Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi there...just wondering if anyone has had any problems with burns from the reptile under the tank heaters. I noticed some nasty marks on our ball python Smeagol and wasn't sure what they were so we brought him to the vet yesterday (hard to find a reptile vet in St. Thomas area) We thought maybe it was scale rot and was quite worried but it turns out it was burns!Which isn't much better!! There are no heating rocks in our tank , just a under the tank heater from the pet store and a heating light above the tank. For substrate we use repti bark. Anyhow we have him on newsprint for now and he has Fucithalmic 2x a day (antibiotic cream) and then before bed cothivet spray (anti bacterial spray). The vet said he doesn't recommend the under the tank heaters and just to use a red light above. Just thougt I would warn you guys so that your snakes don't have to go through what poor Smeagol has.

For the most part under tank heaters are safe but they really should be hooked up to a thermostat or rheostat to controll the temperature. SOme heating pads come with a thermostat already built in or have different temp settings (ie low, med., high etc) which can be used to control the temperture put out by the heating pad.

Older or cheaply made undertank heaters can also overheat, short out etc, causing a spike in temperture which can burn your snake. Though you can use a day light (shinging over a hidebox, layer of substrate etc. (and allowed to go out at night) or a redlight is fine as a heat source for ball pythons, these lights have a bad habit of drying out cages making it more difficult to maintain a proper humidity. Ways of working around this is by providing a moist hidebox (either centrally located, or one at both ends of the cage, so the snake can choose which one he wants). You can also do mistings once or twice a day (or just before lights out, and in the morning if needed).

Myself I use just regular human heating pads, without auto-shutoff and with 2-3 temp settings (high, medium,low). These I set onto a timer, turning them off for several hours (have them on about 6 hours then off 4 hours, or something like that). This prevents the heating pad from burning out, and lessens chances of overheating. I also test the surface temp of the floor of the cage to see if it feels very hot to me. Remember our internal body temperature is something like 98F so if it feels really hot to us, it would be too hot for the snake.