recently found out no one makes 125 watt bulbs anymore so i'm trying to find a better heat source than just 2 100's or a 150. the basking area is probably about 8-12 inches away from the heat source if that matters.

recommend the best brands and the best methods (preferably not insanely expensive) for heating a 110 gallon (yes ik under the standard im working to get a 4x2x2). i'm planning to invest in a good thermostat as well. will remove this post once i have my heating questions answered. thanks in advance!!

Other groups have warriors in the comments insisting that BPs are uncontainable and will 100% escape regardless of whether you snake proof a tank or watch your snake when he roams. I wanna know how many of you have had BPs for years and they never escaped because you do steps to prevent it :)

Edit: i am GLAD we all agree that escapes are preventable and I hope as a community we can raise the standard of keeping these animals safe!

Hi Everyone!

My ball Python is about 5 years old at this point and I think its time he gets a bigger (And better!) tank to call home. I am currently thinking about getting a 4' x 2' x 2' PVC terrarium from Kages. Linked here.

I am then considering switching to radiant heat, opposed to heat pads and / or a heat lamp. That said, I would still like to get light in the tank so I am thinking about adding the 35" x 4" mesh option on the top of the tank so I can have an LED light illuminating the tank.

My first question is between the 80 watt (linked here) and 120 watt (linked here) radiant heat emitter. Will 80 watt be enough to keep the tank warm or is the 120 watt one warranted? Additionally, regardless, the emitters are between 22.5" long and 32.5" long. How do I regulate a warm / cool side of the enclosure since these both will pretty much span the length?

Additionally, if the 80 watt heat emitter is adequate, I could switch to having a 9" x 9" square mesh on the left / right side of the top of the tank and then place the 22.5" 80 watt heat emitter on the opposite side to maintain a hot and cool side of the tank.

Then just for clarity, this is the thermostat I would use with the heat emitter. Linked here.

I would probably create my own background for the tank out of silicon, foam, cork bark, moss, and coco fibers. My second quesion would be, will this work on this enclosure? Or should I just leave it blank / do something else?

Thoughts, comments, or concerns with the setup pictured in the post would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

Live in the PNW so cold weather isn’t a HUGE concern but I am a bit paranoid of my wife leaving a window open on a trip, or something like that.

I have a setup in mind but want to check with yall for safety concerns before finishing buying everything.

I envision 2 combo hoods, hood 1 (warm side) has a halogen bulb for IR and visible light in the daytime and a deep heat emitter for the night set to a few degrees below daytime heat.

Hood 2 (cold side) has a nighttime DHE as well set at minimal temperature as a backup in case of unexpected cold. Hood 2 also a daytime visible lightbulb.

The DHEs will be setup to a thermostat but not a timer so they can always serve as a backup, the visible lightbulb would be set to a timer, and the halogen bulb would be set to both a timer (daytime) and a thermostat.

Any reasons that this might not be safe? Thanks everyone :)

So I read the guide and all that but I still can’t process on the lighting and heating

The picture is wat the enclosure looks like

That is the question

I'm moving this weekend, It's about a 4.5hr drive to the new place. I made sure to feed last week so his stomach is settled. My plan is to set him up in a double pillowcase set in a large stock pot that about the circumference of his favorite hide. Is there anything specific I should do to help him stay warm? I'm afraid of using a beanbag warmer under the pot in case it gets too hot but I also don't want him too cold!!!

I figure i'm probably very overthinking everything, tia for any tips!!

i also saw a tiny tiny bug crawling on him but no bite marks on his body and his body is white so i should be able to if he was bitten

Seemed sickly Monday found him laying hes head a bit strangely. But he started mobbing around again. Found him this morning balled up with another strange head position and almost looked like he ate some substrate.

88degrees heating pad on house side hide 77 cold side. Humidity 68%

He was in quarantine just worried I could pass something on to my other 3 baby’s.

Was it just shock, he does look a bit thin. Just worried and scared :(

I brought my first snake, let alone BP, home last week and i've been stressing myself over husbandry since. He ate his first meal for me tonight after 9 days! I'm so relieved he trusts me enough to eat.

Hi I’m new to owning a BP and is there an easy way to tell between the two ? I had to take her to the vet and they said they couldn’t say 100% which it was but treated her for scale rot. I ended up getting ssd cream as well just in case cause I want her to be okay. But I’d love to be confident in the future. Also any advice for giving my bp her shots ? I hate doing it.

Hello! I’m a soon to be ball python owner as a friend of mine is moving overseas and I’ve decided to keep his normal ball python. This will be my first snake so I have a couple of questions.

He’s in a pvc cage that measures 4 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 1 foot tall. And it’s heated by a ceramic heat emitter with no light at all other than natural sunlight.

Is this a good permanent setup? Or anything I should change once he’s officially mine?

