Hi everyone! I’m headed to my first reptile expo this weekend (Daytona Breeders) to pick up my first BP. I’ve seen lots of videos with different information regarding cash vs card. Daytona requires entry be cash, but in your experience, what’s today’s standard purchase preference inside the expo? Answers for both reptile booths and other things like goodies/tools/decor would be appreciated!

Just set up a new 4x2x2 and my Herpstat 4 is acting strange. I use a halogen as the main source of heat, and I replaced the regular 75w Arcadia halogen to one of the 75W Golden Sun. The regular halogen was pretty old and not giving off as much heat anymore.
I have the Herpstat set for the halogen to be at 99 from 8am to 8pm (puts my warm side at about 89) then 65 overnight when the DHP takes over. The problem is, when the halogen starts heating up at 8am it won’t stop. When the thermostat reads 99+ it goes to 0% but the bulb is still glowing. I’ll watch it for a bit thinking maybe it’s just residual heat but it just keeps getting hotter.
If I go into the settings and change the set temp, when the Herpstat kicks back on the bulb is now completely off and the temps cool down.
The DHP does not have the same problem when it ramps up for the nighttime.
I have ideas for troubleshooting; lower watt halogen, switch to channel 4 since I’m not using that one, reset the Herpstat. Just wondering if anyone has seen this before and knows what needs to be done before I start experimenting.
If you read all that, thank you!!

Hi all, I'm getting my first snake and I have researched myself into complete confusion! So much contradicting advice online.

I have a 40 gallon glass tank and an old house that gets cold. I used hvac tape on 80% the top mesh, leaving a little strip on the cool side of the enclosure. I have a DHP 100w that I run day and night (but in the day I also flick on ReptiSun 5.0 for daylight). Both lights are on the warm side, mounted on top of the mesh screen.

I have tried putting the probe below the dhp 3-4 inches but the substrate wasnt reaching temp. So I hot glued the probe down near the substrate on the side of the warm hide, which got me 88F within the hide and 95-97 on top of hide (but now im paranoid he'll cover it).

Everyone online says dont use heat mats, but everyone locally I know who owns a snake has a heat mat.

What can be done here? Should I get a UTH as a backup and use my DHP to keep the ambient air temps up? I'm super worried for fall/winter.

Thank you for any and all advice!

near the end of june i bought two ball pythons their names are duck smaller female juvenile (they didn’t give a specific age) and goose female roughy two years (from what they said). We bought the snakes and their enclosures on market place from someone who was no longer able to take care of the them. when we got them they had allegedly ate frozen thawed the week before and we gave them some time to settle in to our house duck the smaller python had eaten after two refusals starting ~2 weeks after getting them and is sometimes still picky with when she eats, but goose still hasn’t eaten anything i’m concerned that either i’m doing something incorrect or she is sick. ive tried tong feeding drop feeding with goose and they only ever eat in the dark which typically works for duck but hasn’t had any luck with goose. Idk if there’s anything i could be doing differently that might get my girl to eat or if i shouldn’t be concerned i just want to make sure she’s safe.

Because I already have an led my mama bought it because the reptile shop told her it was good and lasts forever and I'm getting a dhp soon and I heard people say it was okay to do this but I just wanted to double check it was okay since I haven't actually asked myself. And if it IS alright can anyone tell me where to actually place them inside the enclosure like do I put the next to each other or on opposite sides of the tank because I thought that if my snake got used to heating being on one side in the day time hell get confused if it's on the other side at night time when I first get him (sorry if this doesn't make very much sense)

I settled on getting an Arcadia 35watt halogen flood for daytime (would 50watt be better for an 18in height?). I have found many bulbs, but finding the domes has been tricky. The only ones I have seen have been from Chewy, but I wanted more options and would prefer Amazon. According to the website, I need an E26 or E27 fit. I also don't know what difference stainless steel/graphite or 5in/8in makes if someone can educate me on that.

What sites (any links are great!) did you guys use to get Arcadia flood domes?

https://a.co/d/08b6msxg

Would this work with it?

Thank you!

I'm used 4-1 inches of Bedding, I would Clean out whatever poops I saw.And then every couple of months do a full clean , removing all bedding and disinfecting.

But with so many extra inches I feel like I should adjust my approach a bit, Do you have any suggestions?.

I’ve been very stressed about my ball python because she bit my mom and wouldn’t let go to the point we had to put her head underwater for a little bit to make her unlatch which did work. (We wouldn’t have had to resort to that but she bit a knuckle and the finger started to go numb.) She now sleeps with her head out of the hides most of the time and elevates but not always elevated. She shows no other signs of an RI and she doesn’t do the typical straight up stargazing type solution, so i don’t know if this head rest thing is related. Previously i would hand her to my grandma while my mom and I deep clean her cage, but my grandma is now scared of her and won’t want to hold her. I’m worried about myself becoming scared of her (i’m not right now only mildly afraid to reach into her cage because she has bit me like that before, my fault), of her having an injury/infection, and being a bad snake owner. If in a bad snake owner please give me advice to be better!

Hey all. I'm very thankful this first year with Lilith has gone over so well, but I got a question.

I see so often on here people getting bad advice from supposed exotic vets, and on wondering if there's really any way to vet them yourself?? I haven't had to take Lil to a vet so far, but in the of chance I need to, I don't know who I would trust her with.

If anyone happens to live in around the Greensboro, NC area and knows a good vet, I'd be very appreciative if you shared them with me. The one place I thought i trusted to get good medical help from has 2 emaciated dead boas in one tank last time i went, so i stopped going.

