I have a year old ball python but, I am having trouble getting the relative humidity to the 70-80 percent that they are most comfortable at. My tank is about 2feet wide by 4 feet tall and 2 feet wide, I have a night light that runs all the time and a day light that is on during (what else) the day. The temp in the tank at the top is about 90 and at the floor is 76. I have a kitty litter filled with water on the bottom and use soil for the substrate. I have numerous sticks in the tank as well. I currently have rigged a small water bowl near the top to increase the humidity and I have a "bed" about half way up with a towel in it for the same purpose. The best I can get with 4 mistings per day is about 55 percent. I am out of ideas and am open to anybodies suggestions.
first of all turn that cage on it's side or something! Ball pythons are ground dwellers, not arboreal! You only need about 60% humidity. When they are in shed THEN make it about 70-80% humidity. if you have the humidity that high all the time your bp is going to end up with respirtory problems. Change the kitty litter, it's bad for the snake, it will scratch up their belly scales, why don't you lie on some kitty litter and see how it feels. try news paper, aspen shavings (NO pine or cedar they are toxic to BP's) or care fresh, soft sorbent rodent type litter found at wal-mart, petco and pet world (if you have one).......or even shreded paper if you want. You want the hot side to be about 90-95 degree's, no higher than 95. and the cool side to be about 75-80 degrees. You dont' need a bed, just put a hide over the UTH (under tank heater) or even get a human heating pad at wal mart or like store. You will also want a hide on the cool side. have a big enough water bowl that the snake can soak in it if they want. Like I said BP's are ground snakes, not tree snakes. They do enjoy having something to climb on though. A longer cage is TONS better than a taller cage. What type of cage is it? is it custom, glass????got any pics? how big is the snake and what size of prey are you feeding it and what type of prey (rat/mice) and are you feeding f/t , f/k or stunned?
I think they meant that they have a kitty litter TRAY for the water dish. I think it was a typo. That makes more sense to me anyways considering they need a large water dish. A cat litter tray would be a good size for a ball. Especially when they shed, it helps to have something for them to bathe in. Newspaper is best for cleaning (much easier) but if you're looking for something pretty I'd go for aspen or smooth river stone. Nothing sharp or fragrant. Sapphire is right, your humidity sounds good, except for shedding. It's better for the humidity to be higher to help them to shed evenly, in one piece. I don't think having a tall cage is necessarily a bad thing, but more ground room would be nicer especially once the snake is full grown.
Ball pythons are tropical animals so they are most comfortable with a higher relative humidity than some other snakes. I have found that the best product on the market is called the humidi-mat. It is only a few dollars at several online stores. It contains a gel that absorbs water when you soak it for about 12 hours prior to first use. Then, over a period of 1-2 weeks it slowly releases the water, keeping the tank at a perfect level of humidity. (I use a 9x3" mat for a 10-gallon tank). I have a humidity hygrometer and my tank is now consistently in the tropical range since I started using this.
ball pythons are from africa, those are not very tropical. As I said, bp's need humidity in the range of 5-60% when NOT in shed and 70-80% when in shed. Since where BP's are from don't exactly have enough trees for BP's to be very aboreal they are ground dwellers, they will use space to crawl up, but they are not the most gracefull snakes and can hurt them self if they fall from 4ft.
