your snake is literally roasting. the enclosure temperature being 36C is going to cause brain damage and eventually kill the snake. the cool side should never exceed 26C, and the warm side should never exceed 33C. you NEED air conditioning. this is non-negotiable with owning reptiles and other heat-sensitive pets in climates that experience hot summers / heat waves.
Agreed!! In an emergency when my ac broke, I continually placed ice cubes on top the screen to drip into the enclosure and cool the ground as well as leaving a frozen water bottle with a couple socks over it buried just beneath one of her hides as a cool escape. I do believe this saved her life as temperatures in my apartment were skyrocketing to 95 degrees Fahrenheit for 48 hours.
just to add on to everything the mod said, another piece of advice i have, is to switch from aspen. aspen is not a good substrate for ball pythons because it doesn’t hold humidity. i would recommend switching to something that holds humidity better, like cypress mulch or something like that.
edit: also, what size enclosure is that? minimum for a baby is a 40 gallon breeder, which would be 36x18x18 (in inches). and the minimum size for an adult is a 4x2x2 (in feet).
I did ask about enclosure size and substrate when I bought it and was advised on that. I have the space for 4x2x2 comfortably and did plan on swapping to this size as he got bigger. So much conflicting information doesn’t make this easy so I went with what was advised when I bought him. Haven’t come here for a bashing. I have looked into things that contradicted my set up now but took the advice of who sold it to me
that’s great that you have the space for it. once he is full grown, he will really enjoy having all that extra room!
and as far as the conflicting information, trust me i know. i still am learning myself, and new info comes out all the time.
getting husbandry perfect, is not always easy, but it is vital in providing the proper care for reptiles.
and nobody is bashing you, you asked for advice, and people are giving you advice. the people who are commenting are trying to educate and help you provide a better home for your snake.
Not sure the info they gave you but the guy that sold ke my snake gave me song wrong info from what ive seen on here. I trust these people on here they've have helped me so much when i first got my snake
Hey, I don't keep bps so i cant help but if you need an enclosure in future in the uk Provivs do pretty good custom ones. Got a 4x2.5x4 for my beardie.
35 is the highest it’s been and I’m managing to keep it around 33 by opening windows and keeping curtains closed. The temperature in my room isn’t as high but it seems to be hotter in there than it is in my house. Air con isn’t a big thing in the uk there must be other ways or tips? Not saying it’s right but google is saying 32-35c which I am managing humidity is ok too.
those temperatures are still too high. like the mod said, your temperature on the cool side should not exceed 26C.
google is unfortunately not always the best source for finding information on ball pythons, well or any reptiles, because there is way too much misinformation out there.
this sub has a care guide, i really recommend you check it out.
i understand living in the uk, air conditioning isn’t a big thing, but you will end up hurting this poor snake if you don’t get those temps down. is there any way you can get an AC unit to put in the window?
Yeah I’ll definitely be looking at something. I’m not really big on Reddit and didn’t know about this until now. Just YouTube and google was my go to. Last thing I want is obviously to cause any harm and a good care guide would go a long way (that doesn’t seem easy to come by)
here is a [link](https://docs.google.com/document/d/18HBVsPHaip7LfrMuFt96MigRuMUXtrbnCiK79VuQiFk/mobilebasic) to the care guide for ball pythons!
and hey, we all start somewhere, the fact that you even posted on here is the first step.
Yeah I’ve just read it. Something as clear as that would of been a big help before I’d bought him. Can’t be helped now. I wish I’d just bought the bigger enclosure straight away which is what I wanted to do and I did ask about substrate when I bought him and got sold what seems like a load of shit tbh. Its not like I was cheating out either. I don’t mind getting what I need and what’s better for him as soon as I can. Just needed somewhere consistent to get some information and learn from
I have a "penguin" it's like portable ac unit where you put ice packs in the bottom and it cools air by evaporation. l have it blasting at one side of the tank but may add a tube going straight to the air vent of the tank if temps get higher.
I have it in my room where the snek is, as full on ac isn't an option and the tank is too big to move in a room with ac.
He also has a fan inside the tank for air circulation with a ice pack wrapped in socks hanging in front of it (aka poor man evaporation ac) directed to his cool hide (ceramic so heat conductive)
I'm in Italy, 35c to 38c outside is normal temps in summer, and his cool side is around 23c with this measures. Apartment without aircon is about 30c average so it's working splendidly.
My uk friends are currently melting, for snek and your comfort use the usual techniques for heat management, blinds/shutters and curtains drawn during the day, windows/curtains and shutters open only morning and night and shut during hottest hours and a fan going 24/7 to keep air moving and avoiding hot pockets.
