need some help with my ball

[DeesBalls]

hey guys, im getting a ball either tomorrow or thursday and i need to know something.. ive seen a ton of videos, read a couple books, and read lots of e-articals.. i need to know if i need to have a red night light for em, or if just 1 light for heat that i can turn off at night? ill have either a heat rock, or a heat mat under the cage... just some one let me know exactly what i need, sorta like a check list! thanks guys!

[DeesBalls]

anyone?!?!

[Smilts]

A heat pad is good you dont need a light at all unless you want it and as long as it doesnt make it to hot any light should do for display. Also stay far away from heat rocks.

[Chu'Wuti]

Do NOT get a heat rock! Many snakes have been burned on heat rocks. An under-tank heat mat (UTH) is best, as it will provide belly heat to aid digestion with less likelihood of burning your snake.

You don't need a red light unless you want to be able to see your BP at night when it is out & about. Also, as the guys here have explained on several threads, belly heat is by far the most important source of heat, as it aids proper digestion.

You'll need a hide above the UTH as well as at least one other hide unless you are using a Rubbermaid tub for an enclosure.

If the room you'll have the enclosure in will be cold, though, you could get a ceramic heat emitter, to ensure adequate heat as the UTH might not be enough heat. I have to do that, as we cannot maintain one room at a different temp from other rooms in our house, at least not yet, and our nighttime temps can drop low enough to kill a BP.

Basically, you need heating enough to establish 3 zones in the enclosure: hot/warm/cool with cool no lower than 80 deg F, warm about 85-90, and hot between 88 and 95. The hot zone should be about 1/3 the enclosure, and that's the best place for the UTH. However, how easy it is to establish the heat zones is going to depend in part on the temps in the room where you've placed the enclosure--even on the temps in that spot in the room. A room is not the same temp from one part to another (different near a heat register or vent, different near a window, different near a door, etc), and changes in temps in a room can and will affect the temps in your enclosure.

Be sure to insulate the glass above the UTH with something so that your BP can't directly touch the glass there to prevent possible burns (that's one of the reasons why heat rocks are bad; the other is that they don't have good heat regulation and temps fluctuate).

You should also get a thermostat to control the temps rather than just turning things off at night & on during the day. Nighttime temps fluctuate; typically, temps drop slowly until about midnight, then drop a little more rapidly until the low is reached, which can be around 4 a.m. or around 6 a.m.--it's quite variable. You're not going to be able to predict how warm the enclosure will stay unless you put things on a thermostat. We're using two Zoo-Med 500R (one for daytime temps, one for nighttime temps) run by a digital Zilla Power Center, which allows you to set the temps for day & night, plug things in, and let it do the work of turning things on & off at the proper times. However, I've heard since that there are better set-ups; maybe Mykee or someone will make some recommendations.

Also get digital thermometers--one for the basking spot, one for the warm zone at the very least, and put their probes right where the snake will be. Sticking a thermometer on the wall doesn't tell you what the temp is where the snake will be, and thermometer strips are worse than worthless. You especially need to know how hot your basking zone is getting, as it can kill your snake if it gets too hot; hatchlings are especially vulnerable.

Also get a digital hygrometer to track humidity. The digital hygrometers & thermometers are much better and more reliable than the analog kind.

You should buy all necessary equipment BEFORE buying the BP. Get it set up, and check temps until you're sure everything is right. Then it will be safe to buy the BP and put it in the enclosure.

I'm quite surprised that with all the reading you've been doing, you haven't found all this information out yet. At the very least, I urge you to get Kevin McCurley's The Complete Ball Python and read the section on caging (from about p. 11 to p. 28) BEFORE you get your BP, so you will know more about what your BP needs.

Definitely hold off on getting your BP until you have all the equipment installed and operational; your new BP will be quite stressed from the move and will need a good space to relax for a week or so. If you buy the BP and then have to keep it in inadequate caging while you mess around setting things up, it will become even more stressed and you could end up with a sick snake or a lost snake.

Good luck.

[Chu'Wuti]

I found the thread where the info about top-quality thermostats was posted: thermostats is the thread title. Mykee and Julian recommended Herpstats (esp. the Herpstat Pro) by Spyder Robotics: Spyder Robotics (http://www.spyderrobotics.com/)

Check them out. Why start with merely OK when you can start with the best? ;)

[DeesBalls]

... wow, im speechless... lol that was a great list! thanks!!! i went and got mostly everything today, im getting him/her tonight! im excited!!! im naming it Elanor... why? bc if anyone is into mustangs like i am, they will know... lol thanks again!


oh yea, i will NEVER use a head rock!

[Kmef07]

GONE IN 60 SECONDS!!!!! Great movie

[siz]

LOVE that movie!

ps Good luck with your BP lol :)

[Chu'Wuti]

Boy, when you decide to move, you move, don't you, Lil Boa? ;)

Post pics of your new BP! Hope everything goes well!

I love that movie, too . . . maybe I should put it on my Netflix queue . . .

[DeesBalls]

ok heres some pics, ive had him for a couple weeks and monday ( mar 30th is the 1st feeding ). hope you all enjoy!


Pictures by dereck_gilliland - Photobucket (http://s697.photobucket.com/albums/vv340/dereck_gilliland/?newest=1)

dont mind my fiance... it was like 2 AM and i woke her up to take a fast pic to send to my mom... ( long story ) lol hope you all enjoyed!!!