Hey, I just bought a Ball Python, and it is my first time owning a reptile. I feel that I have everything for him, but I just want to make sure i know how long to keep the heat lamp on and what time of the day to keep it on.

************yes, get rid of the heat lamp. royals don't need heat lamps. get yourself a heat mat or some flexwatt prewired a thermostat and adjust on the temps from there. it would be a plus to have a infared thermometer....you can pick those up from anywhere, robyn at Pro-Exotics, harbourfreight.com, mcmaster.com....etc. Just becuase you set the thermostat at 90degrees doesn't mean the snake will be feeling 90degrees.....to many varibles that's why you have to play with the temps on the fly. It also helps to have the cage up and running a week or two before getting any reptile





He is also shedding, and i want to make sure that he sheds properly.

************* the key to good sheds is high humidity. apsen is terrible for keeping humidity, because the moment it gets wet it will mold in a couple of days. Moss is ok, you can even use a folded up damp towel in the corner. i use coconut coir.....it holds humidity superbly (maybe even to much) but is messy. and you have to know how to wet the brick properly to loosen it if not you'll end up with coconut bark soup and it will take forever to dry in that state. or spraying helps, but needs to be done repeatedly.



Plus any other tips would be great!

************** if you ask i'm sure someone here will answer........but tips in general is to broad of a request.





Pitoon

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