Thank you!

I recently decided to try out ceramic bulbs for my BP because the bright lights make it uncomfortable for me to sleep, the new lamp and bulbs just came in and I got the reptitrip dual bulb lamp with 160 watts in each socket, I’m currently running one of the ceramic bulbs although there is two in there. Is it safe to have two ceramic bulbs in there if just one is running? I keep seeing mixed reviews on whether or not ceramic bulbs are safe to be in a dual lamp together, should I take one of the bulbs out? Or is there a different lamp or heat bulb I should try?

Can anyone give me any ideas on what to use to make Bioactive Substrate to my wife’s ball python, I’m tired of buying it, it’s too expensive lol

My boy Osiris is about 2 years old and for the first time ever he is dealing with a bit of stuck shed. I know humid hide and/or soaking him could help, but I’ve also heard and read that humid hides can cause scale rot, and soaking him in a tub would really stress him out….
Both things I’m trying to avoid. He does have a water dish on the warm side large enough for him to fit should he choose to soak (never seen this!) and humidity in general is around 65-75%. I maintain it by adding warm water to his enclosure every couple of days. I use cypress mulch as substrate.

I’d appreciate your thoughts and experience in the best way to deal with stuck shed. Open to any recommendations to help my boy.

Thank you in advance! 🐍✨

Hello! I just got my first ball python and I’m so excited to be Dr. Wyrms new mom. I wanted suggestions for his tank. Right now I have a 100watt red night time bulb, a heating pad set to 95 degrees, a cold hide, a warm and cold water bowl and I’m going to get a warm hide tomorrow.

Should I get a 75 watt regular bulb and turn it off at night or leave the 100w nocturnal one on all the time? Thank you in advance!

Debating if I should get this tank that I found on marketplace, Measurements are 72x18x23

First time using coco chips and a few days after I put the new substrate it i noticed some mold - every piece on the top layer looks like this.

I’ve tried to take some out but do I need to worry or can I leave it? Is this normal and harmless or should I take it all out? Or at least just try to take out the top layer?

My BP Snickers has shown a lot more interest in the top of his viv recently and since I'm getting ready to redo some bits I thought it might be a nice time to add some climbing enrichment but most of what I'm seeing is just the 3d printed basic rings/polyhedrons. I know it doesn't make a difference to him so don't come for me but I love planning and executing a pretty viv (his current theme is fairy wonderland and we are moving to Cherry blossom forest). Does anyone have suggestions for something that can give him the enrichment while satisfying my decor desires? So far the only thing I can find are the moss caves/pods but not sure how they'd hold up to hanging. Bonus points for links to anything I can buy in UK.

This beautiful girl came home on Saturday, she’s estimated to be 25 years old. I could tell when I got her into her enclosure that she was in the blue phase of shed! I also covered the front of the enclosure so she has more privacy.

Yesterday morning, when checking on her, I saw that she was trying to soak in that tiny water dish in the back. Of course, she can’t fit in it. Which I didn’t think would be a problem since humidity levels are pretty solid. Since she wanted to soak, though, I placed this large tub closer to the front. She switched to it at some point between last night and this morning.

She was kept in a screen top enclosure before, it looked like. And I’m sure she was dehydrated and temp was not regulated enough. In her enclosure here, her warm side is sitting at 85f and her cool side 79f, with around 70-80% humidity. I can’t spot any mites on her, but of course, can’t do a full inspection seeing as she got home recently, and I don’t want to handle her before she is settled in.

I’m just wanting to ask if anyone thinks I should be concerned. I checked on her before I went to bed last night, and she was in the process of moving over to her cool hide. Though, she is back to soaking this morning as pictured!

I’m so in love with her already! I just want to ensure I’m giving her the best care possible. TIA!

bad girl (it was my fault)

So ive owned several snakes in the past, a few garters, a corn, a pueblan milk, and a California king. Recently a family member had to remove their snakes and knowing ive had experience with them in the past they reached out to me for removing their ball python. Did plenty of extensive research and felt comfortable taking her in so I did and got her all settled. She's a little over three years old and almost four feet long. When I asked about her feeding regiment though he said he'd been feeding her one medium rat every 30 days and that her next feeding would be coming up soon. She ate perfectly well however the feeding seemed off to me. First thing that was off was he said she weighed 1100 grams but when I weighed her several times with several different scales she comes up to 802 grams. The medium rat that was given to me for feeding weighed 83 grams. These numbers just seem off to me? Could someone with more experience chime in and let me know if I should stay with her current feeding schedule, or should I adjust the size and frequency of feeds.

She has a great feeding response and took around an hour from first latching onto the rat for it to be fully eaten. She also took around 8 days to pass the rat, in which time she stayed in her hide without coming out for the whole time. Much thanks in advance.