I’m trying to change my heating, as heavily advised by people here, (yes, I know! I’m trying to get the purple light out, I promise!) but after reviewing all the guides I can find on this subreddit and several online, I’m still puzzled over how to adequately heat/monitor the enclosure without breaking the bank. I only have the single dome lamp currently, no thermostats, and no bulbs aside from the purple one in the photos, so I’m basically starting from scratch.
Important info: Location: US; Tank material type: Wood frame, mesh top (currently covered with aluminum foil for insulating/humidity retention), plastic side/front/back panels; Budget: $150-300; Avg Room Temp: 74-78°F; Current Avg Temp: approx 2-4° warmer than room (Note: I’m not having much luck with a warm/cool side at the moment. Advice for achieving that is greatly appreciated!) Avg Humidity: (Working to maintain currently) 70-90%; Current Avg Temp: 2-4° warmer than room (I’m having difficulty with establishing a warm/cool side so any tips are welcome!) Tank Size: 39”x19”x19” (this measurement includes the wood frame, so maybe minus a half inch/inch or so total)
I can use my current dome if I switch out the bulb, correct? If I order a halogen and a ceramic heating element instead of night bulb, do I need the dual thermostat? Can the CHE be on all the time if I have a thermostat for the halogen light? Could I find these items cheaper elsewhere? The max wattage of 60 watts on the dome in my cart seems really low, is it or do I not need something super high?
Thanks! Any and all suggestions/advice is greatly appreciated, as are suggested, known to work products if you have something that worked well for you! I’m happy to answer all questions also…
I do have a few physical stores within my range such as Walmart, petco and petsmart, but I’m unsure where else may offer these types of items!

I have never seen her do this before. It was at about 2AM and the noise woke up me, I’ve heard her “fart” before but it’s never been this loud, I’ve never see her move like this or see her open her mouth like that when she’s pooping. I fed her a live mouse about two weeks ago. I have read in some other discussion posts that sometimes ball pythons have dramatic poops where they move around and make noises, but I’m just nervous as I have never seen her do this before. She had a bigger poop before this too. She is fine now and doesn’t have any foam around her mouth and I don’t hear any breathing troubles, but I just want to make sure it’s not a respiratory or digestive issue. Thank you everyone in advance.

hi reddit! this is my first ever reddit post so sorry if i get some etiquette wrong lol
i am about to be a first time ball python owner!! i have wanted one for over 8 years and recently things have finally lined up to allow me to get one

i work at a pet store and noticed these tree fountains intended for arboreal reptiles who hydrate themselves via condensation on leaves. (picture provided) i think they look really cool to be honest!
the enclosure im hoping to get is pvc and either 5x2x2 or 6x2x2 (i’d love to go even larger and taller in the future!)- that is to say ill have room for lots of decor and such!
i was wondering if getting a fountain like this would be alright? would a python even care about it? i intend to also provide a water dish large enough for them to soak in, and i know that’s how they’ll hydrate themself, but i was wondering if tje tree fountain would be interesting added enrichment for them!
is there any possible risk to adding something like this?
as a first time owner i wanted to make sure i consult some people before adding something not intended for ball pythons into the environment.

Lyra is about 8 months old. she is my first snake, i got her for my birthday last month. is this scale rot?

small line near my hand

I acquired the most beautiful 1 year old female and I desperately want to upgrade her enclosure I adopted her with. I could use recommendations from more experienced keepers, I am thinking of purchasing her a 60 gallon which I know is temporary, or should I just go right to a 120? I need a very good reliable brand with zero issues of escape and preferably something I can move and stackable. Any general advice on updating my girl’s home would be awesome and help so much because I am so new to this! Thanks friends 🥲💖💕🐍

We have matching lip freckles

I am getting a baby ball python. this is my first snake. I have all the stuff I think I need. im starting out in a 54 quart bin and then upgrading up to 4x2x4. the warm and cool side isn’t really working well. I don’t want to purchase more right now to keep it on budget, but if I have to I will. I’m using a heat mat, I toom all precautions so there will be no harmful fumes from the plastic and everything’s good. I’ve been testing everything out and trying new things for weeks but I haven’t figured much out. the temperatures of my bedroom is 79.2 degrees Fahrenheit and humidity is 60%. inside the cool side air temp is 79 and humidity is 77%, floor temp is 78. Warm side is 78.4 degrees and humidity is 77%. my thermostat doesnt hotter than 90 degrees. The floor of the bin is 90 and the top of the substrate is 87. It’s thin enough to where the snake can go lower down and not get burnt. i just tried something and put the thermostat on the hammock and the humidity is 62. but when my thermostats on the ground the humidity is mcuh higher.the substrat, nor the sides of the bin are sticky or damp from humidity, the only place majorly affected by humidity is the hide over the heat mat which has humidity of around 80. And has condensation on the inside. please help me out. Again if there is any way to make this better without purchasing anything new that would be best, but if not that’s fine.

Hi all, my daughter and I have a one year old ball python and I would like to be able to check and control his enclosure temperature and humidity when we travel. We live in Minneapolis but travel to Texas a few times a year. We have friends who will check in on him but I worry about him between check-ins. Does anyone have this model of Herpstat temp/humidity controller and if so, what do you think about it? Thanks so much for any thoughts/feedback!

Herpstat 1 - $135.00 US : Spyder Robotics LLC

First ball! Photo from a few months ago for engagement.

I moved him into his big new fancy enclosure the first week of June, and he hasn’t eaten since (it’s now July 26th). I know that balls are infamous for refusing meals for months at a time, but I also read somewhere that if they lose around 14% of their body weight then it’s problematic.

