New ball python owner, seriously need advice

[Craiga 01453]

Welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of snake keeping!!

Just throwing this out there to try to help you moving forward...
Seperate your thoughts into paragraphs. It make reading your threads much easier, there for will often lead to more people reading and in return, more replies.

Now to help you out:

- definitely rely on the digital thermometer/hygrometers. You might as well just ditch the analog. As you can already tell, they are wildly inaccurate. It's like using a Fisher Price doctors kit to check a child's temperature.

- get those ambient temps up! After spending "a lot of time researching" you should have already known this, but let's just move on...
Your UTH is there solely to provide a hot spot to aid in digestion and not for ambient temps. Since you don't want your temps dropping below 75 you'll need an additional heat source. Whether you go with a CHE or bulbs you will need to regulate the heat source with an additional t-stat.

Also keep in mind this additional heat source will drastically drop your humidity, so be prepared for that.

Other than that, sounds like you're on the right track.

Good luck and feel free to ask any more questions you may have.

[tttaylorrr]

I just measured the tank its 30”12”12(lenght,height,width). 78F on ground by the hide, 90F on mat, 76F 66% on cold side. And thats at the expense of the household, taking advantage my parents are sleeping. What CHE would go with those numbers?
Im looking at that Herpstat EZ1 but might just get the EZ2 for those 2 outputs if ill need the CHE on another STAT anyways. My girl and I give each other a hand since we on this together with the spendings, I just dont want to take it too far its a lot of stuff we’ve bought already. Im also considering a temp gun to ditch thermometers.

a 100 W CHE should be enough power, so be sure to get a dome rated at that wattage. i ran a 100 W on my 20gal and barely had to turn the electronic control up to reach the appropriate temps.

i'd trust the lower-end Herpstats over a Jumpstart any day; you just can't go wrong with Herpstats. i'd go for the EZ2 if you can swing it.

keep us posted!

[YounGod]

a 100 W CHE should be enough power, so be sure to get a dome rated at that wattage. i ran a 100 W on my 20gal and barely had to turn the electronic control up to reach the appropriate temps.

i'd trust the lower-end Herpstats over a Jumpstart any day; you just can't go wrong with Herpstats. i'd go for the EZ2 if you can swing it.

keep us posted!

When i got home the temps were 76F 60% and 81F on hot side. AC set at 77.
I recieved a Zoo med CHE 60 watt along with the porcelain clamp lamp. Will that work?
My plan would be to get the Herpstat EZ2 and use that to regulate both the CHE and UTH, so i wont be inserting the CHE until the Stats arrives. At what temp should i set the STAT with the CHE and where should the probes be? Would that be a correct setup?
Also what about electricity consumption by all these items.
Sorry for all the questions im really interested hehe

[tttaylorrr]

When i got home the temps were 76F 60% and 81F on hot side. AC set at 77.
I recieved a Zoo med CHE 60 watt along with the porcelain clamp lamp. Will that work?
My plan would be to get the Herpstat EZ2 and use that to regulate both the CHE and UTH, so i wont be inserting the CHE until the Stats arrives. At what temp should i set the STAT with the CHE and where should the probes be? Would that be a correct setup?
Also what about electricity consumption by all these items.
Sorry for all the questions im really interested hehe

don't apologize for trying to learn.

what you have will work, yes.

as for what temperature to set it at: that depends on your environment. my temp settings will be different from yours, as will everyone else's. once you get your t-stat, you'll need to play scientist and spend an hour or so letting everything run and periodically checking temps until you're happy and getting consistent readings. it's a bit of work, but once everything is dialed in the rest is a breeze. an IR temp gun will be a YUUUGE help here.

for CHE probe placement: you'll want to hang it down an inch or so above the substrate. how big is your snake btw? depending on size, they might climb the probe so be aware of that and try to anchor it down somehow, as best as you can (NO TAPE IN THE ENCLOSURE EVER). with a bigger snake this won't be an issue.

regarding electricity: well, the CHE won't pull more than 60 W lol, and if it's running full-blast then your thermostat isn't doing it's job. regulated heat sources are much cheaper to run than unregulated heat sources, as their electricity usage is, well, regulated. the thermostat will be pulling the most electricity, but the wattage is listed on the Herpstat website if you need to look it up.

[YounGod]

don't apologize for trying to learn.

what you have will work, yes.

as for what temperature to set it at: that depends on your environment. my temp settings will be different from yours, as will everyone else's. once you get your t-stat, you'll need to play scientist and spend an hour or so letting everything run and periodically checking temps until you're happy and getting consistent readings. it's a bit of work, but once everything is dialed in the rest is a breeze. an IR temp gun will be a YUUUGE help here.

for CHE probe placement: you'll want to hang it down an inch or so above the substrate. how big is your snake btw? depending on size, they might climb the probe so be aware of that and try to anchor it down somehow, as best as you can (NO TAPE IN THE ENCLOSURE EVER). with a bigger snake this won't be an issue.

regarding electricity: well, the CHE won't pull more than 60 W lol, and if it's running full-blast then your thermostat isn't doing it's job. regulated heat sources are much cheaper to run than unregulated heat sources, as their electricity usage is, well, regulated. the thermostat will be pulling the most electricity, but the wattage is listed on the Herpstat website if you need to look it up.

