Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just got my BP a month ago and I'm having a problem maintaining the humidity in the habitat. He's only about a foot long so I'm keeping him in 10 gallon aquarium. The aquarium came with a locking screen top which I keep covered except for the corner where I have a heat lamp. I've been keeping it covered with a towel which I believe may be part of the problem since it may be absorbing some of the moisture. I keep the water dish on the cool side of the tank. I'm not sure if it should be below the heat lamp so that the water could evaperate better. I've also been misting the cage every so often to try and keep the humidy up, but I'm afraid of doing it too often since I'm using cypress mulch as the substrate and I don't want it to start to mold (although the heat lamp dried it up pretty quickly). I bought a humidity gage, but it's just one of the plastic ones from the pet store. It isn't one of the round gages that has a needle that moves to whatever range of moisture is in the tank, but is just a strip that changes colors depending on the the level of humidity. So far, it hasn't risen above 0%. Does anybody know what I'm doing wrong or have any suggestions? He looks like he's starting to shed and I want it to be a good shed. Please help.

First of all get a good digital thermometer hygrometer to measure your temps and humidity. The stick on gizmos are close to worthless.

Second - ditch the heat lamp and invest in the correct size under tank heater.

Covering the tank is a good idea - but try getting a piece of plexiglass or wood to cover it with even a simple sheet of pegboard will work better than a towel.

You do not want to put your water dish under the heat lamp for two reasons - first being that the heat will cause bacteria to grow in the water - not healthy for the snake - also the evaporation from the dish can short out the heat lamp - not healthy for anyone especially if it causes a fire.

Hope this helps.
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

In addition to the heat lamp, which is a 75W night time bulb, I also have an under the tank heating pad. It covers about a quarter of the tank where I keep his hide. The heat lamp is on the same side of the tank, but on the other corner. I like your idea of using plexi-glass to cover the screen, since not only is it pretty cheap, but it means we can still see him through the top of the tank. Thanks for your help!

I actually rather like using a heat lamp in addition to the UTH - I have a larger tank and a smaller one and the UTH just doesn't heat everything up enough, especially right now as temperatures start dropping at night. I like the light because it warms up the air in the tank and heats the entire tank in a nice gradient when it's on one side - I've got thermometers at both ends of my tanks and the heat lamp keeps things wonderful.

For humidity - I'm in southern California and it tends to be pretty dry here, so I use a mix of about 50/50 reptibark and ecoearth, also known as forest bedding. I just keep the ecoearth slightly moist and it's been working great for my snakes. Have yet to notice any kind of mold, and I like the way it looks too.

You can also try dampening the towel that you have over the top. I used to do that when I had hermit crabs and they needed a quick humidity boost.

~jenny
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1.1.1 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, and Periscope)
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
2.1 betta fishes (Vicious, Killer, and Butters)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
2.0 horses (Buddy and Sam)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
2.25 chickens (Jacques the rooster and his harem)

but what I really want is more ball pythons!

If your uth doesnt cover enough of the cage get a bigger one or add one and get rid of the light !,and heat rises so to get heat down to were your snake is it is to hot and sucks all the humidity out of the air . this is a reptile not a crustacean(crab) if you will listen to what Tasha is telling you and set your cage up right you wont have any problems !!!! If you don't won't to know don't ask. THANKS David of DS Reptile Rescue , Removal & Rehabilitation.

I'm NOT having any problems, that's the thing! I'm just saying - if you want to boost the overall humidity of your tank, a damp towel over half/most of the screen works well. Since the usual humidity in my house runs about 40% and my snakes do best at 50-60%, a damp towel is a pretty easy way to get that extra ten percent. The fact that I discovered this method while caring for hermit crabs shouldn't discount that it works.
What works for you doesn't necessarily work for everyone - I'm just offering my suggestion. My snakes are healthy and glowing, eating properly, shedding in single pieces, and all have good weight on them.
I understand that heat rises, but my goal with the heat lamp is to heat the air in the enclosure (it gets below 60 at night in my house) and ensure that the heat pad is not the only way for the snake to get warm. My baby has the choice between going in her hide above her heat pad (which is the size appropriate for a 10 gallon) and sitting on her branch below the light, and she does alternate between both pretty regularly. My big adults prefer to go into their hides above the heat pads, but I do at times find them basking on top of the hides, under the lights. I also see them in their hides at the cool side of their tank. They get a choice, and since I am able to maintain proper humidity, I see nothing wrong with it.

Your method works for you, mine works for me, I believe the point of the forum is to offer different solutions to see which works the best for a person's given problem?

