Starting to acquire, need advice and help!

[JhaRhod]

Hello BP members

Today i went out with my kids to the pet store and we all got to handle a red tail boa, Colombian motley (both babies) and an adult BP and a baby BP about 1 year old. remembering your guys advice i had to refrain with all might not to buy that baby boa ($120) but wanting to make some kind of progress on this as bringing my daughter was a bad idea.....obviously she wanted all four snakes we held! but i asked her to pick one and she chose the adult BP. instead of buying the snake i bought a 20x12 aquarium with locking cage top and the aquarium has a heat pad installed on the bottom that takes up just a little less than half the tank. i also bought an exo-terra glow light with an infrared 50w bulb. the tank is 12.5" tall and the bulb chart says the heat coming from this light at that height is 73 *F. is that ok? and also, im almost ready to pick a snake what else should i get for him/her to make the snake very happy?

I really appreciate your guys/gals help

[Albert Clark]

Hello BP members

Today i went out with my kids to the pet store and we all got to handle a red tail boa, Colombian motley (both babies) and an adult BP and a baby BP about 1 year old. remembering your guys advice i had to refrain with all might not to buy that baby boa ($120) but wanting to make some kind of progress on this as bringing my daughter was a bad idea.....obviously she wanted all four snakes we held! but i asked her to pick one and she chose the adult BP. instead of buying the snake i bought a 20x12 aquarium with locking cage top and the aquarium has a heat pad installed on the bottom that takes up just a little less than half the tank. i also bought an exo-terra glow light with an infrared 50w bulb. the tank is 12.5" tall and the bulb chart says the heat coming from this light at that height is 73 *F. is that ok? and also, im almost ready to pick a snake what else should i get for him/her to make the snake very happy?

I really appreciate your guys/gals help

You need in addition a thermostat to regulate the heat coming from the heat pad, a couple of hides for the bp also. One for your warm side and one for your cool side. I would exchange the 50w bulb for a 75w bulb and use it as a hot spot. The next thing is setting up a way to keep your humidity regulated inside the aquarium. Humidity needs to be at around 45% - 50% except when the bp is in a shed cycle when it should increase to 60%. You should purchase a temp gun to monitor your temps and a humidity gauge for the same. Acurite brand is readily available at Walmart and comes with a probe. The temp gun is a hand held thermometer that works by laser. Amazon has some good deals on these items as well. On this forum there does exist a step by step instruction and checklist on setting up a show display aquarium to house ball pythons. Good luck and welcome to the ball python community. Peace.

[Daigga]

A 20x12 tank is way too small for an adult bp. If you want to go the tank route a 40 gallon breeder tank is the recommended size for an adult ball python. other issues you may face are humidity levels with the screen top and lights (covering most of the screen with foil will help some, but be prepared to supplement humidity with misting or a humid hide) and you are going to need a thermostat if you have any kind of uth to avoid burns.

[JhaRhod]

i am going to need another light for day cycle right? ive just been screwing around with my set up and i have the heat pad on but sadly it isnt a thermostat controlled pad, its on or its off...... my temp from the infrared is 80.8 and my humidity is sitting at just over 50, according to the exo-terra humidity dial you stick in the aquarium

[JhaRhod]

A 20x12 tank is way too small for an adult bp. If you want to go the tank route a 40 gallon breeder tank is the recommended size for an adult ball python. other issues you may face are humidity levels with the screen top and lights (covering most of the screen with foil will help some, but be prepared to supplement humidity with misting or a humid hide) and you are going to need a thermostat if you have any kind of uth to avoid burns.

this is just a starter tank i wont be buying an adult

[salt]

i am going to need another light for day cycle right? ive just been screwing around with my set up and i have the heat pad on but sadly it isnt a thermostat controlled pad, its on or its off...... my temp from the infrared is 80.8 and my humidity is sitting at just over 50, according to the exo-terra humidity dial you stick in the aquarium

Ball pythons don't need the light. If you are looking for a supplemental heat source to your uth (which you should get a thermostat for) have you considered just getting a ceramic heat emitter? They are sold in the same area as the bulbs (in petco/petsmart) but they emit no light only heat, and then you wont need to have a day time and a night time bulb. Also either light bulb or ceramic heat emitter you are going to want a dimmer on it so you can adjust the heat output. You can pick one of those up from home depot or a similar type of home improvement store.

Here is the step by step guide of setting up a ball python enclosure using a tank.

[JhaRhod]

Ball pythons don't need the light. If you are looking for a supplemental heat source to your uth (which you should get a thermostat for) have you considered just getting a ceramic heat emitter? They are sold in the same area as the bulbs (in petco/petsmart) but they emit no light only heat, and then you wont need to have a day time and a night time bulb. Also either light bulb or ceramic heat emitter you are going to want a dimmer on it so you can adjust the heat output. You can pick one of those up from home depot or a similar type of home improvement store.

Here is the step by step guide of setting up a ball python enclosure using a tank.

ok so what watt should i have for a heat emitter? i was under the impression they needed some kind of light/dark cycle. if this isnt the case then i can just get an emitter and his spot in the living room will provide enough light/dark? i have a set up right now and the tank is 20x12 and although it may be too small the snake is in shed so i dont want to switch him over too a larger tank until hes done to avoid stressing him out. the emitter would be a good idea i think with a higher wattage as right now i am having to use a little tinfoil with a hole cut in it to achieve a high enough temp for his hot spot with an infrared light, leaving the cool side uncovered. so my hot side with heat pad and infrared is 85.6F and my cool side is 76.3F. my humidity is around 70-80 but i find im having to constantly monitor that and last night when i was asleep it dropped to about 50.

any advice on wether or not im doing this right!