Everyone has their own opinion on this subject. But i totally DISagree with Alan. Belly heat is more suitable for snakes and ALL reptiles in my opinion. When in nature do you see snakes basking by pressing up against the SIDE of a rock? Back heat will heat up the boxes, dont get me wrong, but snakes rely on belly heat for digestion and thermoregulation. Ambient air temps arent how their bodies are set up. Even when the air temps are in the 90's, you still see snakes basking on a flat surface for digestion. Even when using small tubs, 3 inch flex watt held to the very back of the rack , flat on the shelves works fantastic. It still gives them plenty of room to thermoregulate from the front of the tub to the back.



I didnt say that back heat was the BEST way to heat a rack I said IMHO its the SAFEST way to do so .I have been using back heat on my snakes both in 6,12 & 28 qt tubs in my racks and to date have NEVER had a issue with them not digesting there foods or regurging due to not having enough heat. I currently have several thousands of dollars in boas set up in 12qt tubs with only belly heat on them , when they need heat for digesting they move to the back of the tub where it stays a nice toasty 88-90 degrees and the fronts of these 12 qt tubs stay 82-84 in the day and then i set my night drops so the back stay around 80-84 and the fronts are 76-78. I DID once have a rack with belly heat the thermostat went bad and i came home from a show to find my 100% het for strpied albino male laying swollen and dead i nthe tub from being overheated ( i was out of town two days ) Now i realize you said you disagreed which is fine but just to let it be known i have had NO issues. In mother nature the nskaes have a broader range to move themselves AWAY fro ma area that becomes to hot that is also why you wont find a snake settin on a hot asphault road whn its 95 degrees out and the road bed is 130+ degrees they move off the hot surface because it becomes un comfortable.So when in captivity i like back heat because if belly heat is used the snake can only run so far ESP in a 12 qt tub to escape heat that could get over 110+ degrees in the case it malfunctions therefore giving you a snake that is either dead or has brain damage from being severly overheated .



While i agree in the wild snakes do sun on flat surfaces for thermoregulation please make sure to note that while the surface they rest on is NOT heated from below but from ABOVE from sunlight , it just so happens that before they climbed on that rock it was already warm. So in short a overhead heat is mother natures way of providing heat for them to thermo regulate not the ground .. unless of course they climb over some heat pads placed on the ground lol

the only reason you see them when air temps are in the 90's still on the ground or on a flat syrface of some sort is because they cant climb into a hammock or set up in achair when the ground is to hot lol .



Not arguing just pointing out a few more facts
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