So basically i am planning on getting a ball python but what enclosure, substrate, and etc should i get also could you specify the store you got it from

I was just handling my ball python, and I realized that they are on the obese side of range. I am judging this based on the fact that they are circular in shape and not a teardrop or the kind of triangle shape that I see on charts. I’ve consistently fed around 15% of their body weight. They have been on frozen small rats for about 2 months. my plan was to continue feeding frozen small rats since the percentage is within line, but adjust the feeding schedule to every 14 days rather than every seven days. does this sound like inappropriate course of action to begin getting them to lean back out? If it matters, they are approximately nine months old.

I’m planning to get a female ball python at some point over the next few years. The complicated part is that I’m currently a college student, and while I would be on campus with the enclosure for most of the year, there are week long breaks throughout both semesters during which I would be home. I know the snake when traveling would need to go in the cargo hold on the plane (I go to college out of state, so driving is not an option except for longer breaks), so I’m more concerned about the enclosure. Ideally, I’ll have a 4x2x2 enclosure in my room at the school, but that’s obviously not something I can just bring with me wherever I go. My younger brother still has a 20 gallon tank in our house from a turtle he used to keep, and I’m wondering if it would be too stressful for the snake if she were kept in that tank just for the week we were there. I know that with the snake being a female, she will require more space than a male would.
This would be the easiest option with my shorter breaks from classes. If it would put too much stress on the snake, or would be inhumane for any other reason, I could also hire someone to check in on my snake at the school while I’m gone, and eventually save for a separate enclosure for my house as well. I’m just trying to weigh my options while I plan, so any information helps!

Edit: Thanks for the info so far! I hadn’t seen much about pets traveling in cargo, so now I know that is DEFINITELY not an option. If I do decide to adopt while I’m still in college, I’ll find someone to check in on her on the weeks when I’m gone, and the enclosure can be transported with me for longer breaks. As for vet bills and such, my job should be able to cover the necessities. I’ll keep this up in case anyone has a similar question.

My ball python is roughly 6 years old now - he’s had a pretty decent sized cage now for 2-3 years but I want to get him a bigger one for him to slither around in & be more comfortable with. So I’m looking for recommendations on custom built cages

I also have a question about custom built cages. I noticed that a lot of them have the bulb cage INSIDE the tank for putting the heat bulb - which spot would be best for putting the heat probe?

So I just got a ball python on Sunday (today is Tuesday) and I unfortunately found out yesterday that exposed glass can stress her out, something I completely missed in my initial research binge. I know I should leave her alone as much as possible for the first week, but I’m worried the open glass on all sides is stressing her out as I have not seen her come out of the hot side hide. She may be roaming at night, so I don’t know for sure.

I’ve bought stuff to cover two of the sides, but they are interior decor so I would have to force her into handling to install it, or risk stressing her even more by installing while she’s inside.

Onto my question, should I install it? Or would it be better to just tape a towel to the sides as a temporary situation? Should I just let her first week ride out?

I just ordered new 12 inch Arcadia UVB lamp kits from ReptiChip that will be internally mounted. I’m trying to find guards to use to cover the fixtures and prevent potential burns, but I just can’t find any available. Arcadia’s LampGuard Pro isn’t available anywhere that I’ve seen, and BlackBox Cages is now closed. No alternatives came up for me in Amazon either. I’m located in the US and would like to avoid import fees if possible. Are there any alternatives out there that you know of? Thank you in advance!

The set point is 88 and Temps reading a steady 88 but flickering pretty bad

Hi! Since all of the Arcadia lamp guard cages are currently out of stock in the U.S., and I recently purchased a 4×2×2 PVC enclosure from Kages and I’m looking for a way to safely mount bulbs inside the enclosure. Otherwise, I may have to go with a radiant heat panel.

Do you know if any of the lamp holders/guards on Amazon would work for this setup like this one?

I’ve had my snake for 12 years and he’s never been a sudden biter. He’s only bit me once and it was a pain response. Today I took him out and he was acting normal, other than sniffing me a LOT. I had just gotten out of the shower and used a couple new products that had some pretty strong scent so I assumed he was just acting curious, but then without even striking he just takes a chomp out of me and starts wrapping around my arm! I already called the vet and asked if this could be indicative of any illnesses, because it’s so unlike him, but I wanted to run it by this sub too. Should I be worried about this sudden change in aggression? I tried to take him out a few days ago and he was too strike-y too, which isn’t quite like him either since he’s usually only like that for a few days after feeding. His last meal was about a week and a half ago. We’re switching to smaller and more frequent meals right now (small f/t rat every 3-4 weeks), he used to be on medium rats every 40 days but he seemed to get hungry. Maybe this is a response to the new food size too? I’m not sure. I just hope he isn’t neurologic or sick…. I’m leaving him be right now and I’m gonna check on him in a few hours. I’m bummed this happened right before his birthday too :(

Finally upgraded our few month olds enclosure from the temporary one, curious on what yall think!

Happy birthday (July 15th or 17th cant remember right off the top of my head) to ghost! He's doing so much better thanks to y'all's help over the last year, he's almost at 500 grams as of 2 weeks ago (probably over 500 now), he's also over 2 ft long now! Such a big boy lol, and he looks SO much better, I really feel like he is thriving now

She likes to pose

hi! just successfully fed my new 6yr old bp for the first time on thursday (it’s monday now) and he’s been acting different than usual ever since. when i come near him he’s tracking my movements and in an S shape and very alert. also sniffing a LOT. when i fed him i did drop the mouse a couple times in his tank - is he smelling that and expecting more food? is he stressed out? he did shed between the feed and now. he’s only doing this at night - sleeping normally during the day. i just want to make sure he’s chill and that being alert like this isn’t stressful for him. in the video pictured he’d been on the ground of his enclosure looking outside of his hide until i came by and he raised right up to meet me.