Is my ball python tank perfect for her,athena(baby female)?

Question

i have a wooden cave i brought from petsmart,on the cool side,and a rock cave on the warm side......i have a thermeter that sticks on the glass,i have a wide shallow water dish(so she could soak in and drink)a rock,and a toilet paper tube......and some leaves for decor,,,and for heating i have just a heat clamp lamp,and for substrate i have soft sorbent by kaytee(is that ok for her?)IS SHE GOING TO LIVE ALRIGHT,OR DIE,PLEASE SOMEONE ANSWER THIS.BECUASE THIS IS MY FIRST REPTILE AND SNAKE EVER!!!

Answer 1

yes its okay

Answer 2

Honestly? No it's not a very good setup for a snake.

1) You don't mention how large your tank is so it's hard to tell if you have it right.

2) Thermometer that sticks on the glass? Get a digital thermometer with a remote probe. (Acurite 891 model for example from Wal-mart is about $12.00) The reason you need this is because you need to check the temps both on the cool end and on the warm end. The probe allows you to do this.

3) Get rid of the toilet paper tube. It's just going to turn into a wet gross mess in very short order.

4) Fake leaves, etc are fine for decor. If you mean real organic you need to be careful of parasites being brought in from outside.

5) For the warm end of the tank you want to use a under tank heater (UTH). This is because the belly heat it provides aids in digestion. You can still use the heat lamp to help heat up the ambient background air temperature in the tank.

6) Softsorbent is made for small mammals not reptiles. You're going to have a h**l of a time keeping humidity up to where it needs to be in the tank without something that absorbs moisture in there. With the softsorbent you're just shooting yourself in the foot. Get some cypress mulch or aspen bedding.  Either one will help out with the humidity needs.

If she lives or dies is entirely up to how you take care of her. If you've got her setup how you describe you really need to start all over asap and get it right. Otherwise you'll have issues with feeding, health, and husbandry before you even begin.

Answer 3

I think that it is great that you are SO concerned and I am sure that you are going to be a good snake parent.

So here it goes:

1.) Caves are great!  Good job.

2.) Thermometer-check!

3.) Shallow water dish-check! (remember to replace it as she grows)

4.) Decor-check!

5.) I actually like the overhead heating for snakes.  AS LONG AS YOU ALSO HAVE A BRANCH AVAILABLE SO THAT SHE CAN CLIMB AND GET WARMER IF NEEDED.

*Under-tank heating can burn your snake because sometimes they don't know they are getting burned until it's too late. [This happened to one of my ball pythons.  She was in the vets for a week]

*Purchase a ceramic lamp and a red night light.  They are nocturnal so this is a great way to watch her.

6.) Bad substrate choice.  Use CAREFRESH.  It's kinda expensive but totally worth it!

7.) Have a "warm side" and a "cool side" and thermometers to monitor the temperature.

Other than that (sorry for the REALLY long answer) I would recommend live feeding - or - fresh killed as opposed to frozen.

Good luck, you're gonna be great!

Answer 4

are the leaves artificial? if not get rid of them

your thermometer needs to be digital not the sticky type they can be off by more that 10 degrees,

A clamp lamp is not ideal for a snake the prefer their heat from underneath as they like to hide. An Under tank heater is far better.

Get rid of the sorbent stuff that is in no way appropriate for a ball python. Replace it with reptile carpet (not plastic astro turf but repti carpet)