Reddit mentions of ANGGO Infrared Thermometer, Non-Contact Digital Laser Temperature Gun -58℉～788℉(-50℃～420℃) for Cooking/Air/Refrigerator/Pet (Yellow)

Enclosure
Glass tanks with screen lids are very bad for ball pythons, you would be looking at getting a tub set up (using a rubber maid/sterilite /iris tub & soldering or drilling holes into the sides - here is a good tutorial of setting that up ). Or you would be wanting to get a PVC enclosure. I have an Animal Plastics T8 for my ball python, it did take about five weeks for it to show up, though. So if you want to go this route, plan way ahead. The tub route is cheaper, but takes more DIY skills. The PVC cage route is more expensive, but very aesthetically pleasing. To make a glass tank work, I suggest covering three sides with foam board to help insulate, and covering most of the screen lid with saran wrap or foil to keep humidity in.

Humidity
A ball python needs at the minimum 60% humidity. This is incredibly difficult to achieve in a glass tank with a screen top. A tub or PVC enclosure makes this super easy. Humidity should be measured on the ground with a digital hygrometer. The stick on humidity gauges that pet stores hawk are often inaccurate and can cause serious injury or even death if they come unstuck from the wall and stick to your snake. I use this two in one hygrometer / thermometer.

Temperature
Ball pythons need a thermogradiant w one end at between 88F and 90F & a cool end of 78Fish - the ambient temperature should never be below 75F, & should be around high 70's. In a tub or a PVC enclosure, you will want an under tank heater - heat tap, heat mats, heat pads. I recommend the flexwatt that you can get with the Animal Plastics enclosure or the ultratherm from Reptile Basics. If you have trouble keeping the ambient up in the PVC enclosure, you may want to get a radiant heat panel, which installs to the ceiling of the enclosure. For a glass tank, you will probably need a ceramic heat emitter installed over the cage to keep ambient temperatures appropriate. CHE gives off no visible light. Red lights are often given out like candy at PetCo/Smart places as good ways to provide heat at night. They are not. Ball pythons can see red light, and it messes up their day/night cycle. I don't have recommendations for CHE because I don't use them.

Thermostats
Any & all heat sources you have for your BP need to be controlled by a thermostat. Failure to appropriately control your heat source can lead to it quickly becoming 120F & injuring your snake. I highly recommend Spyder Robotics Herpstats. You can get larger ones w more probes so that you can control all your heat sources w one unit. They have a ton of good safety features & a lot of people on this sub can answer any questions you have on them. The cheaper ones are around $100ish. If that is too much for you, there are a lot of people who use the Jumpstart thermostats, but they have less safety features & can wear out quickly. They also make a loud clicking sound periodically. I cannot stress this enough, this is not a place to cut corners. You need a thermostat.

Thermometers
I already linked to my recommended combo hygro/thermometer. This thermometer is great because it has a small probe to measure "outside" temperatures. I use this probe to measure the floor on my warm side (I hide it on the ground under the substrate so I know the absolute hottest place my BP can get to). I place the unit itself on the cool side, so I know all my temps & the humidity on one unit. You will also want an IR thermometer gun (there might be better recs than this one). This is good for spot checking temperatures without moving around probes & also checking the temps of the prey items.

Hides
You want at least two similar, enclosed hides. Half logs are NOT suitable, they are too open & they stress out the BP, as they can't watch both ends at once for a predator. Some of the best hides are these ones from Reptile Basics. They are enclosed on all sides with just a small entrance. They are dishwasher safe & also very cheap. You want them to be similar if not identical, so that the snake does not have to choose between feeling safe & thermoregulating. You will want one on each side of the temperature gradient. Feel free to add more that are different for diversity in the enclosure. I also have some fake vines/leaves in mine so that she feels more invisible. Go to a craft store or the fish supplies for these, the ones marketed for reptiles are way overpriced.

Water dish
You will want a water bowl that is large enough for the BP to soak in. This should be changed daily, as they like to poop & pee in their water. You'll want something sturdy as they like to tip them over. I got some crock dishes from Reptile Basics. You don't need any water treatment for the snakes water unless you treat water for yourself. If you tap is safe for human consumption, it's safe for your snake.

