A Few Noob Questions

[Vanthios]

Hi and welcome to the forum. First things first, is the heating pad controlled by a thermostat? If it's not, turn it off until you get a thermostat for it. Thermostats regulate the heat of the heating pads also known as UTHs (under tank heaters). Secondly, take a photo of the enclosure and post it up. That way it will be easier for everyone to give you better advice regarding your setup. Here's a great thread regarding how to set up a glass terrarium (I'm pretty sure that's what you got him with):
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-With-Pictures!

In regards to the heating, 85 for hot side is ok but if I were you, I'd focus on the ambient temperature of the whole enclosure. If you can get the cooler side to be anywhere from 77-82F and your hot side is 85F, you'll be just fine. You don't need any daytime bulbs. As long as your tank gets some natural light in, that should be more than enough.

For cleaning, I personally use Natural Chemistry Healthy Habitat natural cleaner which doesn't have any "chemicals" (I'm sure it has natural enzyme chemicals) and is safe for animals and reptiles. I clean everything with it including the terrarium, hides, fake plants and water dishes. I usually buy a gallon of it and that lasts me quite a while.

The reason your Ball Python's skin is wrinkly is because he's trying to shed. You'll need to make sure you keep up the humidity in his tank at about 70-80% during this process. I'd suggest putting damp sphagnum moss in his hides and maybe around the tank until he sheds. That's probably another reason why he's not moving much. Ball Pythons aren't very active when they're shedding.

Hopefully this helps a bit. Get the photo of his terrarium up so other can chime in and help you out.

Thanks for your reply Misha. The heating pad is not controlled by a thermostat, and I disconnected it immediately after reading your post. At this moment I am online from work, so I'll take an image when I get home. I'll make sure to read the link you've posted.

I checked the lamp once again this morning, and it seems to be pretty consistent around 86, 87 degrees Fahrenheit. The lamp fixture I received with the snake is pretty bad, as the threading for the dome doesn't mesh with the fixture itself, so it sometimes falls out. I'm purchasing a new one regardless simply because of the fire and burn hazard. Would you recommend just getting a dimmable fixture and a high wattage red bulb so that I can just adjust the temperature of the warm end accordingly? I believe that I will need the capacity for more heat when the winter season comes. As for the temperature in the cool zone, it's dropping into the danger zones. When I recorded it last night, it was in the mid 70s. I'm becoming worried since it's likely that the items I'm ordering to improve his habitat won't arrive until Friday of this week or Monday of next week. In addition, I don't really have much control over my room temperature, which stays at about the mid 70s; I live with other occupants. Would you recommend getting a second fixture and mounting a ceramic heater in it to increase the ambient temperature and the temperature in the cool zone? I'm not really worried about lighting as much as I am the comfort of my snake.

I looked up the cleaning product you recommended on Amazon and was surprised that I had not before seen it in all of my research. On Amazon it has many high reviews, which is unlike many other cleaning solutions provided by ZooMed or Zilla. I've added it to my cart and intend to give it a try. As for your cleaning process, how are you using this product? At the moment I've got about 5 plastic tubs. Should I use one for washing the organic materials off all the accessories using Dawn, one for thoroughly rinsing off all the soap, one for spraying down the accessories with Healthy Habitat, and then one for rinsing everything off one last time? Should I be emptying and rinsing each bucket for each accessory to avoid putting organic materials from previous washes onto the current wash? When you spray the solution onto your habitat's accessories, do you let it set? Are you doing this in a separate container?

As for the poor shed, I really like the idea of the moss and have added it to my list of purchases. I believe it will work well with the hide that I'm purchasing for him because I can line the inside of it and bed it with some of the damp moss. With the heating pad beneath it, it should create a lot of contained humidity, right? He also has some pretty serious stuck shed, which I read about in another thread (http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...nd-the-dangers). In that thread, user PyramidPythons recommends letting the ball python soak in lukewarm water for a while (under close supervision, of course), then carefully handling it with a damp towel to pull off the remaining dead skin. What is your take on this? I believe my fifth plastic tub will work well for this. As for the wrinkled skin, I believe the soaking would aid this; what do you think? The top of the terrarium is screen, but I don't want to seal it off to increase humidity since the caresheet specifically stated that you shouldn't sacrifice ventilation or contribute to stagnant air conditions (http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...us)-Caresheet).

Thanks again for your post!

He's probably stressed. From what you say, the previous owner may not have done such a great job taking care of him. Now, in the last 24 hours, you moved his home and changed his whole life around.

When they're settled in and acclimated, they'll move around to adjust temps, but when they're anxious or stressed it's very likely he'll find a place he feels safe and just camp there until he feels a bit more secure.

That makes a lot of sense. Hopefully the additions I will be soon making will help him become more comfortable. Thanks for your input!

The thermometer probe should be on the floor of the enclosure.
You need to know the temp where the snake is, not the temp near the light.

Oh, my bad. Rookie mistake. I'll make sure to adjust it as soon as I get home.