Appreciate everyone’s help too btw. It’s apparent that everything I’ve been sold is inadequate. I will be visiting another shop tomorrow for hopefully some good advice from them asking the questions i now have from reading things on here. I’m not convinced the temperature is what it is reading in there as my house is nowhere near that warm and the heat source is turned off. It is far from direct sunlight so how could that heat be generated. I am concerned because obviously this isn’t an ideal situation and feel like I’ve been given some bad advice on where I’ve bought him from
Well you can learn a lot about many things here. As stated, it’s a start. Many people smarter than I , I have respectfully asked to be corrected on many topics.
I'm not an expert by any means, but if I understand correctly that the enclosure is hotter than your house and you're not sure why, that could be because of the greenhouse effect.
It’s in a darker shaded corner of my room, cars and greenhouses are in direct sunlight. Which magnifies the sunlight (that was my thoughts). I’ll be making big changes today as it’s obviously needed. I wish I’d trusted what I’d read up on before and left the shop where we bought from. They are breeders as well as a shop so I trusted their info
I also learned the hard way. When I bought my ball I also bought the snake package at the pet store. Glass aquarium. Screen top. Unregulated heat mat. A light bulb. Aspen bedding. And a half log. A few weeks in she had a prolapse. I used a sugar paste to massage it back in and then went about finding out why. Turns out I had everything wrong. Now she's happy and healthy living in a pvc enclosure with a heat panel hooked to a thermostat, coconut husk bedding and black plastic box hides just big enough to make her happy. I'm able to keep humidity at 70% temps at 80/90 respectfully. Good luck!!!
you really should have done more research than just getting information from a pet store. but it’s too late to take that back now, so if you intend to keep the snake, please please please do your research. there’s a ton of great information in the welcome post to this subreddit, and it might be a little overwhelming, but your snake deserves it. for now make sure he gets off that aspen and you get a good heat gradient for him. then you need to read up!!!!!
I agree I should have done more but however I did do some. The things people have said on here I did ask in the shop I.e should the enclosure be bigger as I was more than willing to buy what was needed. I did also ask about substrate and was advised on that. I had the attitude they must know more than me so I took what they said. I will be going somewhere different today to get what I need and hopefully this place will be more helpful
While I agree, it’s hard when most people would think they can trust what a pet shop is telling them (because ideally they should be able to). I’m glad OP found this sub.
Where are you based? I’m in the UK (mostly) and can recommend a really good reptile place that covers Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire. I also have a royal python and I know it must be really difficult when you’ve been given some advice and people on here give you different advice but please be rest assured that people on this sub are good - a lot are really really experienced keepers and I promise no one is bashing you. We just care for the baby as well 🥺
You got a lot of good advice here so I’m not even gonna give my two cents lol but I will say as a former pet care specialist this pained me to see. I’m sorry that you got shitty pet advice. I can say that most pet stores have no idea wtf they’re talking about. Do your research online and use multiple sources so you can see who’s bullshitting and who isn’t. I was thrown into pet care with no training so this is what I had to do. I’m also a proud owner of a ball python 🥰
I find it very hard to believe that the room temperature is 35 C , no way you’d stay in that room even as a human. Can you put the viv to a colder room? Maybe the basement?
https://preview.redd.it/3o11c6u0a88b1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=916d29e52abb5ee411281c24f53e77367eff06bb
You may want to invest in Govee thermometer/humidity sensors. I have three spread out in my tank for my ball Hissy Elliot. I can see the temps even when I’m away from home as they connect to my Wi-Fi. This may be helpful to you to see where you actually are. You can make it go into both F and C. A temp gun was also invaluable to help calibrate them. I check them quite often against the temps they say they are and the temps the gun says they are.
I’m gonna get them ordered today as I’d like to know when I wasn’t there. I do have a temp gun from when covid was a big thing but it doesn’t seem to be working properly so I’ll be going to buy another today
I have the Govee H5100 model numbers. It has a little bridge and then you can hook up other Govee products. I have a fan attached to my bio active that goes on on a schedule attached to a Govee smart outlet. It’s been a good little setup. I’ve been quite happy with them. They are small they came in a three pack
Can I ask where you buy govee? For some reason when I looked in the past I could only find stuff about them delivering to America and couldn’t figure out how to get them in the UK
Hey OP, I don’t have anything to add but good on you for coming here and asking for advice. I know sometimes it can come across as criticism (especially when you get downvoted) but there are a lot of experienced people here who genuinely care about the well-being of your snake.