Feeding
BP's eat every 5 - 7 days as hatchlings and yearlings, as adults they can go longer. BP's are NOTORIOUSLY picky eaters. The ideal IMO for a BP is a proper sized rat fed either pre-killed or frozen/thawed. I feed frozen/thawed rats from Perfect Prey. Just a heads up - they ship with fiber glass insulation & dry ice. I try to open the packages outside so my cats don't get into it. They come in freezer bags and I just store them in my regular freezer. If even one thing is wrong in your husbandry, your BP will likely not eat.

How Much To Feed
The feeding amount depends on the weight of the BP. You will want a digital kitchen scale - you can get one cheaply at any box store. While under 750g, you want to feed about 10%-15% of their body weight about every 7 days. Once they are in their second year you want to feed 7%-10% of their body weight, after they are in their third year, you want to feed about 5% every 7 to 14 days. I document all feeding days and the weight of the prey in my google calender.

You should be weighing your snake at least once a month to track how much you should be feeding. You should not disturb or move or handle your snake for at least 48 hours after feeding.

Frozen / Thawed
I get the rat out the night before the day I want to feed. I put it in the fridge. About two hours before I feed, I get it out of the fridge and put it on the counter to get it to room temp. And then I soak it in a zip lock bag in warmish water (I use a temp gun to get water around 110F) for about 20 minutes, and use a temp gun to make sure the rat is around 100F, and then I run the head under running hot water until its 110F. The head of the prey should be warmer so the snake has a target. I then use tongs to move it around in the enclosure to mimic it being alive. She (usually) strikes pretty quickly. If she doesn't, I leave it in overnight, and throw it out in the morning if she doesn't eat it.

I prefer frozen thawed cause I can buy cheaply in bulk. It's also safer. As BP's get bigger, they require larger prey - and rats have sharp teeth and sharp claws and can seriously injure your snake.

Myths of Cage Aggression
You do not need a separate cage for feeding it. This is a myth. The best way to reduce stress at feeding time is to feed in their regular enclosure. This minimizes the risk of regurgitation.

Substrate
Stay away from aromatic woods - such as pine. A lot of people like to use coconut husk, unprinted newspaper, or paper towels. There are pros and cons to each. I like paper towels, they are cheap and easy to clean up messes with. I use PVC enclosure so I don't need a substrate that helps with humidity like coconut husk. This should be spot cleaned whenever a mess is made. Aspen chips can mold super easily so not really recommended. If you have a chip type substrate and are worry about ingestion of substrate while feeding, put a plate down before hand.

Shedding
Hatchlings shed more frequently, but you should expect regular shedding. Usually the most visible sign they are about to shed is them getting cloudy or "blue" eyes - just google image search for "ball python shed blue eyes". Once they "go into blue" you want to leave them alone as much as possible. Check in on them to refill their water & make sure their humidity is correct, but don't handle or disturb them while they are shedding. You will probably see them remove their skin about a week after they go blue. Right right before they shed, their eyes will clear up, but don't be fooled - if you haven't found their old skin they haven't shed yet. Once you have their old skin, you will want to remove it & inspect it. You might need to moisten it, but unroll it (there might be a poop in it) carefully & look for eye caps and make sure the whole skin is in one long piece. Then inspect the snake for any stuck shed. Don't pull off the stuck shed, but soak your BP in some warm water & it should come off mostly on its own. Stuck shed is usually a sign that humidity is off - so try to identify ways to increase humidity.

TL;DR: The easiest way you can show the greenhouse effect is to have two jars. Fill one jar with CO2 and fill another one with regular atmosphere. Leave them out in the sun, and the CO2 jar will become much hotter than the regular jar. You can easily generate CO2 by combining vinegar and baking soda inside a bottle, or you can use water and alka-seltzer tablets (which are just a dry powdered acid and baking soda that only react when wet). If you're using a bottle with a screw-on cap you need to be careful not to generate too much gas or you've essentially made a pressure bomb.

