Am I doing good so far ?

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Hello everyone,

I just purchased my first BP after years of waiting. I have been reading and reading and reading and one thing I have learned so far is that no two snake people can seem to agree on anything. Here is my situation, I live in central Texas, very hot , very humid. I have a juvenile male a little over 12" in length and about 1" width at his largest part. Currently I have him in a 10 gallon tank with the back and sides covered in a jungle scene. I have a digital thermometer probe about half way under the substrate on his hot side. Currently I am only using a UTH with no thermostat. So far the readings I am getting have been anywhere from 91.2-96.8 degrees Fahrenheit. My analog temp and humidity gauges are reading about 79-82 degrees ambient air temp and about 60-70% humidity. I know 70% is too high unless he is shedding and I have got that down to about 60%. My question is do I need a thermostat for the UTD? I know many people in colder states do need it but so far (depending on how deep the probe is) the temps have been fairly stable in the mid to low 90's. What concerned me is at first I had the probe all the way underneath between the substrate and the glass and it was saying it was a whopping 102 !!! Now I moved the probe closer to the surface (1/4" below surface) and the temps are perfect. I currently have about 1 1/2" of substrate on his hot side, and am using aspen bedding to help keep humidity down. Do I really need a thermostat for the UTH? I am such a worry wart when it comes to my pets, I want everything to be as close to perfect as I can get. I also am not having any problem keeping heat and humidity in the tank even with the full screen top, as I said it is very humid here and I unlike most am having to find a way to LOWER the humidity. I would like to it stay around 55-60% and bump it up to 70 when he sheds. I have been reading forum after forum freaking out thinking I am hurting my poor snake...can someone tell me if I am doing ok so far ?

Other notes..he has a rock hide on his hot side and a more natural log and plant hide on his cold side. Also, since I got him he has been VERY active. He seems to LOVE climbing and has been spending most of his time either in the middle of the tank or on the cold side up in the fake fern I got for him. He did spend his first night under his hot side rock hide after I covered his tank with a towel (he is in my office and I stay up late gaming and didnt want the light to disturb him) He does not have any burns or anything...but the temp reading I got when the probe was against the bottom side glass scared the hell out of me. I have another digital thermometer/hydrometer coming in the mail for his cold side. As of now I have the digital thermometer on his hot side and the analog thermometer/hydrometer in the middle of the tank. What suggestions do you fine people have for me ?

One other quick question is I do vape, should I not vape in the room I keep him in, out of good practice I have not been because as you know they really produce a lot of vapor and there is nicotine in the vapor.

I will answer to what is in bold

Here is what happen when you do not use a thermostat https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...highlight=burn - https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ght=belly+burn - https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ght=belly+burn (those are only a few example of what we see every year on this forum) , a thermostat is not a optional gadget it is something you MUST have no matter where you live. If you have a UTH you MUST have a thermostat and a reliable one.

Analog gauges are completely unreliable so discard those and use a temp gun.

If your BP is very active during the day then something tells me that your husbandry is off, whether it's the hides not providing enough security, the enclosure be to big or your temps.