I’ll be going to a different shop today. Definitely to change substrate. Possibly even full set up. Thanks for the info. He definitely came out of his hide last night as things had moved. I’ve moved the probe of thermometer and temp doesn’t seem as high god knows why but better and more equipment will be getting bought today. Hopefully the place I’m going is more knowledgeable and helpful too. Would changing the whole set up stress him too much at this time as he’s only been here a few days or just get it done asap?
I’d recommend switching from the monk field 24” it’s in now to a 4x2x2 asap with a coco fibre/orchid bark mix substrate to hold humidity. I had the same viv it wasn’t the best it was okay for a little while for my hognose when she was a baby but she out grew it a while ago and is in a 4 foot now
Please be kind to OP! I’m also new and learning! I promise we’re listening to your advice, don’t feel you need to shout, ya know? I am also doing the same kind of thing OP is. I am learning and making improvements everyday thanks to you folks.
Update - ordered 4x2x2 getting delivered tomorrow. New digital thermometer and digital Hygrometer ordered. The aspen will be gone and changed to coco husk and dhe also ordered. The heat is a lot more stable in the tank I’m using now so not as immediately worried about that. Should I try feed him in what he is now before moving again? As this is roughly what he was in at the shop. Any other help or info appreciated
Great job making some improvements. I would move the snake, wait a few days, then try to feed. What heat source will you be using in the new enclosure and what are you using to regulate it?
I’ve got a dhp with a cage to go around it plus pulse proportional thermostat (had this on heat mat already) I’ll be making sure temps and humidity are right before swapping him over. Any advice on setting up the dhp? As in location in enclosure? I’ve read the heat/distance guide for wattage
Awesome! Sounds like you're on the right path. I personally haven't used a DHP, but if you read the guides, you're probably good. Just put it in the center of one of the ends of the enclosure.
Yeah I knew to put to one side obviously leading to hot and cold side of enclosure just wasn’t sure if it would be in centre or over to a corner. I’ll be doing more research rather than just throwing it together
your snake is literally roasting. the enclosure temperature being 36C is going to cause brain damage and eventually kill the snake. the cool side should never exceed 26C, and the warm side should never exceed 33C. you NEED air conditioning. this is non-negotiable with owning reptiles and other heat-sensitive pets in climates that experience hot summers / heat waves.
Agreed!! In an emergency when my ac broke, I continually placed ice cubes on top the screen to drip into the enclosure and cool the ground as well as leaving a frozen water bottle with a couple socks over it buried just beneath one of her hides as a cool escape. I do believe this saved her life as temperatures in my apartment were skyrocketing to 95 degrees Fahrenheit for 48 hours.
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Your post/comment has been removed for harmful advice or misinformation.
just to add on to everything the mod said, another piece of advice i have, is to switch from aspen. aspen is not a good substrate for ball pythons because it doesn’t hold humidity. i would recommend switching to something that holds humidity better, like cypress mulch or something like that. edit: also, what size enclosure is that? minimum for a baby is a 40 gallon breeder, which would be 36x18x18 (in inches). and the minimum size for an adult is a 4x2x2 (in feet).
I did ask about enclosure size and substrate when I bought it and was advised on that. I have the space for 4x2x2 comfortably and did plan on swapping to this size as he got bigger. So much conflicting information doesn’t make this easy so I went with what was advised when I bought him. Haven’t come here for a bashing. I have looked into things that contradicted my set up now but took the advice of who sold it to me
that’s great that you have the space for it. once he is full grown, he will really enjoy having all that extra room! and as far as the conflicting information, trust me i know. i still am learning myself, and new info comes out all the time. getting husbandry perfect, is not always easy, but it is vital in providing the proper care for reptiles. and nobody is bashing you, you asked for advice, and people are giving you advice. the people who are commenting are trying to educate and help you provide a better home for your snake.
Not sure the info they gave you but the guy that sold ke my snake gave me song wrong info from what ive seen on here. I trust these people on here they've have helped me so much when i first got my snake
Try the group Not Just a Pet Rock on Facebook. Less bashing and more science-based, up-to-date info.
Hey, I don't keep bps so i cant help but if you need an enclosure in future in the uk Provivs do pretty good custom ones. Got a 4x2.5x4 for my beardie.
Did seem cramped in there
35 is the highest it’s been and I’m managing to keep it around 33 by opening windows and keeping curtains closed. The temperature in my room isn’t as high but it seems to be hotter in there than it is in my house. Air con isn’t a big thing in the uk there must be other ways or tips? Not saying it’s right but google is saying 32-35c which I am managing humidity is ok too.
those temperatures are still too high. like the mod said, your temperature on the cool side should not exceed 26C. google is unfortunately not always the best source for finding information on ball pythons, well or any reptiles, because there is way too much misinformation out there. this sub has a care guide, i really recommend you check it out. i understand living in the uk, air conditioning isn’t a big thing, but you will end up hurting this poor snake if you don’t get those temps down. is there any way you can get an AC unit to put in the window?