You can see someone do this exact experiment on Youtube. Just the first guy who pops up for my search:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwtt51gvaJQ

Explanation is below:

The earth radiates heat away through infrared radiation (called black-body radiation). This infrared radiation is the same thing as light rays, but the wavelength is longer so our eyes can't see it. All objects emit some infrared radiation, but warmer objects emit more. This is the principle of the thermal camera- which is specially made so it can pick up and "see" those infrared rays. These are useful because hotter objects (like warm blooded humans, animals, light bulbs, etc.) are brighter than background objects. Home inspectors love these because it lets you find drafts in your home or faulty wiring. The police love these because people stand out clear as day, even in the middle of night or hiding in a bush (since they're warmer than the bush).

https://youtu.be/rBnYtEYMW-Y?t=196

The key to understanding the greenhouse effect is understanding that carbon dioxide is opaque to infrared light. Carbon dioxide absorbs infrared light, while most of the rest of the atmosphere just allows this light to sail through and escape to space.

You've seen this effect in action with visible light if you've ever left something black out in the sun. Black objects absorb light and get incredibly hot during the day. Bright white objects reflect light and stay much cooler. A really simple experiment you can do is to find a place where black asphalt runs up against a white sidewalk. Go out in the middle of the day and put your hand on both- the black asphalt will be much hotter. For bonus points you can get a cheap touch-less thermometer to confirm your results- point your thermometer at all sorts of things and figure out what gets hottest. You can find these online or in hardware stores for $15 or so.

https://www.amazon.com/ANGGO-Non-contact-Temperature-Thermometer-Precisely/dp/B01FYVEJMY/ref=zg_bs_9931459011_8?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=VSR6YWEN6WBT7DM6H6C6

For something more controlled, wrap a jar of water in a black plastic bag or in black construction paper and leave it in the sun. Then, wrap another jar in a white plastic bag or in white construction paper and do the same. Go out in the middle of the day and feel them both- the black will be hotter.

Carbon dioxide acts the same way. It absorbs the invisible infrared rays, while regular atmosphere does not. The result of more carbon dioxide is that more infrared light is absorbed, and the atmosphere gets hotter than it would be otherwise. You can easily see this happen in action by filling a bottle with CO2 and comparing it to a non-CO2 bottle, as discussed above.

If that's all you're worried about, just go electric.

A thermometor gun runs you around $20, I've linked to one <$15 but can't attest to its quality. That's a drop in the bucket compared to anything else R/C will cost you. (A long-running battery will run you Closer to $30.) (Also, I love this E-bay seller. Highly recommend.) In general, a higher run time is achieved by having more mAh in a battery Usually 4,000 mAh is more than enough, especially if you have two or more batteries.)

If you find your motor getting too hot, you can buy a heatsync for it. Anything like this will work fine, even if it doesn't have a fan. Modifying the chassis to fit something like this can also be fun, if you're into it.

Also, here's a rundown on LiPo batteries, if you want to read in on them. It may seem like a lot to take in, but I promise that it's much simpler than a nitro engine, especially if you're just getting into the hobby.

Oh, and one more thing: if you don't want to deal with the relatively complicated LiPo batteries, you can simply power your car of choice with a NiMh battery, though these are generally more expensive (and offer lower performance) compared to a LiPo with the same mAh (run time). As a tradeoff, they are more durable, less volatile, and are much more of a "charge and forget" technology.

Feel free to ask around if you have any questions, the sub isn't very active but it never hurts to ask :)

If you don't have digital thermometers inside of your cage or a temperature checking thermal gun (something like this https://www.amazon.com/ANGGO-Non-contact-Temperature-Thermometer-Precisely/dp/B01FYVEJMY/ref=zg_bs_9931459011_6/139-0586439-0036854?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=92JFJMYZYZGMZY071HNT), do yourself a favor and get one. It takes the guesswork and anxiety out of making sure they have a good temperature gradient. If you go with digital thermometers inside the cage, you need one that can read two different temperatures (can't find the exact one I used previously, but it was something like this https://www.acurite.com/indoor-outdoor-thermometer-with-probe.html) or two within the cage (they do make extremely small ones). You should also get a humidity gauge, again digital is better. Currently I use one humidity gauge in the center of each enclosure and a thermometer gun.

