Snakes

[snowdrake]

do any of you guys have experience with vivariums? I would love to install one for my corn snake. though, he lived in a terrarium with plastic plants etc. his whole life, would that be an issue? also, how expensive is it to maintain a vivarium? I already have my eye on a few reptile safe plants but I'm not sure which substrate to use. I'm guessing reptile earth? I don't think plants can grow roots in aspen shavings >.>
I'd love any advice!! <3

[miss_skye]

@MamaBear

Eye denting is a sign of dehydration...what exactly is your humidity at? Ball pythons need a constant 60%+ humidity. Aspen is HORRIBLE for humidity. I recommend that you switch to reptibark or cocohusk substrate. Do you have a hydrometer to read the humidity? Ball pythons need two secure, identical hides (not half logs) in order to feel comfortable. Lastly, your heat pad needs a thermoSTAT- otherwise she could get badly burned!

[*MamaBear*]

@MamaBear

Eye denting is a sign of dehydration...what exactly is your humidity at? Ball pythons need a constant 60%+ humidity. Aspen is HORRIBLE for humidity. I recommend that you switch to reptibark or cocohusk substrate. Do you have a hydrometer to read the humidity? Ball pythons need two secure, identical hides (not half logs) in order to feel comfortable. Lastly, your heat pad needs a thermoSTAT- otherwise she could get badly burned!

She had dented eyes since I got her 2 months ago. She has the exact set up that she's had from her previous owners who had her for 2 years. They didn't know how old she was when they got her. And I have no idea how long her eyes have been this way. I'm sure the humidity is lower than 60% so I will definitely work to get it there. We have a thermostat for her heat pad and I check it often to make sure it's not too hot. She's a pretty big snake so her hide takes up a lot of the tank and if I added another it would probably be too much. But I can try to rearrange and see.

[Violently Violet]

@MamaBear

Eye denting is a sign of dehydration...what exactly is your humidity at? Ball pythons need a constant 60%+ humidity. Aspen is HORRIBLE for humidity. I recommend that you switch to reptibark or cocohusk substrate. Do you have a hydrometer to read the humidity? Ball pythons need two secure, identical hides (not half logs) in order to feel comfortable. Lastly, your heat pad needs a thermoSTAT- otherwise she could get badly burned!

She had dented eyes since I got her 2 months ago. She has the exact set up that she's had from her previous owners who had her for 2 years. They didn't know how old she was when they got her. And I have no idea how long her eyes have been this way. I'm sure the humidity is lower than 60% so I will definitely work to get it there. We have a thermostat for her heat pad and I check it often to make sure it's not too hot. She's a pretty big snake so her hide takes up a lot of the tank and if I added another it would probably be too much. But I can try to rearrange and see.

If another hide of appropriate size wouldn't fit in the tank, your tank is too small. I'm glad you have a thermostat, though. But you need a digital hygrometer to measure the humidity. If you don't know what the humidity is, your snake can have really bad sheds and even get respiratory infections. They need 50-60% and 70% when shedding. Tanks aren't the best for ball pythons because they don't hold humidity.

If you don't want to switch to a tub or custom enclosure like animal plastics then I would suggest at least changing the substrate from Aspen (which really dries out the enclosure) to something like eco earth, forest floor, reptile prime, repti-chip, or a coconut fiber based substrate. They hold humidity much, much better. You will probably need to cover the top of your tank in plexiglass, Tin foil, or a damp towel. I wish you good luck.

[miss_skye]

@MamaBear

Eye denting is a sign of dehydration...what exactly is your humidity at? Ball pythons need a constant 60%+ humidity. Aspen is HORRIBLE for humidity. I recommend that you switch to reptibark or cocohusk substrate. Do you have a hydrometer to read the humidity? Ball pythons need two secure, identical hides (not half logs) in order to feel comfortable. Lastly, your heat pad needs a thermoSTAT- otherwise she could get badly burned!

She had dented eyes since I got her 2 months ago. She has the exact set up that she's had from her previous owners who had her for 2 years. They didn't know how old she was when they got her. And I have no idea how long her eyes have been this way. I'm sure the humidity is lower than 60% so I will definitely work to get it there. We have a thermostat for her heat pad and I check it often to make sure it's not too hot. She's a pretty big snake so her hide takes up a lot of the tank and if I added another it would probably be too much. But I can try to rearrange and see.

If another hide of appropriate size wouldn't fit in the tank, your tank is too small. I'm glad you have a thermostat, though. But you need a digital hygrometer to measure the humidity. If you don't know what the humidity is, your snake can have really bad sheds and even get respiratory infections. They need 50-60% and 70% when shedding. Tanks aren't the best for ball pythons because they don't hold humidity.

