his tank, all secure, and he goes wherever he wants. Sometimes soaks in the water bowl. Sometimes lays on top of a cork flat. Sometimes he presses up against the front to let me know he wants out. There are lots of shapes and textures and he goes in, under and on whatever he wants.
He doesn't have to choose security over thermal regulation because the hides are different.

[tbowman]

It's his tank, all secure, and he goes wherever he wants. Sometimes soaks in the water bowl. Sometimes lays on top of a cork flat. Sometimes he presses up against the front to let me know he wants out. There are lots of shapes and textures and he goes in, under and on whatever he wants.
He doesn't have to choose security over thermal regulation because the hides are different.

Security is not the issue. What is important is that the snake feels secure. And by having different hides, there is a potential that a snake will feel more secure in one hide over another. Having identical hides eliminates the potential for that to happen. Of course we know that if we take the hides out of our enclosures, nothing is going to come from the sky and eat our snakes, but the snakes do not know that. If a snake feels susceptible to predation in a certain hide, and feels secure in another, they are likely to only use the hide that makes them feel secure.

Say your snake eats a meal, and wants to be on the warm end of the enclosure, but he prefers the hide that is on the cool end. He is more likely to spend time in that hide even though he doesn't necessarily want to spend time at a lower temperature.

Of course every snake is different and yours may not seem to care. But it is an issue that can be completely avoided by having identical hides. I don't see the point in potentially stressing the snake where you don't have to.

[bimmer28]

as a fellow michigander i put my rack closer to the heat vent and run a space heater since my oil heater broke.. keep away from the outside walls of the house. also higher would be better since heat rises. on a desk near the vent compared to on the floor against the outside wall.

the heat lamp will raise core temp up a bit. i have a glass terrarium 12x18x18 and i glued foil over the screen(safely) leaving space for the light. and covered the glass sides and my ambient temp in there is 78 or higher without my adjusting. use a higher watt bulb but keep an eye on humidity.

[SKO]

I have two different hides and my girl uses both. It might depend on the snake also. It's hard to tell with reptiles what they are "feeling" so you have to go by behavior. Every one has good points here though. It might also have to do with whether or not the sides of the tank are covered. I have the sides and back covered and she roams around pretty frequently at night so I only have to assume that she feels secure. The cool side hide has multiple holes (it's a tree looking hide) and when I spy on her at night she is in and out of it and crawling around. Sometimes during the day she'll sleep in it too

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