Do not use the little plastic thermometers/humidity gauges that stick to the side of the glass, aside from them being less accurate they can come off and stick to your snake, which is no good.

Check for any weak points in your enclosure often. If there is mesh, make sure there are no holes or stretched spots, they are escape artists and even if they don't escape, can hurt themselves in the attempt. Lids should be secured at all times you don't have eyes on the cage.

Feeding inside or outside of the cage is a hot button issue and I won't recommend one way or another, but I will say if you feed in cage, be careful about bedding ingestion, it can cause impaction (bowels becoming obstructed with indigestible material). If you feel your snake is ingesting bedding when you feed, try making sure the food item is completely dry when you put it in and also laying down something to feed on, like flat rocks (what I personally use), a paper plate, regular plate, or newspaper. Avoid paper towels, if blood gets on it, snake could ingest that too.

Make sure to clean any new cage decor, I use regular soap and water and rinse VERY well for everything that isn't porous. That can get a little tricky, but google "How to clean *insert the thing you are trying to clean*".

Clean water regularly. Regular handling (multiple short sessions is better than longer sessions) is the key to taming them down if they are a little wild (which really depends on age and previous home handling, younger snakes tend to be more nippy than adults). Give the snake a decent amount of time to acclimate to the enclosure before you start working on getting them used to you by handling, most I have heard say a week. Don't handle for around 24 hours after feeding.

Oh, and enjoy your new buddy!

That is about all I can think of at the moment, feel free to ask specific questions if you have them. :)

If you don't want to drop the money on an IR camera or rent one from Homedepot, you can get a laser infrared thermometer for around $15 and do it "manually"

https://www.amazon.com/ANGGO-Non-contact-Temperature-Thermometer-Precisely/dp/B01FYVEJMY

I'd recommend a digital temperature gauge with a probe or a temp gun. The temp gun would most likely be best. Downside is temp guns are a bit expensive sometimes but their worth it in the long run.

https://www.amazon.com/ANGGO-Non-contact-Temperature-Thermometer-Precisely/dp/B01FYVEJMY/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1527639624&sr=1-2-spons&keywords=temp+gun&psc=1

This is the temp gun I use but it seems to be currently out of stock.

However this one should be fine.

https://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Lasergrip-774-Non-contact-Thermometer/dp/B00837ZGRY/ref=sr_1_3?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1527639624&sr=1-3&keywords=temp+gun

As far as UVB goes I'd get this bulb and fixture for both of the beardies. It will probably be a bit bigger than their current tanks but it'll save money when you have to upgrade each of them to 75 gallons at the very least as that is the minimum for full grown beardies. Although 4x2x2 is preferred. Do note 20 gallons only last a beardie until 6 months of age and then they must be moved to their final enclosure or a 40, 50 or 55 gallon. If you go with the grow out tanks then those will last another 6 months before you need the final enclosure since preferably you want them moved into the final enclosure at 12 months.

https://www.amazon.com/Reptile-T5HO-Standard-Fixture-Reflector/dp/B01B209YQC/ref=sr_1_5?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1523586973&sr=1-5&keywords=t5+ho+fixture

\^ 34" T5 HO Fixture

https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-26062-Reptisun-Fluorescent/dp/B00AQU8HKO/ref=pd_bxgy_199_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00AQU8HKO&pd_rd_r=ZNH52XHETCP3Y7K5FGA2&pd_rd_w=GIi1G&pd_rd_wg=oAEwd&psc=1&refRID=ZNH52XHETCP3Y7K5FGA2&dpID=31QDwNV8eSL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=detail

\^ 34" T5 HO 10.0

When you say foam, did you use a spray foam?

Or did you use polyiso?

You can get a cheapo infared gun to find the heat sources. An infared camera is much clearer however.

You can also use window sealers for the door and windows. Not sure how you would seal the garage though.