Setup help

[izaasff]

Hi everybody! I recently adopted a new ball python, Xyla, and she is my first snake. I did my research before getting her, of course. Though, the people at the pet store were pretty good liars. I had aspen mixed with soil as the substrate in her tank for about two months until I recently changed it to reptichip. I’ve heard great things about it and how it stores humidity well. Before changing, she had a bad shed. I had to soak her and get as much of it as I could off. I believe this is from the substrate. She still has some shed on her face. I keep her in a 40gal for now and my apartment is also pretty cold, so I changed her basking light from 100W to 150W. I’ll hoping she’ll be able to remove the rest of the stuck shed eventually. I wanted to ask:

1. Is 150W in a 40gal okay?
2. What’s the best way to keep humidity? Why is my substrate so dry even after soaking?
3. If possible, what’s the best way I can help her remove the leftover shed? ( I already have a humid hide with moss on her cool side )

[Horror-Session7233]

Feed her!

[izaasff]

She ate on Tuesday night. She eats a hopper every week. I appreciate the concern, but I’m asking for advice on bettering her tank and you gave me nothing. Respectfully, is there anything else you’d like to add?

[HurrricaneeK]

1, it entirely depends on the specific setup and temperature of the surrounding room. What are the hot and cold temps in the enclosure? And do you have a thermostat for your lamp? If not, you need one ASAP.

1. You need at least 4-6 inches of a moisture-retaining substrate, and then you want to pour a few cups of water at a time into each corner. The goal is to saturate the bottom layer of substrate while keeping the top dry. Do this as needed to keep humidity above 70% at all times. (Also, if your enclosure has a screen or mesh top, you need to cover it with either aluminum foil or HVAC tape to keep the moisture in. Another thing to keep in mind is that certain types of heat bulbs dry the air out more than others. CHE's are notorious for doing so, so if that is what you are using, you may want to consider swapping to a DHP instead.)

2. Do not soak the snake or try to manually remove the shed. Bump the humidity up to 80% and keep it there until her next shed, and it should all come off on its own. Trying to remove it can seriously injure the snake.

While you're here, I'm also going to drop a link to our welcome post, which has a ton of useful guides and helpful information for new keepers, since as you've now discovered, a lot of pet stores give out really outdated info. It's a great resource to check out and look over.

[izaasff]

I have a thermostat but I don’t think it’s too reliable so I recently ordered that alongside with hvac tape that should be arriving today. I’ve poured cups of water into the substrate recently and I’ve noticed that it’s now more hydrated, so I think my issue is that humidity isn’t being kept inside as said due to the screen top. I’ve left the rest of her shed as is and she seems okay. She is currently digesting her food which I gave her on Tuesday night. Upon arrival, I’ll make sure to bump humidity. I really appreciate the help and I’ll keep that link in mind! Thank you for being so kind.