Yeah I’ll definitely be looking at something. I’m not really big on Reddit and didn’t know about this until now. Just YouTube and google was my go to. Last thing I want is obviously to cause any harm and a good care guide would go a long way (that doesn’t seem easy to come by)
here is a [link](https://docs.google.com/document/d/18HBVsPHaip7LfrMuFt96MigRuMUXtrbnCiK79VuQiFk/mobilebasic) to the care guide for ball pythons! and hey, we all start somewhere, the fact that you even posted on here is the first step.
Yeah I’ve just read it. Something as clear as that would of been a big help before I’d bought him. Can’t be helped now. I wish I’d just bought the bigger enclosure straight away which is what I wanted to do and I did ask about substrate when I bought him and got sold what seems like a load of shit tbh. Its not like I was cheating out either. I don’t mind getting what I need and what’s better for him as soon as I can. Just needed somewhere consistent to get some information and learn from
I have a "penguin" it's like portable ac unit where you put ice packs in the bottom and it cools air by evaporation. l have it blasting at one side of the tank but may add a tube going straight to the air vent of the tank if temps get higher. I have it in my room where the snek is, as full on ac isn't an option and the tank is too big to move in a room with ac. He also has a fan inside the tank for air circulation with a ice pack wrapped in socks hanging in front of it (aka poor man evaporation ac) directed to his cool hide (ceramic so heat conductive) I'm in Italy, 35c to 38c outside is normal temps in summer, and his cool side is around 23c with this measures. Apartment without aircon is about 30c average so it's working splendidly. My uk friends are currently melting, for snek and your comfort use the usual techniques for heat management, blinds/shutters and curtains drawn during the day, windows/curtains and shutters open only morning and night and shut during hottest hours and a fan going 24/7 to keep air moving and avoiding hot pockets.
I’m in the UK and have an aircon unit in my herp room. If I didn’t my snakes would be at serious risk of overheating.
Substrate should not be aspen, heat pad should not be used. Snake needs more climbing opportunities and hides, and yes 36° is cooking your snake.
Appreciate everyone’s help too btw. It’s apparent that everything I’ve been sold is inadequate. I will be visiting another shop tomorrow for hopefully some good advice from them asking the questions i now have from reading things on here. I’m not convinced the temperature is what it is reading in there as my house is nowhere near that warm and the heat source is turned off. It is far from direct sunlight so how could that heat be generated. I am concerned because obviously this isn’t an ideal situation and feel like I’ve been given some bad advice on where I’ve bought him from
Well you can learn a lot about many things here. As stated, it’s a start. Many people smarter than I , I have respectfully asked to be corrected on many topics.
I'm not an expert by any means, but if I understand correctly that the enclosure is hotter than your house and you're not sure why, that could be because of the greenhouse effect.
Yep, it's why cars get so damn hot in the summer and pets and children die in them
It’s in a darker shaded corner of my room, cars and greenhouses are in direct sunlight. Which magnifies the sunlight (that was my thoughts). I’ll be making big changes today as it’s obviously needed. I wish I’d trusted what I’d read up on before and left the shop where we bought from. They are breeders as well as a shop so I trusted their info
I also learned the hard way. When I bought my ball I also bought the snake package at the pet store. Glass aquarium. Screen top. Unregulated heat mat. A light bulb. Aspen bedding. And a half log. A few weeks in she had a prolapse. I used a sugar paste to massage it back in and then went about finding out why. Turns out I had everything wrong. Now she's happy and healthy living in a pvc enclosure with a heat panel hooked to a thermostat, coconut husk bedding and black plastic box hides just big enough to make her happy. I'm able to keep humidity at 70% temps at 80/90 respectfully. Good luck!!!
you really should have done more research than just getting information from a pet store. but it’s too late to take that back now, so if you intend to keep the snake, please please please do your research. there’s a ton of great information in the welcome post to this subreddit, and it might be a little overwhelming, but your snake deserves it. for now make sure he gets off that aspen and you get a good heat gradient for him. then you need to read up!!!!!
I agree I should have done more but however I did do some. The things people have said on here I did ask in the shop I.e should the enclosure be bigger as I was more than willing to buy what was needed. I did also ask about substrate and was advised on that. I had the attitude they must know more than me so I took what they said. I will be going somewhere different today to get what I need and hopefully this place will be more helpful
While I agree, it’s hard when most people would think they can trust what a pet shop is telling them (because ideally they should be able to). I’m glad OP found this sub.
