New setup not working well? Also is my snake okay?

[dakski]

Hello,

I posted a bit ago and ha e taken a lot of ideas and changed up my snake terrarium. However, one thing I do not know is if the ground is getting hot enough. I setup a thermos stat probe under the soil where my new heat mat is (from bottom up is heat pad, glass, probe, soil) but the thermostat is reading it's 90 degrees but when I touch the soil, it doesn't feel like it's 90 degrees. It's a bit warm but I don't think it's 90. Any idea what's wrong? I have a little pocket size temp checker (Reptitemp is what it's called and it's a digital infrared thermometer) and it says my warm side top soil is more like 85 degrees rather than the 90 something the thermostat reads. So I'm just confused.

As stated, use an IR temp gun to get the proper ground temps and adjust thermostat accordingly.

Also, I've adopted this snake so Idk if she is a healthy weight or not. She's young measuring 18 inches about and weighs 66 grams I believe. I think she's under weight but input is appreciated. I also do see her spine a bit but I've never had a python ever so I'm not certain if this is ok for young snakes. She eats fine but only takes live. She also is handled very other day for 1 hour and is actually quite comfortable it seems. She even pooped and peed on my back without me knowing till I put her away!

What size prey are you feeding her and how often?

Why on Earth on your handling her so much? She does sound thin and needs to be eating and resting not spending energy being handled.

A young BP should be handled for 5 minutes at a time or so, every few days, if healthy. They stress easy and again, are often pet rocks when not being handled, so they do not spend a lot energy normally.

I recommend basically leaving her alone and getting some weight on her and then worry about handling.

On the live vs. F/T issue, you might be able to switch her at a later date, but right now you need her eating, so give her what she will eat.

EDIT: I realize this may sound a little harsh, but we are here to help. There can be little margin of error with young snakes and we want your BP to thrive.

Feel free to ask for clarification on anything.