Temperature and Humidity, Every Visit
The log's backbone is the enclosure readings, taken at every visit and written down, not just glanced at. The sitter records the warm-side temperature, the cool-side temperature, and the humidity, plus a note that the heat source and its thermostat are behaving — a probe knocked loose by a moving snake can leave an enclosure cold or dangerously warm between visits, and a dated series of readings is how that gets caught early rather than on your return.
Ask the sitter to note where the python was when they arrived: in the warm hide, the cool hide, or out exploring. Over several days those small observations show whether he is thermoregulating normally or camped at one end, which can be the first hint that a reading is off.
Feeding Entries With No Ambiguity
If a feed falls during your trip, the log entry needs to be exact: what prey was offered, its size, how it was prepared, how long it was left, and the outcome — taken, struck but dropped, or ignored entirely. Ball pythons refuse food for ordinary reasons, and a clear record stops a normal refusal being retold later as a week of not eating. Uneaten prey should be removed and noted, never left in the enclosure beyond the window you specify, and never re-offered the next day unless your written instructions say so.
If no feed is due, the log should still say so. A line reading “no feed scheduled” proves the sitter checked the plan, rather than forgot it.
Water, Sheds, and Cleaning Notes
Each visit should log fresh water — refilled, and the bowl rinsed — and any cleaning done, including stools or urates removed. If he is in shed, the sitter notes cloudy eyes, dull skin, or shed coming away, and whether the humidity was raised as your instructions direct. Soaking in the water bowl gets its own line: occasional soaking around a shed is ordinary, but constant soaking can accompany mites or an enclosure that is too hot, so a pattern of soaking visits in the log is information you and a vet can act on.
At the end of the stay, the shed entry should say whether the shed completed, and whether the sitter could see retained pieces, especially over the eyes, without handling him excessively to check.
Behaviour and the Contact Threshold
Leave a short list of what should trigger a message to you the same day: wheezing, whistling, or bubbles at the nostrils, mucus around the mouth, a burn or injury, the enclosure found cold or overheating, or prey left alive with him unattended. Ordinary quiet hiding is not on that list — your sitter should know a ball python spending the day in a hide is behaving normally, not unwell. Naming both sides of that line prevents panic calls and, more importantly, prevents a real sign being dismissed.
The log should carry your phone number, your vet's details, and who to call if you cannot be reached, at the top of the first page where a worried sitter will find them at once.
Through KinsLe Care Teams, each of these ball python duties can be assigned to the sitter for this pet, and every completed temperature, water, or feeding check is marked with a timestamp you can review.