The snake is a juvi i dont think he can take the whole lenght of the tank with his own body. I dont have exact measures tho, 6 months old at most.
i heard is good setting CHE with dimmers or should i just keep with the Herostat EZ2 setup? That one takes 300w by output.. not sure what it means just sounds like a lot.

[tttaylorrr]

The snake is a juvi i dont think he can take the whole lenght of the tank with his own body. I dont have exact measures tho, 6 months old at most.
i heard is good setting CHE with dimmers or should i just keep with the Herostat EZ2 setup? That one takes 300w by output.. not sure what it means just sounds like a lot.

the lights in your average ceiling fan pull ~200 W, to give you some perspective.

from what you described earlier in this thread, i would not recommend a dimmer/rheostat for your environment as you had stated your temps fluctuate by a fairly large amount:

the enclosure is located in my living room here in Miami where the temps go between 78-69 accordingly inside my house with AC.

a rheostat works best in a room with stable temps, as a rheostat does not have a probe to read temps and adjust the electronic control like a thermostat does. i used a rheostat with my 100 W CHE and it worked really well, but my room has a stable temp (no more than a 3° swing).

[YounGod]

don't apologize for trying to learn.

what you have will work, yes.

as for what temperature to set it at: that depends on your environment. my temp settings will be different from yours, as will everyone else's. once you get your t-stat, you'll need to play scientist and spend an hour or so letting everything run and periodically checking temps until you're happy and getting consistent readings. it's a bit of work, but once everything is dialed in the rest is a breeze. an IR temp gun will be a YUUUGE help here.

for CHE probe placement: you'll want to hang it down an inch or so above the substrate. how big is your snake btw? depending on size, they might climb the probe so be aware of that and try to anchor it down somehow, as best as you can (NO TAPE IN THE ENCLOSURE EVER). with a bigger snake this won't be an issue.

regarding electricity: well, the CHE won't pull more than 60 W lol, and if it's running full-blast then your thermostat isn't doing it's job. regulated heat sources are much cheaper to run than unregulated heat sources, as their electricity usage is, well, regulated. the thermostat will be pulling the most electricity, but the wattage is listed on the Herpstat website if you need to look it up.

Yeah guess Ill get that Herpstat EZ2 for both UTH and CHE. Also the temp gun which ive been considering for a while( can the laser from the gun damage the snakes eyes?). I just put him into my room and when theres traffic or a bright light-on I put a towel accross the top an the front of the tank with a spot uncovered on the top so some light drops inside mimicking a ray of sunlight in a dark forest😂.
I hope this works out. Thanks for your help i was looking for somoeone exactly like you. Ill post more in these forums as time goes by and i face more questions. Appreciate it.

[tttaylorrr]

Yeah guess Ill get that Herpstat EZ2 for both UTH and CHE. Also the temp gun which ive been considering for a while( can the laser from the gun damage the snakes eyes?). I just put him into my room and when theres traffic or a bright light-on I put a towel accross the top an the front of the tank with a spot uncovered on the top so some light drops inside mimicking a ray of sunlight in a dark forest.
I hope this works out. Thanks for your help i was looking for somoeone exactly like you. Ill post more in these forums as time goes by and i face more questions. Appreciate it.

laser safety 101: never point any laser at any eyeballs.

cover 3 of the 4 sides of the enclosure with dark paper it fabric: beeps are very secretive animals and like their privacy, and this will help them feel more secure.

you're very welcome for the help, that's what we're here for! and hey!!! i think you owe me some pics of your snake! pleeeaaasssee.

[YounGod]

laser safety 101: never point any laser at any eyeballs.

cover 3 of the 4 sides of the enclosure with dark paper it fabric: beeps are very secretive animals and like their privacy, and this will help them feel more secure.

you're very welcome for the help, that's what we're here for! and hey!!! i think you owe me some pics of your snake! pleeeaaasssee.

This is him: Kirah is the name
https://imgur.com/6wRWPiq
https://imgur.com/Te2W2i6
https://imgur.com/3Flqkjq
https://imgur.com/aNdznYe
Dont pay much attention to the thermometers thats when i first put him there, humidity was 94%...

and this is where i have him now. Furniture below tank is provisional just needed one so I could put him into the bedroom, works good. Close to the room TV, hope it wont be an issue. Barely use it though.
https://imgur.com/9i8hLwz

[tttaylorrr]

This is him: Kirah is the name
https://imgur.com/6wRWPiq
https://imgur.com/Te2W2i6
https://imgur.com/3Flqkjq
https://imgur.com/aNdznYe
Dont pay much attention to the thermometers thats when i first put him there, humidity was 94%...

and this is where i have him now. Furniture below tank is provisional just needed one so I could put him into the bedroom, works good. Close to the room TV, hope it wont be an issue. Barely use it though.
https://imgur.com/9i8hLwz

awwwwwe what a cute little Spider beep! thanks for sharing pics! you should go post them over to the BP Pictures section.