Royal Python?

Question

Loaded with questions...I have Book after book... but they are not answering what I been needing to know.I have a royal python.He was in a tank that seemed too small.I changed him to a 20L long.Is this sufficent for him to stay his life in?I take him out more then 4 times a day and none of the times are less then 45 min to 1 hour.he takes a bath and he gets to play in the lawn.he is eating 3 mouses a week...Is this enough? he is about 1.5 feet maybe 2 ftDo they need a dish they can soak in even if i am soaking him myself? (one big enough or the whole body?)How much soaking is too much?Head shy..is this something i should worry about?How to i help him over come it? Can he over come it?Do i need a day light and a night light?His tank is set up with a light on one side, has been his whole life.the other side has a plant...IS that a good idea?Water in the middle.Nothing on the light side. Serious replys only... someone who knows something or has one or more of these types of snakes!

Answer 1

Wow lots of questions...

20 long is to small for an adult. A 3x2x2 is what i give my fully grown adults. Getting him wet to much will start to annoy him and they can get bacterial and fungul infections in they are damp all the time. The reason a royal is called a Ball python is they roll into a ball when they are scared to protect their heads. They dont like their heads being touched... thats normal. They are nocturnal so to much light will annoy them. I tend to use heatmats to keep it nice a dark in their tanks so its like a hide in itself. Plants are fine (are they plastic?) and water can go anywhere. If its not humid enough you can put the water neer the heat and it will boost the humidity but watch it.

Answer 2

balls are more active during the night,no light is needed on either side,but you need atleast a hide box on both ends and on the hotside a heatpad that is on the outside of the tank under it,then a hiding  box on the cool side also,if he doesnt have either you could stress  the ball very badly by being inthe open too much,bath him once a week or once ever 2 weeks,place a water dish thats an inch and  half deep and remember the snake does drink water and will soak on hes own time too! so? remember to change the water dailey for him and if he evers  stop eating buy a gerbil its thier favorite,also make sure you have locks on the tank!! or you may have to take the dryer apart like i had to with mine,go to pet store buy a digital therm,and  a hydro meter ,place the hydro meter in the middle of the tank and place the digital therm on the hotside,and goodluck.

Answer 3

maybe your holding him  a bit too much and he might be getting stressed

Answer 4

Where do I start? The 20 long will last it for awhile, you'll eventually need a 40 or 55 gal.

They are nocturnal and require no special lighting so the only reason to have a light is to see it, or if it's a heat lamp and you have no other heat source.

News paper or aspen chips is what I recommend as a substrate.

I recommend flex-watt for under tank heating (it's a heat tape). You can find it on kingsnake.com under reptile supplies or you can google it. It's pretty inexpensive. 2nd choice would be an under tank heat matt with a thermostat or dimmer switch.

Yes they should have a water dish large enough to soak in, they should also have a hide (hiding box) and a temperature gradiant of 80 deg ambiant temp and a hot spot of 95 deg Fahrenheit.

It wouldn't hurt to own a digital thermometer, they're only about $20 (a hand held, not a stick-on).

If it's healthy then alls well. My largest concern would be that it's  getting temperatures high enough to properly digest it's food.

A bath every day is excessive. A bath every 2 weeks to a month is more reasonable (they're not water snakes).

Answer 5

a 20 gallon long would be perfect for his size. but it wont house him for the rest of his life. eventually you will need to upgrade to a 55 gallon. the 55 would house him from there on. 3 mice a week is alot! if its small mice thats still alot. if its fuzzies then only feed it 2 a week.

they need a bowl to soak in. i would suggest not soaking him yourself unless he is shedding. if the snake is head shy, he was never really handled as a baby. every time you hold him, carefully pet his head, moving slowly. if you do this everyday, he will get use to it.

you need to have a hide (half log, box w/ hole in it, ect.) on each side. the water in the middle is perfect. but you need an under tank heater on the hot side (the side with the light). the heater will be used at night. an actual night light in not needed if you have a heater. but keep the heater on all day and all night. turn the light off when the sun goes down. photo period is very important. make sure it has a branch for shedding, or something rough.

give the tank 2 sprays of water everyday underneath the day light. this will give the tank moisture.

uhm... i think thats it haha

email me if i didnt answer something or if you have more questions. i know what im talking about :)

good luck!!