Soon to be BP owner, want to make sure I get things right

[PocketPirate]

Hello all!

I'll start off by saying I'm relatively new when it comes to herps, the only reptiles I've owned were leopard geckos back when I was much too young to know how to care for them properly, and my parents at the time even less so (and due to misinformation from the employee who sold them to us-- "leave the enclosure outside in the sunlight"??) so they died relatively quickly and I've always felt bad about it. Fast forward several years and I've recently been educating myself on snakes as pets and I've become quite interested in owning a ball python. I don't want to make the same mistakes I did as a child, however, so I definitely put in the time for research. I've bought a few books on their care and read them cover to cover and have dozens of sites and information bookmarked, so I feel like I'm ready to own one. My mother is a bit terrified of snakes, but I've been helping her get over them and she is coming around, so the day where I can bring one home is fast approaching!

All that said, I definitely respect the opinions and advice of the experienced owners here; I've been lurking for a long time and finally decided to register and post! I'd like to run some of the supplies I have by you guys and see if I've missed anything. I'm probably going to contact Garrick DeMeyer to see when he will have new mojaves or lessers hatching soon, but it's probably going to be a while before I actually receive one. Naturally I want to make sure it's perfectly set up before the bp gets here. Nothing is set up right now, but I've been following the "how to set up a glass tank" guide in the Hubandry forum in terms of getting the right items.

I have a 20 gallon critter cage, I bought a small lock to place on the top lid to make absolutely certain it won't get out, a Kintrex temp gun, cypress mulch bedding, sphagnum moss, a mist bottle, feeding tongs, a large grapevine branch, two hides (one's a bit too big and one's a bit too small though-- I will probably buy more), corner water dish, a UTH, a thermostat, a lamp stand for a light fixture in which I will place in a CHE of 100W, and a LOT of decorative fake plants (because I've read how baby BP's can get insecure in large enclosures so I want to give him as much cover as possible). I also have two small yellow zoomed digital thermometers with probes, as well as a cheap stick-on one that I'll really only use to check ambient temperatures.

I still need to get a background for the tank, as well as a terrarium hood to place either an LED or a flourescent or full spectrum light in it, mostly for display purposes since I know bps don't require it and are nocturnal, and put that on an automatic day/night timer...does anyone have good recommendations for these items? I also still need a hygrometer.. I plan to get one from the accurite website, but not sure which one is decent and which one isn't, is there a model that any of you recommend? Also, about my decoration supplies, it's probably best for me to disinfect them before placing them into the enclosure, right? Such as putting the grapevine branch into the oven and/or using a bleach solution for the other things? And one last thing, I'm trying to find an aquarium stand to put the terrarium on, but most of them seem to be pretty short, even counting the height of the terrarium. I'm 5'11" so I'd rather avoid hunching down too much every time I try to clean or change the water.

Anyways, sorry this is so long;; I just want to be really thorough and careful to make sure the bp is as secure and healthy as possible whenever it arrives!

[Daigga]

It sounds like you've got everything in very good order, good job on all of that and consider me impressed.

As far as the things you still need, most of what you can find at the nearest petstore. If by background you mean the kind that goes on the outside this can be as simple as some colored poster paper or a fancy aquarium/terrarium kind they'll cut to size at most big chain pet stores. For a hood, my husband used to use a zilla desert strip fixture for our bearded dragon and that worked pretty well (we've moved on to a custom terrarium build with a strip fixture we bought from lowes). The day/night timer we use is the Zilla power center, also sold at the pet stores. Just make sure you actually get the programmable one with day/night sockets, as they also sell a regular power strip without a day/night cycle. For the hygrometer, I would go with the combo thermometer/hygrometer with the probe, but I'm pretty sure anything accurite has to offer will work pretty well.

The stand I have my 20 gallon tank on currently is just a regular entertainment stand from Walmart that I bought for a different purpose a while back for like 30 dollars. It stands about 22 inches tall, and since I'm only 5'1" it's a perfect height for me since I don't have to bend at all. At this point, whatever you like is going to be totally fine since you seem to have covered all the bases pretty well.