If you don't want to switch to a tub or custom enclosure like animal plastics then I would suggest at least changing the substrate from Aspen (which really dries out the enclosure) to something like eco earth, forest floor, reptile prime, repti-chip, or a coconut fiber based substrate. They hold humidity much, much better. You will probably need to cover the top of your tank in plexiglass, Tin foil, or a damp towel. I wish you good luck.

Please follow this advice- excellent write up! Humidity is extremely important to ball pythons. I feel bad for the ball python- it seems like the previous owners really didn't do much research. She's in better hands now and I'm glad that you are working on improving her environment! I have my girl in a T10 from Animal Plastics with an RHP and I love it! Highly recommend, but be aware that shipping can take 6 months or so.

[*MamaBear*]

Thank you both for the advice, I appreciate it!! I really love my snake, she is such a sweetheart! Her tank is huge and two hides could fit, I would probably just have to get a smaller water bowl and rearrange where the decoration log/branch goes. I will change out the bedding and try to fix up the lid to hold in more humidity. Yeah, I feel bad for her too. She was clearly fed well but other than that I don't think they did much research. They actually considered letting her go in the wild because they couldn't afford to care for her any longer. Luckily my younger sister who goes to school with the guy we got her from told me about them needing to get rid of their snake and I was able to get her.

[kivr & fireflii]

Ball pythons naturally live in sub-Saharan Africa where humidity on average is above 70%. 50% would be pretty low humidity. I'd aim for 65%+ (higher is fine as long as the enclosure isn't constantly WET because wetness+high temp = bacteria growth == scale rot), reading with a digital hygrometer (analog/dial ones are inaccurate). Also, avoid reptiBARK. Reptichip or another brand like Prococo is the one you want to go for if you want to go with cocochips. EcoEarth alone is also not suggested, but it's okay if you mix it with something else like Forest Floor.

Tanks are fine and, like tubs, may need their own adjustments (the main ones being covering 3 sides with wall decor/paper/etc. to make the snake feel less exposed and covering most of the top with foil to stop the heat and humidity from escaping). Tubs can be easier to maintain heat/humidity in, but people often forget that tubs are very sensitive to their environmental temperature, so sometimes they do need adjustments, too. Depending on her size, you may either need to upgrade the tank size or downsize her hide size. Ideally the hide should be large enough for her to fit snug but not too small where she's trapped (so open-bottom is best). That would be more ideal than giving her a smaller water bowl, especially if your humidity is already low (more water surface = more evaporation = more humidity).

Also, when you say heat lamp, do you mean those red heat lamps? Those are good for heat, but because they give off light AND heat, that means you can't turn it off at night so the snake is getting 24/7 light exposure. If that's the case, I would look into switching to a ceramic heat emitter as those give off heat, but not light.

Here's a quick/dumb drawing I did for an example of what to aim for lol


And a friend's actual tank for another example


And just extra visual for what to aim for in regards to temp/humidity. I made this because people often confuse ambient vs surface temperature, but it's a good visual of what to aim for in regards to a temperature gradient and such.


Drag to new tab if the images are too small. :)
-fireflii

[*MamaBear*]

Screenshot_20190504-180225~2.png (504.69 KiB) Viewed 384 times

Thanks so much for all you advice!! She does have a heat lamp that is the light. I'm going to get a red heat bulb for it because I feel like the normal is too bright for 24/7 use. This is the best pic I have of her tank at the moment. It was taken like a week or so after we got her. Next to the water bowl there's a small space that has a rock but I could probably put another hide in it's place. I will get a better pic tomorrow. I really dislike the lid to the tank. The previous owners made it out of wood and its so bulky and has spaces next to every wood piece. My husband taped up some of the spaces to hopefully help with humidity but I believe we will be getting a new lid soon.

[*MamaBear*]

Screenshot_20190504-182045~2.png (249.86 KiB) Viewed 381 times

This is the picture of the tank that my sister's friend sent to her before they gave her to me. We have since added a decorative log that's in the first pic that was posted. But this shows the lid better.

[kivr & fireflii]

A red heat lamp is the same thing as a normal one if it still gives off light. They can see color, and they can still see light. I know I said some of this earlier, but now that I've seen your enclosure, just going to go over the basics of what could be changed: would look into replacing your heat lamp with a ceramic heat emitter. I would also switch the aspen with something that holds moisture better (like reptichip), and for the lid issue, you can cover the top (except where the heater will be) with aluminum foil. Another hide on the other side (so she can choose between warm and cool side) and some vines or something wouldn't go a miss either. :) Open space can stress ball pythons out into not eating.
-fireflii