Petco (Ball Python) Help

[MontyAndMelissa]

Hate to break it to you but you wasted your money. Those are absolutely worthless and nowhere near accurate enough to montior temps for a BP. The humidity for BPs can kind of be ball-parked, but the temps need to be pretty spot on. You should be able to find a laser/infrared thermometer somewhere in the $20-30 range.

EDIT: You are talking about those little circular-looking ones that stick to the side of the tank, right?

I'm pretty sure the one he's talking about is a digital one. I have a zoo med thermometer and it's on point for ambient and humidity, but they still need a no contact for surface temperature.

[MontyAndMelissa]

Always better to do the research before buying the animal. Could've saved a few bucks.

Yeah, those are no good. Before I knew better I almost killed one of my frogs using one. The humidity gauges are no better, but BPs are more forgiving of humidity mistakes than temp ones.

I have mine set at 90. Never seen it get above 92 even on really hot days. My ambient temp stays around 80.

Makes me also think; you've got a tank probably? I personally recommend drilling holes in plastic tubs (cheaper and keeps humidity in better) but you'll probably end up needing to cover about half the lid with either tinfoil or clingwrap to keep the parameters in the right range. Also, even if you have those cage-clips they sell, put a heavy book or something on top. BPs are deceptively strong. I wouldn't trust mine in anything with a lid that didn't latch closed.

I use two bungees to hold my lid down. I had to get a replacement lid when my cat went through the last one. It's one of the ones that sits on top instead of slides in.

[tkdlover123]

Yea. I have a terrarium. I have a quick question. I'm using eco-earth substrate but do you prefer aspen?

[DVirginiana]

I use cypress mulch. Eco-earth gets REALLY dry when it's dry and kind of makes a mess. I use it for my tropical tanks for frogs where it's always supposed to be wet.

If you have the digital ones you should be fine, I was thinking about the ones that have the numbers around the outside and have a needle pointing at the supposed temp/humidity as those are what I see most commonly used at my local Petco.

[Monty's_Mom]

I like the the eco-earth but the climate here is very dry so I have to keep it constantly moist to keep the humidity right. This is a good thing for feeding in the tank as the puffball dryness will easily attach to their food if it isn't moist. I'm not saying mud-like but moist.

It doesn't get moldy when kept moist, helps keep humidity up and looks nice IMO. I used to use aspen but I like the eco-earth better. My preference.

[tkdlover123]

Thank you for all of this great information!

[MontyAndMelissa]

Thank you for all of this great information!

I use coconut shred. It holds humidity. It's not terribly dry here in California, but it works very well for me.

[MalachiJ]

What do these thermostats look like? I thought that was the point of a uth rather than a heat rock?.

[Eric Alan]

What do these thermostats look like? I thought that was the point of a uth rather than a heat rock?.

Most UTHs, even when functioning normally, will get way too hot for BPs. Not all reptiles are created equally in regards to heat tolerance, so we need to account for that as keepers. Here's a thread going on right now about just how hot they can get without a thermostat: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=226513.

As far as what a thermostat looks like, check out the glass tank set-up thread in my signature. It shows several options with various price points. I have no idea if Petco carries them at all. You'll likely need to look online for this one.