Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi guys,
i just bought a 2 week old ball. She sits in a 10 gallon tank. i am a first time snake owner. My question is I have a 75 watt basking light for her and the heat reaches in between 90 to 95 degrees on one side. Is this sufficient because i have only had her 5 days and i have yet to see her bask? thanx

Best thing to do, is get rid of the light, get a under the tank heat mat.. Make sure she has two hides one over the mat one onthe cool side. Cover the lid about 90%. get a temp gun about 20 dollars, to watch temps. Balls do not really bask, they like their hides. Try to not mess with her for at least a week or two , then feed her, when she is eating regular then start to hold her.. Post a pic I would like to see your new baby... Welcome to the ball world.

here is a pic of the tank. i do not have the second hide cave yet but that should come sometime tonight when i go to the store.
Thanx for the info. I do have an undertank heat mat on one side of the tank. I got rid of the basking light and the temperature now reads 87 to 88 degrees on the left and 75 degrees on the right at about 60 to 70% humidity. Since she is only about 16 inches long can i feed her small feeder mice or should i start with pinkies?

i don't understand why the pictures do not show. i used a photobucket link. do those not work on these message boards?

picture

Very pretty snake.. All sounds good the the temps. If she is only a tiny baby I would start with a fuzzy first.I feed my babies every 5 days, after about 3 meals of fuzzy's then upgrade to a hopper and so on.. Best of luck.

All the advice the other poster (Melinda) gave you is accurate. I'll elaborate just a bit.

Ditch the light ... its unpredictable and will dry out the air. Get an undertank heater, connected to a thermostat or rheostat (which can be as simple as a light dimmer), and get a temp gun. Adjust the temp control device using the temp gun until you get your desired temps.

You'll never see your ball bask. In fact, if he's set up right, you'll never see your ball all that much, especially for the first year or so. A happy ball is a hidden ball, so definitely put in at least 2 hides as the previous poster said. One on the warm side, one on the cool side.

You may experience some humidity issues (worsened considerably if you stick with the heat lamp), but there's a hundred different ways to solve this.

Best thing you can do for a baby ball is leave him alone at first. They live for a very long time, so a few months of minimal attention won't detract from your enjoyment of him, but he'll appreciate the good start. Begin handling for 1 minute sessions after 4 consecutive meals.

Have fun.
Joel
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0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Corn Snake
1.0 Leopard Gecko
0.0.1 Blood Python

Like everyone mentioned, the snake's not gonna bask.

Are you sure it's only 2 weeks old? That's awfully young for someone to have sold you a snake. Where'd you get it?

And fuzzies might be too small. Try a hopper, or just a 'crawler' if it's a shy snake. After a meal or two, switch to adult mice. For a ball python, a baby mouse isn't much bang for the buck.

Good luck, and make sure you leave her alone until she's eating regularly!

~jenny
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"The python has, and I fib no fibs,
318 pairs of ribs.
In stating this I place reliance
On a seance with one who died for science
This figure is sworn to and attested,
He counted them while being digested."
~Ogden Nash

jenny.thegreenes.org

"If you're happy and you know it,
Bomb Iraq!
If you cannot find Osama,
Bomb Iraq!
If the terrorists are frisky,
Pakistan is looking shifty,
North Korea is too risky,
Bomb Iraq!

What are you using to measure the temps? Temps are very important to get right. If you're using some form of stick-on aquarium thermometer, it's probably not very accurate. You need either a thermometer with a probe or one of the heat gun types so that you can get a good reading directly ON the substrate. If your air temps are 85, the substrate could well be 100 over the heat mat.

Just a useful tidbit.
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0.10.0 Ball Pythons
0.1.0 Leopard Geckos
0.0.1 Egyptian Tortoise

thanx for your concern, i really appreciate it. i check it out and her substrate is only a few degrees higher than 85 degrees.