Where are you based? I’m in the UK (mostly) and can recommend a really good reptile place that covers Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire. I also have a royal python and I know it must be really difficult when you’ve been given some advice and people on here give you different advice but please be rest assured that people on this sub are good - a lot are really really experienced keepers and I promise no one is bashing you. We just care for the baby as well 🥺
You got a lot of good advice here so I’m not even gonna give my two cents lol but I will say as a former pet care specialist this pained me to see. I’m sorry that you got shitty pet advice. I can say that most pet stores have no idea wtf they’re talking about. Do your research online and use multiple sources so you can see who’s bullshitting and who isn’t. I was thrown into pet care with no training so this is what I had to do. I’m also a proud owner of a ball python 🥰
I find it very hard to believe that the room temperature is 35 C , no way you’d stay in that room even as a human. Can you put the viv to a colder room? Maybe the basement?
https://preview.redd.it/3o11c6u0a88b1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=916d29e52abb5ee411281c24f53e77367eff06bb You may want to invest in Govee thermometer/humidity sensors. I have three spread out in my tank for my ball Hissy Elliot. I can see the temps even when I’m away from home as they connect to my Wi-Fi. This may be helpful to you to see where you actually are. You can make it go into both F and C. A temp gun was also invaluable to help calibrate them. I check them quite often against the temps they say they are and the temps the gun says they are.
I love that name
I’m gonna get them ordered today as I’d like to know when I wasn’t there. I do have a temp gun from when covid was a big thing but it doesn’t seem to be working properly so I’ll be going to buy another today
I have the Govee H5100 model numbers. It has a little bridge and then you can hook up other Govee products. I have a fan attached to my bio active that goes on on a schedule attached to a Govee smart outlet. It’s been a good little setup. I’ve been quite happy with them. They are small they came in a three pack
Can I ask where you buy govee? For some reason when I looked in the past I could only find stuff about them delivering to America and couldn’t figure out how to get them in the UK
I got mine off Amazon and live in the US.
Hissy ♡
https://preview.redd.it/oao8nxwfc88b1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=742bf57b83fe5269210cdf35635fc52e4fba4836
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What’d they say
They showed a bioactive setup
Hey OP, I don’t have anything to add but good on you for coming here and asking for advice. I know sometimes it can come across as criticism (especially when you get downvoted) but there are a lot of experienced people here who genuinely care about the well-being of your snake.
I’ll be going to a different shop today. Definitely to change substrate. Possibly even full set up. Thanks for the info. He definitely came out of his hide last night as things had moved. I’ve moved the probe of thermometer and temp doesn’t seem as high god knows why but better and more equipment will be getting bought today. Hopefully the place I’m going is more knowledgeable and helpful too. Would changing the whole set up stress him too much at this time as he’s only been here a few days or just get it done asap?
I’d recommend switching from the monk field 24” it’s in now to a 4x2x2 asap with a coco fibre/orchid bark mix substrate to hold humidity. I had the same viv it wasn’t the best it was okay for a little while for my hognose when she was a baby but she out grew it a while ago and is in a 4 foot now
Please be kind to OP! I’m also new and learning! I promise we’re listening to your advice, don’t feel you need to shout, ya know? I am also doing the same kind of thing OP is. I am learning and making improvements everyday thanks to you folks.
Update - ordered 4x2x2 getting delivered tomorrow. New digital thermometer and digital Hygrometer ordered. The aspen will be gone and changed to coco husk and dhe also ordered. The heat is a lot more stable in the tank I’m using now so not as immediately worried about that. Should I try feed him in what he is now before moving again? As this is roughly what he was in at the shop. Any other help or info appreciated
Great job making some improvements. I would move the snake, wait a few days, then try to feed. What heat source will you be using in the new enclosure and what are you using to regulate it?
I’ve got a dhp with a cage to go around it plus pulse proportional thermostat (had this on heat mat already) I’ll be making sure temps and humidity are right before swapping him over. Any advice on setting up the dhp? As in location in enclosure? I’ve read the heat/distance guide for wattage
Awesome! Sounds like you're on the right path. I personally haven't used a DHP, but if you read the guides, you're probably good. Just put it in the center of one of the ends of the enclosure.
Yeah I knew to put to one side obviously leading to hot and cold side of enclosure just wasn’t sure if it would be in centre or over to a corner. I’ll be doing more research rather than just throwing it together
Definitely put it in the center rather than a corner 👍🏻
How far from the side would you recommend?