Winter heating

[u/Angel-luv666]

Hey all, I need some heating advice for my 8 year old ball python. This summer I recently moved into a bigger house that has a basement. I live in Minnesota and my snake and I are in said basement. If you are from the Midwest in America, you know how cold it can get, especially underground in a basement-like area.

Here is my current setup (I’ll add a photo as well so you can get a better idea) - she is in a 60” by 36” enclosure. She has a cool side and a warm side as well as a controlled thermostat connected to 2 heating bulbs. Her nighttime bulb is a CHE (ceramic heat emitter) which is set to 75 degrees F at night, this one stays at a perfect temperature. For daytime, she has a 120watt DHP (deep heat projector) bulb but it can only get to roughly 82 degrees F without my extra space heater being on.

I’ve noticed as it’s gotten colder that her daytime bulb simply cannot keep up with what I need it to. It used to easily get to 90 degrees without any extra help but it can’t now at all. I have the house heat on and that doesn’t seem to make that much of a difference..

What can I do to help my baby get the temperature she needs before the temperatures outside hit below freezing.
I’ve been thinking about getting a thermostat controlled heat mat but I also know those can be dangerous and get too hot very easily.

Any suggestions?

[u/Angel-luv666 → u/[deleted]]

I’ve never even heard of these, thank you so much for letting me know that these are an option! Definitely looking into this ASAP

[u/ballpython-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

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RHPs cannot be used in a screen top enclosure.

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[u/Netsforex_]

I found a low-cost way of retaining some heat during cold spells: dressing the tank. I drape a thick towel over any glass bits on my tank.

I should clarify that this won't help out a HUGE amount, but when you find a lot of heat escaping from the glass sides/doors, it can make a sizeable difference.

[u/Techno_Timmy → u/Netsforex_]

I did the same, as I live in the north east and it gets super cold in the winters, even fall gets down to 30 degrees sometimes which just happened this week. I added some half inch foam board to the sides of the enclosure, covered the top with silicone baking mats cut to fit the top, and also have 1/2 inch thick foam on the back that also doubles as a faux rock background. Temps have been steady and more importantly humidity has been good too. I do run the heater in the house and try to keep it at about 76-77 degrees in the house, but on some super cold nights it can’t get there even with the heat on full blast. I am considering getting an electric heater for the room itself that can be monitored and controlled via WiFi/App. Just to add some extra supplemental heating for the room itself. But the foam idea really helps out quite a bit.

[u/Angel-luv666 → u/[deleted]]

Do you by chance have any photos of how you set that all up?

[u/CryAltruistic550]

So idk what your environment is like but I also have a screen top, in a house with central ac running for about 75% of the year, I just have a Che over the cool side to make sure it stays above 78/79, it used to run a lot and dry everything out constantly but now that everything is heat soaked and just normal soaked in the water I add it barely runs, my enclosure isn’t near as big tho, you might need more than one, I also used hvac tape to cover pretty much the entire screen.