first time owner, experts please help!!!!!!!

[gplegend11]

please only answer if you are experienced. i just bought my first ball python about 2 weeks ago. i really need help. i thought i knew how to create a proper set up from the general info i had read from certain literature that was of course misleading. i feel bad for the little guy because i keep changing things, trying to find the perfect balance of temps and humidity. i know, i know, i should have had it all set up perfectly first. the good news is i am a fast learner, and when i got the little guy he hadnt eaten in 3-4 weeks but even with all the changes he has eaten twice already and its almost time for feeding number 3. i started with a glass 20 gallon aquarium, an undertank heater (small 8watt) and a day heat light and a night infrared light. i covered 2/3 of the screen lid with aluminum foil to try and keep in moisture, put water bowl on cool side, a moisture hide in the middle, and a hide over his uth and under the lamp. i had a basking branch closer to the lamp if he needed more warmth. people say pythons dont bask in light but he has chilled undet that light multiple times. i had two thermometers on each end and a humidity gauge in the middle. they were the cheap kind that you stick to the wall. i use mulch substrate and a good couple inches. temperatures seemed perfect, around 90 and rarely up to 95 in basking side, and 80-82 on cool side. the problem was no matter what i did the humidity stayed between 30-40%. i sprayed the cage multiple times each day, i put a moist cloth inside, half the cloth was in his hide on the hot side and half was hanging out. it made it so that condensation built up inside that hide. he had a moisture box but he didnt seem to ever use it or ever get into his water bowl. i made the mistake of wetting down his substrate to keep humidity up but i know now that is incorrect. the uth doesnt get the ambient temp up enough without the light, and the light just zaps the humidity. without the light it stays around forty five to fifty percent. so i went and got him a 28 quart sterilite tub. on one side i use two small uth that are 4 watts each (take up about 1/3 of the cage). i have a hide over those and a hide on the other end with his water. poked holes throughout and use no light obviously. now the problem is that i cant get the ambient temp above eighty even on the side where the under tank heaters are and the moisture is 70-80!!!! the substrate over the uth is only slightly warm to the touch whereas it was very warm( but not hot) in the glass aquarium. i have a thermostat cominging in the mail and should be here in a few days. i have a thermometer hooked above the uth on the plastic and below a very small layer of newspaper and mulch substrate. it reads 120 degrees F. should i just use less mulch to improve heat and poke more holes to lessen moisture? or should i use one uth that is 8 watts and a medium size rather than two small ones that are 4 watts? and at what temp should i be concerned that the plastic tub will overheat? it reads 120 with the two 4 watt uth and im afraid the 8 watt will get too hot for the plastic. what should the temp reading be directly above the uth if using plastic? what is too hot for the plastic to handle? and if mine says 120 degrees then why is the tub only at 78-80? remember i do have a thermostat that will be here in a day or two and can control 2 heating devices. so to sum it up, should i keep the glass aquarium set up and not worry about the 30-40 humidity in the whole cage if i put a small damp cloth in his heat side hide to create enough moisture to have condensation in there as well as a large water dish on the cool side and a moisture box in the middle? or should i somehow focus on keeping the plastic tub and just getting the humidity down and the heat up? any advice would help. i know there are many opinions and i do realize i was ignorant at first but like i said, i am a quick learner and will never neglect any creature and i want my baby to be as happy as possible. a few other things... i know what i have read and what people say, but i do handle him daily for long periods(1-2 hrs), i let him hang with me while i watch movies and he slithers around and then finds warm places to chill. i dont move him alot , mostly i just let him do his thing and hang around wherever he wants. he seems very friendly and relaxed. he comes up to my face and smells me, likes to keep his face nuzzled on my neck, and has even put his face to my dogs nose and smelled him. my power went out for two whole days and i even had to take him to work and keep him in my shirt to keep him warm for seven hours strait as i was personally training clients. the next day he still ate like a champ so i think he has a calm demeanor and doesnt stress as easily as most. he ate two days after i brought him home as well. it seems he is about to shed so i want to make sure his housing is perfect so he can shed easily. any help or opinions would be nice. thank you!!!!!!

[Stewart_Reptiles]

That is one big paragraph not very easy for the eyes to read.

Unplug the heat mat IMMEDIATELY and keep it that way until you receive your thermostat. Does not matter how many holes you will add or how much substrate you will add it will not affect temps, if your T-Stat is not regulated you need to unplug now, it's a burn hazard (if the animal is in the tub) and a fire hazard as well.

The cool side does not need to be above 80 (76/78 is fine)

Humidity just add more holes for ventilation and downsize the water dish if possible.

[JodanOrNoDan]

What Deborah said^^^.

I tried but I couldn't make it through the paragraph. I kept getting lost, but I am old and slow.

[gplegend11]

What should I do about heat until the t-stat arrives? Do you suggest the plastic tub or glass terrarium set up? Is there a way for me to edit my thread? I will look for that to portion it up for easier reading.

[JodanOrNoDan]

I and almost all that have a lot of animals use tubs. They are easier. I highly suggest that you attempt a tub setup first. Once you learn how to balance everything out then you would have an easier time trying to get a glass setup balanced if that is really what you wanted to do.

Look at the stickies here for the various setups.

As a temporary measure you can put your heat source on a light dimmer so that the output can be manually controlled.

Also read this.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

What should I do about heat until the t-stat arrives? Do you suggest the plastic tub or glass terrarium set up? Is there a way for me to edit my thread? I will look for that to portion it up for easier reading.

Does not matter do not use your UTH until it is regulated.

[gplegend11]

Thank you for the replies. I appreciate the information👍🏼

[kevall1]

Those stick on thermometers are no good. Especially for the hot spot. Go to Autozone and buy a temp gun. You can take direct readings right on the substrate. If you stick to the sticky thermometers you run a very high risk of burning your snake. Also, as a precaution I use a dimmer and a thermostat for each of my heating devices. I set the dimmer to my max temp. This will take a while and you'll have to monitor this over the course of a few hours. I usually go over then dial it back down. Once the dimmer is where I want it I hook up my thermostat. The thermostat keeps the proper temp. That way if one fails it cannot get too hot and burn my snakes.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[gplegend11]

Temp gun it is thanks.
I just bought a dimmer last night in fact and t-stat is arriving today. I decided to use the aquarium instead of the tub, however I foiled the entire mesh top except just below the heating lamp, which lies two inches above that hole so air can flow , and I am only using a infrared bulb as to not burn all the water out of the air.
He has three hides, one on hot side, two on cool side with one being a moisture box. Large water bowl in the middle. Also a branch tilted under the heat lamp which people say is unnecessary but I've seen him chilled on it.

Temp parameters are as follows.... as far as the cheap thermometers say ( which I am getting better ones) which are placed halfway up the tank, 80 degrees cool side, 90 degrees warm side, and just under sixty percent humidity( where can I get a good gauge for humidity that doesn't cost like a freakish 200 dollars?). Booyah.! I used the dimmer for my Uth yesterday and last night and have kept the substrate directly over the uth between 90-95. Is 95 too hot? I bought a digital thermometer and stuck the cable right above the uth and below the substrate to monitor that it doesn't get over that 95. The dimmer works well, as the temp changes on the monitor very quickly when I adjust. I will apply the t-stat when it arrives today which should be any second. Also I will get a temp gun.

thanks.

[JodanOrNoDan]

Temp needs to be taken under the substrate, not on top.