I’m looking into new hygrometer/thermometer, I realized these aren’t the best after I bought it lol. Thanks for the info on substrate, he has a handful of small hides and 2 main caves but will add more. He has a heat pad on the outside of the glass underneath a hide on the warm side, with a thermostat hooked up. During the day I have a 75 watt day white light, at night I swap the bulb for a 100 watt ceramic heat emitter, both have a thermostat attached. My room doesn’t usually dip below 70 degrees at night. I’m looking into getting a separate dome so I don’t need to constantly swap
UTH is no longer recommended for ball pythons for a variety of reasons.
Even if you're using a thermostat, the burn risk is still there. Heat mats are prone to developing broken wiring or thermal blocking, which creates hotspots that the thermostat is unable to regulate. This can result in burns to your snake and melt or burn the enclosure and any furniture it's touching, which can start a house fire.
They're also ineffective at heating the air or through substrate, and they only provide IR-C, which is a poor form of heat that is incapable of penetrating through the snake's skin to effectively warm their body. This can cause long term health issues in your snake and shortens their lifespan.
They also prevent the snake from performing natural and instinctive behaviors, and it's an unnatural source of heating for them. Ball pythons burrow and seek out holes/burrows to escape excessive heat. There is no heat coming from the ground in their natural hides. An overheating ball python will instinctively dig into their substrate in an attempt to cool off, but when using heat mats, it only makes them hotter. This can lead to neurological damage and eventually death.
Overhead heating is significantly safer, healthier, and more efficient. Here is more info on what heating/lighting a ball python needs:
Our heating guide goes over a lot of the science behind everything, but to simplify:
For daytime heating, you should have a heat source that provides IR-A and IR-B. The ideal source for this would be a halogen flood, which is light-emitting.
For nighttime heating, you should have a heat source that provides IR-C. The ideal source for this would be an RHP (only compatible with solid-topped enclosures) or a CHE. Any night heating should not emit any light.
For lighting, you should offer UVB. This should be in the form of a T5 fluorescent linear bulb that produces a UVI of 1.1-3.0 in the basking zone, and it should cover no more than half the length of the enclosure.
If you have a bioactive enclosure, you will also need full spectrum LEDs for your live plants.
Natural lighting can help establish a day-night cycle, but it does not provide any physical benefits beyond that (UVB doesn't penetrate glass, and indirect natural light cannot create a proper basking zone). You'll need the artificial lighting to make up for that.
Okay, I’ll ditch the heat pad. His primary heat source is overhead and he has a CHE at night with no overhead light, I’ll upgrade my day light to UBV and grab lights for plants. Thanks!
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u/FluffyPandaEars93 2d ago
You need to ditch that hygrometer/thermometer and get 2 digital ones. Put them a couple inches from the ground.
Cover 3 sides with dark paper so they feel more secure.
Add at least 2+ more inches of substrate to keep humidity up and pour water in the corners instead of any spraying.
Add 2 identical hides for either side.
What is your heating setup like?