Apen idea

[dr del]

O.k,


Found the pics of your tank.

The CHE does explain why humidity might be such an issue.

Might be worth trying to price some flexwatt - it's fairly inexpensive and even in a cold home one piece on either end should be sufficient.

Your current setup looks nice but I can't help but worry about cleaning and bacterial build up over time.


dr del

[SatanicIntention]

If your snake urinates, which is relatively often with a healthy, hydrated animal, and in copious amounts, you're not seeing it. Therefore, it's not being cleaned out and your snake is laying in it's urine and breathing in the ammonia produced.

I would get rid of the false bottom, as nice as it looks to you I'm sure, and use a thin layer of either aspen, coconut fiber or newspaper so you can easily clean the entire enclosure when your snake defecates/urinates.

Use false bottoms for animals such as Dart Frogs. They benefit from it. Ball Pythons are MESSY and their enclosures need to be cleaned thoroughly when they do make a mess.

[TimmyG]

If your snake urinates, which is relatively often with a healthy, hydrated animal, and in copious amounts, you're not seeing it. Therefore, it's not being cleaned out and your snake is laying in it's urine and breathing in the ammonia produced.

I never thought about it like that, when money comes in I'll make a few modifications until then i'll be very careful about looking for urates to locate areas he may have urinated. Wouldn't the ammonia leave through the top of the tank, much in the same way the hydrated air does? Also, could someone show me a humid hide? I imagine with those in even a glass tank wouldnt really need things like false bottoms or foil on the top to lock in hummidity.

[SatanicIntention]

Try newspaper once. Just once. Then you'll see how much they REALLY pee Makes you want to strip the cage everytime.

And ammonia is heavier than the air around it, so the snake will be breathing it in while you don't smell anything. Stick your head in the tank and you'll smell it.

People with tanks usually use a thin layer of bedding(so the undertank heater can easily get the enclosure up to temp), cover the screen lid with foil and foil tape or a sheet of plexiglas cut to fit the inside screen area. Glad Press N Seal works well too, as does a black trash bag cut to fit and taped in place with black duct tape/foil tape.

A humid hide can be made out of a lidded container with a hole cut out of the side. Add either long-fibered sphagnum moss(obtained at Home Depot or Lowe's, brand name is Mosser Lee), or paper towels. Clean every few days if using paper towels as they will dry out and mold).

Try to not use a lamp if you can help it. It will dry out the air and won't help your quest for a good humidity level(50-60%).

[dsirkle]

Canada is loaded with Aspen. Should be cheap. That's just what people often call poplar or popple in the Great White North.

[TimmyG]

I know about the badness of lamps but its getting cold and its only september, plus i believe the radiant heat waves are a little more natural. Maybe someone could show me a pic of scale rot so i know what to look out for, I always give him a quick physical when i handle him (look for abnormalitys in the skin, listen for breathing, and mites). So untill such a time I can re-work the tank the aspen in the hides idea seems cool with most people in the short run.

[SatanicIntention]

Since Ball Pythons are nocturnal, heat coming from above isn't really a natural thing for them.

In Africa, they come out at night to bask on rocks and roads that have been heated by the sun all day. Then they go back to their burrows/termite mounds. Termite mounds have their own internal heat which is produced by the activities of the termites and the mound's heat retention.

Undertank heaters work alot better and if you have heat problems, then insulate the tank with some foam board(hardware store) or get a plastic tub to house the snake in.

I have around 50 Ball Pythons now and use exclusively flexwatt which runs underneath their tubs. They thrive and do everything healthy snakes should do. The vast majority of keepers use undertank heaters or flexwatt because it's just more effecient and doesn't kill the humidity.

[abhorrent]

Try newspaper once. Just once. Then you'll see how much they REALLY pee Makes you want to strip the cage everytime.

And ammonia is heavier than the air around it, so the snake will be breathing it in while you don't smell anything. Stick your head in the tank and you'll smell it.

People with tanks usually use a thin layer of bedding(so the undertank heater can easily get the enclosure up to temp), cover the screen lid with foil and foil tape or a sheet of plexiglas cut to fit the inside screen area. Glad Press N Seal works well too, as does a black trash bag cut to fit and taped in place with black duct tape/foil tape.

A humid hide can be made out of a lidded container with a hole cut out of the side. Add either long-fibered sphagnum moss(obtained at Home Depot or Lowe's, brand name is Mosser Lee), or paper towels. Clean every few days if using paper towels as they will dry out and mold).

Try to not use a lamp if you can help it. It will dry out the air and won't help your quest for a good humidity level(50-60%).

Seriously. I thought the only thing they got rid of when they went was the urates and the poop. Needless to say when I switched over to a tub I was stunned. Woke up one morning and the humidity had jumped from ~55% to 99% and the sides of the tub were foggy. Opened it up for the worst smell and almost the entire floor of the tub soaked.

Was quite the shocker, and I was quite late for work.