Reptile & Amphibian Forums

You can see the dimmer on the right and the firebellied toads' cage. He is hiding in the hide box at the basking spot. I've put some climbing branches in there for him to get some exercise.

You can see the long side on the lid...it prevents the snake from getting out. So he hasn't been able to lift it high enough to get out.

Dude, if he can lift the top AT ALL, you'll be tearing the house apart looking for that snake someday. I think you might want to listen to what others have said already. . . for the snake's sake.

Pronto.
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He can't get out, though...it's locked down with the lamp fixture. I have to slowly work it apart.

Well, not snakes anyways. Aquariums with screen tops are food dehydrators man. Screen tops went out with hot-rocks (or, at least they SHOULD have). Too much humidity is lost with them, especially for a fossorial python that spends most of its time underground.

But you do what you please......
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I use a screen top lid with clamps on it for my snake (pet, not breeders) His wood chips hold the misting very well and i only keep the humidity at about 35%. A few people have shown that the humidity levels need not be that high for ball pythons because they are not from true rainforest type humidity. At 35% he has never had a broken shed, all have been complete and he is one of the healthiest snakes i have. But i do admit rubbermaid containers make it alot easier to clean and keep the humidity in, i spray once a week in those and twice a day in the screentop.
joe

Yes, I think that's true...what happen is, when you keep the cage moist, the it encourage the growth of bacteria because their home in captivity is dirtier than the home in the wild. When you look at the animal in the wild when they deficate they leave the waste behind. In the cage, they may sit on it or crawl over it. Warm and humid environment is perfect that encourage blister desease. I do find that keeping a large water bowl under the light helps a lot. The snake seems to be very active and eat readily.

Or does it just look that way? Ya know, it's hard to believe, but they will get up there and wrap around that bulb and cook themselves. One of my favorite's did that just last year. She squirmed into the wire cage I had over the heat lamp and cooked herself black and crispy. If that lamp is not in the tank and it just looks like it by the picture, well then I guess you already knew that!

I should screen it off...i'm going to do that. He hasn't done that...he would bask right under the 100 watt night bulb at night, though, and then climb and roaming.

You need to get rid of that screen and get that light out of there. I just beamed my 40w light with a raytec and it read 142 degrees!!!!

You need to research about an animal before you get one..

I feel very sorry for your ball.

What are you talking about? My ball spends a lot of time basking and the temperature at the hot end is 90-95 degree, which it supposed to be according to "The Ball Python Manual." Young snakes spend a lot of time basking because they are growing. I have no problem with my snake...I put a large water bowl at the hot end...and so far, he's active, alert, and eat very well. All I have to do is screen off the light, so he can't touch it.