~jenny
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1.1.1 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, and Periscope)
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
2.1 betta fishes (Vicious, Killer, and Butters)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
2.0 horses (Buddy and Sam)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
2.25 chickens (Jacques the rooster and his harem)

but what I really want is more ball pythons!

hold up man I didn't mean it the way you are taking it, and you are right about some of it ,I just don't think you need to use a heat light it can cause more problems then it cures . and making comparisons like a crab and a snake is irresponsible ,there are some people that get the idea that its ok to make all kind of comparisons and end up hurting there snakes I have seen it happen and from time to time you will see it on here and say to your self ,what were they thinking ? I should have made my self more clear but I had to go get one of my kids from school that got sick ,sorry my bad OK thanks David

I see what you mean about the heat lights, and you're right about them potentially causing more problems than they solve, but in my situation it works beautifully. My goal is to raise ambient air temperatures, since a bigger heat pad would eliminate any cool zone, and so the heat lamp is a good solution in my case.
And again, I see what you mean about making associations between crabs and snakes, but my association was "I get the towel damp and put it over the screen and it raises humidity", not "hey if I can paint a hermit crab's shell why can't I paint a snake?" Give me just a liiiiiittle credit :-P
Sorry I kinda went off on yah there. I was a bit down over my betta dying this morning, and shouldn'ta snapped like that.
~jenny
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1.1.1 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, and Periscope)
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
2.1 betta fishes (Vicious, Killer, and Butters)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
2.0 horses (Buddy and Sam)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
2.25 chickens (Jacques the rooster and his harem)

but what I really want is more ball pythons!

"if you will listen to what Tasha is telling you and set your cage up right you wont have any problems !!!! If you don't won't to know don't ask."

athough the first advice he received may work, maybe he was looking for other alternatives/ideas.

Why the hostility???

also, I used lights in combination with UTH on my larger display tanks for many years with perfect humidity and temps.

There are many ways to do things correctly.

TomChambers

Yes you are right and on a large cage there is enough room to make it work but in a small cage there is not there are reasons for what Tosha and I said so why are you so intent on starting a argument . you aren't giving advice just looking to start something well it is not going to work so look ellswear.

Another thing you can do...

Is to get a small 6 quart sterilite shoe box at walmart for .99 cents....drill some holes in the side for air with a 1/4 inch drill bit...get a bag of CYPRESS mulch from the local garden center...buy a couple bags because they may not carry it through winter.

Do NOT get cedar...Cedar is BAD....Poison.

Make sure it is Cypress....if no cypress is available you can also use aspen bedding...
Just cut a hole in one end of shoe box and put about a third full of cypress wet down the cypress as it dries every so many days...
Put this shoe box with cover on it and hole in end for ball to use as a hide box... on part of the heat tape side inside the 10 gallon tank....you can put more cypress around tank and even over the shoe box to make it look like another level for ball to climb...

I think I understand why you or anyone would use a light on tank....I would say it is the ambient air temps you are trying to raise up....this is good if done right...but what you can do is use a 25 watt bulb and plug into a $10 lamp dimmer you buy at home depot, this will allow you to dim the bulb down to safe temps. The cypress holds moisture well and the container used as a hide box will ensure a humid area for your ball python.

Hope this helps, Andy Federico
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That all pretty good advice Andy and I keep all my Young Balls in 16x22x7xin sterilite's on T-Rex Sani-chip and I have one little rescue that likes T-Rex Desert Snow , some on heat tape and some on heat cable but all on thermostats and I never have humidity problems . Good luck with all you do . David

Hi David,

My advice was merely based on a suposition that anyone who has a Ball Python in a 10 gallon aquarium has a very limited cash flow for their new hobby....most likely it is their first snake and so getting the 10 gallon set up was already a somewhat large expenese to start with. I was trying to help them use what they already had available. without too much expense. Bedding is something they should have already accepted buying so cypress holds the best moisture.

I personally feel that a melamine or plastic rack system for ball pythons can't be beat...but most who have 10 gallon aquariums only have one or maybe two animals anyway.

It's always great when alot of different adice is added ...so I am sure the person involved is much more knowlegable and the ball python will be fine. Thanks Andy Federico
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I agree thats why I menchend the sterilites I got at Big Lots for 5.99 and they come with built in clamps on the lids and that's cheaper than a 10 gal. tank . that and a drill and bit to make vent holes is a good way to keep cost down and humidity up hahaha. HAVE A GRATE WEEKEND OK. David.

Cypress? TRex substrate?

I just use good old fashioned newspaper, UTH, and a large water dish.

But that's not very pretty either.

Pretty has never been a concern of mine but the heath of my animals has always been ,and printing ink on my snakes is not something I will allow but to each his own .

tank....cypress bedding......under tank heater not a lamp.......cover lid /top with glass like Tosha mentioned if necessary...

key........do not "mist" the cage......dump cups of water as needed........misting wastes time.....

good luck ........

too wet is bad too remember
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