New cage for my ball and a few questions

I always thought that I knew what I was doing when my sister and I successfully raised a baby ball to a healthy adult length of about 6 ft when we both went away to college and we found him a new home. I guess I'm not as knowledgeable as I thought. My son and I now have a ball that is approx 27" in length. He currently lives in a 10 gallon tank (I know that it is too small). Here's my question...what should I look for in a new home. I'm thinking of going and hanging out at the Florida Reptile Show in Tampa in a few weeks and seeing what I can get but I'd like to know before hand. If I settle on a 20L or 30L tank, what other aspects should I consider?? Also, I know that balls are tropical animals but we never misted our other snakes? My current ball is having issues with shedding. Should I mist him with water? He's got a huge bowl to curl up in so he's never without water. One more question, should his bowl be on the same side as the UTH or the opp. side? I feel like a moron but so many things have changed in snake care since I was in HS. Back then, we used heat rocks and we now know how bad they are. Any suggestions would be great. I also have a friend who could build a cage so if anyone has plans that they would like to share, I'd love to have them. Thanks.

Jess

Hi Jess,

First of all I would suggest getting a 30 GALLON tank which is about the minimum requirement for an adult ball python, it probably makes more sense to buy a viv that is going to last him the rest of his life rather having to buy another one in a year or two's time. The other important factor when purchasing a viv is it has to be VERY escape proof, they are genius' at escaping. I also suggest you invest in a humidity gauge, you can buy a combined temp/hum gauge for next to nothing and they are invaluable. The humidity for a bp should stay at around 50-60%, then when its shedding time you can increase the humidity to around 70-80%, you can do this by misting the warm end of the tank or placing the water bowl over the UTH, I would only recommend placing the water over the UTH at shedding time, the rest of the time it should be on the cool end. If your snakes having problems shedding its skin the best method is to wet a towel with tepid water and place it and the snake inside a rubbermaid box, then place the box inside the viv overnight, next morning the snake should have got rid of all its old skin and you will be left with a mucky towel, some people swear by this method so definitley worth a try. The other method is to let the snake bath in some tepid water for 20 mins or so and this should loosen the old skin up.
Hope this helps a little

Regards
Fiona

Hi Jess

Thought I would post a few links for you.

Here is a link of a recent chat log from a talk we had with Kevin McCurley of NERD.

There is some good information there on Balls, babies, requirements and all.

Also...

Here is a great caresheet for Balls You'd be hard-pressed to find more and better information for keeping and caring for them.

Good luck!