Quote Originally Posted by Basketball303 View Post
Since this is sort of a new snake owner thread I thought I would put in my two cents, since I am a new snake owner as well....here's the basic set up for my ball.

45 gallon tank
2 heat lamps
large water dish
big hiding place
currently the temp on the hot side is reading around 88 and the cool side is about 85.

my question is:
my ball is constantly curled up in one corner of the tank. I've handled him a few times and fed him today(thursday). I just wondered if anybody knew why my snake was constantly in the corner.
I'm going to be a bit blunt here.
If your snakes a baby, get a 10 gallon. If it's an adult get a 20.
BPs don't need to soak, so a large water dish is a waste of space, a small one is fine.
Replace the heat lamps with a UTH on the warm side with a thermostat or rehostat, and the temperatures will be much more controlled and accurate. They need to be upped.
Measure your humidity around 60%, which is very difficult with that size of a tank.
Get two identical hides that are the same size as your snake.

Also make sure he's on the proper bedding (such as aspen or newspapers or papertowels).

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As for the OP.
You seem to know things pretty well for being a new snake owner. The substrate can make a difference of 2-3 degrees, so 95 is perfect under the substrate. Through the glass it can be 10 degrees sometimes.
Generally, your setup sounds pretty good. You can keep a lamp as long as the humidity is alright and you have a dimmer so it doesn't affect the temperatures much (except if you need better ambient air temperatures, which it can help). If he's still cold to the touch because he likes a specific hide and refuses to thermoregulate, then switch the hides, and have his favorite on the warm side.

Good luck!