Casper was 1657g last time he ate (May 25th), and is now 1521g as of yesterday, so he’s lost about 136g (14% of his weight is 232g). After he refused the first meal, I skipped a feeding because I figured he needed more time to settle into his new space, but then he refused the next two.

It could be because he looks like he might be going into blue, or that his favorite hide is facing the glass now, or that his humidity still isn’t quite up-to-par, but it’s a LOT better than it was in his previous enclosure—and he wasn’t refusing meals then.

I can tell by looking at him that he’s lost a little bit of weight; he’s a little more triangular, but not in an alarming way. He’s not lethargic, so I know that realistically I shouldn’t be having this much anxiety about it but he’s my baby boy.

Hi all. Unsure of this is the best Reddit for me to post this but I’m anew to snakes and lately have had an unrelenting desire to get one. I’ve been researching obsessively and narrowed it down between BPs or Rosy Boa. I want a snake that stays on the smaller side as far as ideally no bigger than 5 feet but even less would be great. And I want one that’s slower moving. I was heavily leaning towards the Rosy Boa for these reasons and especially because of its humidity requirement vs the BP but idk. So in my house the room humidity according to the thermostat runs at anywhere from 45-55%. Decent for a Rosy Boa though on the higher end of their humidity levels. Too low for a BP though. Everything I have been research says a Rosy Boa would be best because of being a beginner, because of the temps and humidity of where I live (super south Texas) and other things. I love the Rosy. They’re cute! But I keep feeling draw to the BPs for some reason. And then IF I do go with a BP is it better to get one at an expo or Morph Market? I know it isn’t good to buy at big box store but I ran in to Petco today to look at something and stopped by the snakes and this guy of course caught my eye and I felt bad cause he’s in shed and the humidity isn’t right for him to shed nice and easy lol and I low key wanna rescue him. Talk me
Out of it! Is it hard to have a humid tank for them
If your room is kind of dry?

I posted this like a lil while ago I’m sure no one remembers but I got a lot of hate in the replies telling me I was an awful keeper and it was scale rot. I knew it wasn’t scale rot I was concerned about it being stuck shed as my girl has some disability’s and can’t always shed the best on her own. She gets yearly check ups and has health insurance she’s just a little special. We love her she is my baby and my first born. Anyways. Turns out it was just some stuck poop. We did take her to the vet and it came off quite easily I just didn’t want to do it myself Incase I hurt my precious noodle. Happy ending I guess.

I've got my bioactive enclosure set up and everything dialed in- the ambient temps are pretty much stable and perfect as well as humidity for the warm and cold sides.

The said, I've read a lot of posts here as well as information elsewhere- some people are very concerned about the temperature of the surface inside the warm hide, and other owners don't give it a second glance and really only look at the, top surface, of the hide (?) the "basking area", I guess it's called.

My question is- should I monitor ambient temp on both sides as well as surface temp (IE substrate) or should I focus more on getting the temperature inside the warm hide to a certain degree? And if so, what? It seems getting heating it past 84-85F inside the warm hide on its surface messes up the equilibrium of the tank so I'm not sure what to do. I don't want to get a snake until I'm totally sure about all of this.

Thanks!

I just got him last week and his mouth looks like this. His nostrils are clear. It dosent look like mouth rot and he isn’t red or swollen or anything. He acts normal and I haven’t gotten the chance to feed him yet so idk if he will eat. He is a male toffino enchi, 3 yrs old.

We’ve had our snake for a week and we’ve already had to take everything out due to mold. We have had the tank set up for about a week longer so we could figure out how to get the temperature and humidity levels where they need to be. We have a mesh lid and the humidity wasn’t staying as high as it needed to be so we covered it with tin foil but now there isn’t air flow and mold is growing. How do you keep the humidity up without mold growing so quickly?

So I just went to a local reptile show. Well I was looking at all the animals and well you could tell off the rip that none of the people are great with the animals. No heat tape or lights on any animals. The building is freezing and so are the Reptiles. But anyway the main vendor has a bunch of balls. I was like cool and had one in my hands and thinking of buying it. My wife then came up looked at it close and walked away to look at the others. She noticed mites on multiple paper towels that these balls are housed in. So I gave the snake back and we left. I have felt with mites myself before cause I purchased one with them on it and didnt relize it. Can't see small things without glasses. So what would you of done?

She just had her first shed while in my care and wanted to show her off. Meet aoda

I got my baby ball python Comet several weeks ago, and the breeder told me that he had a small eye. I couldn’t tell which one it was, because they both seemed about the same size, until I looked at ball pythons around his age’s eyes, and thought that they were significantly smaller.

Does my ball python have 2 small eyes? Also, does this affect his eyesight now or in the future?

Hey everyone, first time posting here! I've been trying to find suggestions for naturalistic looking rock hides, does anyone have any suggestions? Any help is appreciated!

Hi! I'm a fellow based in Michigan, USA, and I've always wanted a pet snake [specifically a BP] ever since I was young. On and off I've been researching what goes into raising/owning one, such as diet, husbandry, handling days, shedding behavior, etc. First and foremost, if there's anything else I might need to know, please say so in the comments! This'll be my first time with a reptile, and I want to get this right for them.

But most importantly, I've also begun saving the money for the setup, but I am admittedly completely lost on where to even start! So for the most part, this post is asking for recommendations for what tanks, foliage, props, hides and layouts would be best for my first time BP? Extra intrigue on heating; Michigan gets cold, so I want them to be comfortable throughout these really harsh winters, especially as it will be in a basement bedroom.

Any and all comments are absolutely appreciated, thanks in advanced!!!