Caved in >.<

[woahamie]

I caved in and bought myself a ball python. It should be here by tomorrow morning! Yay! I was gonna get a corn snake, but I saw this little guy and I fell in love :o

It's a normal BP (male)

I have a 20L tank, aspen bedding, two hide spots and a water bowl. Only thing I'm missing is my heat source. Is a basking spot okay for these guys, or is a heat pad better?

[Lankyrob]

I use ceramic heat emitters for all my snakes, but they are all in melamine vivaria rather than a "tank" - i assume you mean fish tank??

Your hardest issue if it is a fish tank is gonna be keeping humidity up high enough for a Royal :)

[woahamie]

Yes, a fish tank is what I meant.
Well, living in FL I don't think I have a problem with the humidity. It's about 46% right now in my room (according to my hygrometer)

[Lankyrob]

Our ambient is around 55% and with a sealed viv we still have to mist every couple of days to keep the humidity above 60% and more often during shed :)

[woahamie]

I don't mind the misting. But am I okay?

[Lankyrob]

As long as you can keep the enclosure above 55% as an absolute minimum you will be fine - its not impossible to do in a fish tank but its not as easy as it would be should you buy a vivarium instead.

[woahamie]

Okay, thanks!

[Gungirl]

Seal the screen top up asap.. Also use a heat mat with a thermostat as that will help you keep humidity up and a bulb will dry out the tank fast. Also I recommend covering 3 sides of the tank with something so that you can only see in the front. This will make your snake feel more secure and also depending on what you cover it with it can help hold in heat. ( Paper, old towel, anything)

[Terranaut]

The above post is the best advice.
Belly heat for a royal is best. Always use a thermostat. I have found using foil wrap on the screen works great. Enjoy your new friend!!

[Hurrok]

Can't wait to see some pics of your new little guy :)

[Lankyrob]

The above post is the best advice.
Belly heat for a royal is best. Always use a thermostat. I have found using foil wrap on the screen works great. Enjoy your new friend!!


Dont forget that bulbs also provide belly heat, they dont just heat the air htey also heat the substrate in the same way that the sun heats the floor outside :)

[woahamie]

I just got my little guy today and he's beautifuuuuuuuuuul. He's actually really active for a ball python. He's been slithering all over his tank today, exploring his new surroundings.

As for covering the tank, I had actually put a black background all around, except the front, because I know that stresses reptiles out. I learned the hard way with my dragon.


Right now his temps are 88.8 on the hot, 77.7 on the cool with 48% humidity. The thermometer I ordered should be here by Saturday so I'll hook that up the second it comes in.

I got the feeding chart from the place I got him from and he had been fed every five days. Last time was Tuesday, so Sunday I'm gonna try and feed him.


But I do have one little question. I have my Tuesdays dedicated to my reptiles (not saying that every other day is not devoted to them, just that it's my day to thoroughly clean tanks, resupply on food/bedding/etc.) Is it possible to feed my snake every Tuesday as well? Or is the time in between too much? Ex. Feed him every Tuesday instead of every five days.

[Lankyrob]

Every seven days is fine, i feed upto a year old every seen days and then switch them to a 14/21 day schedule.

[alessia55]

I just got my little guy today and he's beautifuuuuuuuuuul. He's actually really active for a ball python. He's been slithering all over his tank today, exploring his new surroundings.

As for covering the tank, I had actually put a black background all around, except the front, because I know that stresses reptiles out. I learned the hard way with my dragon.


Right now his temps are 88.8 on the hot, 77.7 on the cool with 48% humidity. The thermometer I ordered should be here by Saturday so I'll hook that up the second it comes in.

I got the feeding chart from the place I got him from and he had been fed every five days. Last time was Tuesday, so Sunday I'm gonna try and feed him.


But I do have one little question. I have my Tuesdays dedicated to my reptiles (not saying that every other day is not devoted to them, just that it's my day to thoroughly clean tanks, resupply on food/bedding/etc.) Is it possible to feed my snake every Tuesday as well? Or is the time in between too much? Ex. Feed him every Tuesday instead of every five days.

You need to get the humidity up... Have you tried misting?

Every 7 days is fine for feeding. Baby ball pythons and juveniles up until the age of about 3 can eat every 7-10 days. Adult ball pythons (age 3 years and up) can eat every 10-14 days.

Congrats! Don't forget to show us photos!! ;)

[woahamie]

I haven't tried misting, but I have a reptifogger that I forgot I totally had. If I have it on with the lowest setting, is that fine?

[Terranaut]

Dont forget that bulbs also provide belly heat, they dont just heat the air htey also heat the substrate in the same way that the sun heats the floor outside :)

I'm not looking to debate this here but if a snake is on the ground below the emitter it will only get back heat as it is blocking the heat from reaching the substrate. I have 2 boas both in new enclosures. I used a radiant panel for one and belly heat for the other just to test this. Belly heat has been proven more than a few times to be great and easy to maintain and royals seem to thrive on it so I figure at this point its the best. Heat emitters are not wrong but so far I think they are best used on arboreal or semi arboreal snakes where air temp is a huge factor or bigger factor if you will.