Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am preparing for a hatchling ball (hopefully getting one on Sat) and I have a question on the basking temp for my cage. I have a good thermometer in the cage and directly on the surface of the substrate (astroturf) it reads 97 degrees. 1" above that point it only reads 87 degrees. Would this be an acceptable basking spot? The other side of the cage is around 78-80 degrees. It seems the astroturf gets hot, but the air above it isn't as warm. It drops to about 74 degrees at night. Any info would be great. Thanks in advance.

jon

97 is a little on the warm side. Some information about your setup (aquarium?, heat pad?, screen top?) would allow us to provide advice.

I am using a 50W bulb in a 10 gallon tank with a screen top. Today i have raised the light fixture so it isn't sitting on the screen. This has helped a bit(around 94-95 degrees now), but the other side of the aquarium is only around 76 degrees. I am going to try a heating pad on the other side of the cage to get the "hide" temp around 82. I'm still going to raise the light fixture more to try to get around 90-92 degrees for a basking spot. thanks for the info though.

This is my advice and you can listen to it only if you feel so compelled. Many experienced ball python keepers/breeders might agree that the screen top/light bulb method is not the optimal way to maintain the temperature and humidity levels ball pythons enjoy.

This configuration behaves a little like a food dehydrator. The light bulb will heat up the air on the bottom of the cage, causing it to rise, thus removing most if not all of the humidity in the enclosure. I would recommend the use of some type of flexwatt heat tape in conjunction with a thermostat without the use of an incandescent light bulb.

A piece of plexiglass covering most of the screen top could help with any humidity issues. Ball pythons live in the relatively arid regions of africa and require some, but not too much, humidity to keep shedding regular. I usually try to keep it around 50-70% depending on shed cycle.

Again, many people here are using a similar setup to yours and I am only offering suggestions for improvement. Best of luck to you.

Thanks for the input. I have been watching the humidity levels and they are around 50%. I am going to get a plexiglass top and also a moss box. Thanks to all the advice, I'm just trying to be the best snake parent.

jon

I forgot to explain a little more about light bulbs. As I am sure you know, ball pythons are nocturnal. Therefore a bright light bulb for a heat source is not as intuitive as heat tape radiating up onto the snakes belly when the thermostat deems necessary. If you get your set up right the first time...your snake will appreciate it. Good luck.