New owner with some questions ☺️

[Girlnextdoor]

We purchased our newest addition to our family yesterday, our first snake! She is a female ball python! Myself and my husband have always been interested in snakes but never could commit before, it took some convincing on my part as my husband wanted to jump in and get an green tree python but I finally got him to agree on a ball python until we're more experienced 🎉 She is really friendly the chances we've had to handle her, she makes no attempt to strike at us. She does ball up a little but then unballs and explores our arms and hands. She even drove home from the pet store in my husbands hand 😍 The pet store we got her from said she eats large fuzzies but hasn't eaten since she arrived which was Wednesday but not to feed her for another week.She's currently in a 10 gallon tank on aspen bedding with overhead lamps.



The only problems we've had so far is regarding heat. We have a dual lamp and the pet store told us to keep the day bulb and night bulb on during the day but turn the day bulb off at night, they suggested a 15watt for the day bulb and 100 watts for the purple night bulb however we've found having them both on during the day made it far too hot 100f+ so I turned off the night light and went to a pet store, they also said they need both lights as one is just a light and the other is heat? Because the 100 watt night bulb was too strong they said we should buy the 75 watt bulb. It's now night time so the day light is off but the temperature on the warm side is 85f, the cooler side is 75/78f and the humidity is 65. The temperature is too warm for night time right? I think I'm gonna need to go back and get a 50 watt night bulb. I'm so confused to what is right? I just want what's best for her. Any help will be greatly appreciated!! Here's Violet 😍

[mdgillispie]

I keep my temps at an average of 78-80 ambient on the cool side and 88-91 on my warm side. It's not necessary to drop temps at night. I posted a link for the ball python care sheet and I'm sure some others will chime in with temp help also!

This forum is great for tips, info, and support!

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet

[anicatgirl]

Welcome! You've picked a good spot to pop into, lots of good info here.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-With-Pictures!

Link should help w/ the tank

[nightrainfalls]

but it is true.

The pet shop is often not a good place to get advice. The employees may mean well, and be animal lovers, but they may have very little experience.

They have given you some bad information, and sold you the things that are not optimum. Fortunately, all of the problems can be remedied.

First, changing the snakes cage during the settling in period is stressful so it is best to set the tank up correctly the first time. It is already to late for this, so let the cage stay the way it is until the first feeding. We just need to fine tune the temperature. This fact is important: Ball python's are nocturnal and do not need supplemental light. Unless you have living plants, you do not need a day light. In order to fine tune the temps, just use the night time light and get consistent temps. I run 88 degrees F on the warm side, 72-75 on the cool side. The exact numbers are not that important, since the snake can move to select the best temperature. The snake will not freeze to death on the cool side, but it may cook to death on the hot side. Snakes can get burned easily, so my never exceed temperature is 90 degrees. This gives a good safety margin.

Once your snake is settled in and eating, the other problems can be fixed one at a time.

Problem one: your sensors are in the wrong place, and of a type not known to be reliable. The sensors may be accurate but are too high in the tank to be of much good. Move the sensors down to the substrate, or better yet replace them with Acurite or similar thermometer/hygrometers with remote wire sensors. I like this one http://www.acurite.com/thermometer-w...red-probe.html . The snake will spend most of its time on the substrate, so that is were you want your temps to be optimum.

Problem two: The hide is too large for your snake. Ball pythons tend to like to cram themselves into very small hides. Two or three smaller hides placed along the heat gradient will be more comfortable. The card board tubes inside of paper towels or toilet paper are just about perfect, though unattractive. Put one in the large hide, and I will be you find your ball curled up in it relatively quickly. Once your realize how small a space balls take up, you can get an appropriately sized hide. Be creative. Use PVC Tube, or clay pots, or small cardboard boxes etc.

Problem three: The screen top and mister. When you upgrade your tank size, do not use a glass tank. Humidity rises and so does heat, so screen tops work against good husbandry. The towel you have on the top is a stop gap that makes your tank work, but a better solution is a tank designed or repurposed for snakes. Most of these tanks are made of plastic with a minimal amount of ventilation on the lower part of the sides, closed ceilings, and doors in front. If you have an appropriate sized water dish in a good snake enclosure, you will no longer need to mist.

An inexpensive option, though one that does not look good, are sterilte containers. You can easily put holes in these with a drill or hot nail, and they hold humidity really well. More expensive but better are t8 or t 10 tanks.

David.

[Foxton]

Are you using a thermostat to control the temps or just turning a switch on and off? You won't be able to regulate temps without a thermostat.

[mjmullis]

Welcome! The best way I've found to heat a glass aquarium is with a ceramic heat emitter. I use them with a dome light fixture with a built in dimmer switch so I can dial in the temp. As far as lighting goes I only use compact fluorescent bulbs because they don't emit heat, don't kill your humidity, last longer and are cheaper to run. I don't use any night lamps. They really aren't necessary if you're using the ceramic heat. I definitely recommend getting rid of the analog thermometer and hygrometer and get an Accurite digital thermometer/hygrometer. They're like 8 bucks at Walmart and are FAR more accurate.
It'll take you a little experimentation and trial and error to get everything dialed in. You've definitely come to the right place for all of your questions and concerns!

[Girlnextdoor]

Thanks everyone for their advice, violet is such a sweetie that we have already made some changes to her tank. I lowered the temperature/hydrometer but now we seem to have another problem as the temperature near the substrate is barely reaching 80f and 72f on the cooler side and that's with the 100watt purple bulb. I think I'm gonna have to order a heat matt and thermostat. It's so frustrating that pet store said that they don't recommend heat matts and don't use them on their snakes. I feel awful that we didn't get this right