[Reinz]

Welcome to the forum PockectPirate. I'm glad to that you are taking your snake ownership seriously. It looks like you are on the right track.

Hang around and post often.

[PocketPirate]

Thank you for the recommendations Daigga! I'll definitely look those up. I'll probably go to the stores you mentioned to see what I can find.

and thank you for the welcome, Reinz. I'll be sure to stay and absorb as much as I can. I definitely care about the wellbeing of a snake just as much as a dog or cat so I want to make sure to give it the best possible conditions from the very start. Once I gather all I need I'll start setting it up and measuring temps and humidity.

[MikeBPython]

I am going to give you advice for the most accurate temperature and humidity monitoring devices that took me months of research and testing to find.


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004167QI8/...keywords=xikar

Xikar temperature/humidity gauge. It is accurate to 1% humidty/temperature. Buy 3 of these and place them in the tank with double sided tape. 1 in the basking hot spot, 1 in the middle of the tank, and 1 in the cool side. These are used by cigar hobbyists for their cigars, but they just so happen to be amazing for snake enclosures.

To calibrate it, buy a Boveda humidty pack. You place the Xikar inside this pack and leave it for 4 days. You will get an exact reading of 74 to 75% humidty.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[MikeBPython]

For humidity to be kept consistent to 50 to 60%, you can use a Zoomed reptifogger with DISTILLED water running on a digital timer.

OR you can use an item that people use for mushrooms ect.

Air transfer!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

you buy this item along with a Tetra air pump:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1


It works like this: You have the Air Transfer tube filled with distilled water. You connect the tetra air pump. It puts bubbles into the tube and creates pure humid air to go in the tank.

[MontyAndMelissa]

I am going to give you advice for the most accurate temperature and humidity monitoring devices that took me months of research and testing to find.


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004167QI8/...keywords=xikar

Xikar temperature/humidity gauge. It is accurate to 1% humidty/temperature. Buy 3 of these and place them in the tank with double sided tape.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I don't suggest putting double sided, or any type of tank in a snakes enclosure. You can find small suction cups with clips on them. If they fall off the side of the tank, they won't cause any harm.

[MikeBPython]

It wont work with suction cups with clips. The double sided tape used is industrial and rated to 50 pounds.

[nightrainfalls]

constantly check temps and humidity throughout the day. Make sure things don't go to far out of range. Sometimes you get a surprise and find out that hot air from the furnace is coming up the back of the counter, or light from the window hits the tank at a certain time and temps swing. Humidity can be your problem with a glass enclosure, so you may need to cover most of the ventilation on your top. I usually run a tank for a week, looking for temp and humidity swings. Try getting a thermometer/hygrometer combo that records highs and lows so you can make sure that the tank isn't getting out of whack when you cannot look at it. The most important thing, in my opinion, is to have the husbandry correct before the snake is put in the cage, because moving things around in the first few weeks can stress a snake when it is acclimating.

Great job trying to get everything sorted before you get a snake. Your approach is so much better than the "buy a snake try to figure things out" approach we see so often. You are going to be a great keeper, and we all look forward to helping you as much as possible.

David

[PocketPirate]

Thanks for all the replies!

Mike, I went ahead and got those temp/humidity guages along with the humidity pack. I definitely have heard of it but never knew which ones to get, so thanks so much! I figure having more thermometers and humidity gauges is better than less so the more the merrier. I'll be sure to be uber cautious with their placement if I happen to use the tape to avoid injury to the snake and will constantly check on it.

And thank you so much for the kind words David, I definitely will do everything I can. I've heard about the humidity problems that glass enclosures face so I'm prepared to take the extra steps like covering some of the top. I might even go get a plexiglass cover made, but that might be in the future. I'll be sure to update once I set everything up when I know for sure when I'm getting a snake so I can spend a full week testing the enclosure just as you advise.