Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So I have a problem with my snake heat that I did not know about until now...

I have both of my Ball pythons on 100 watt Red night heat bulbs by Zilla and I thought that it was getting the right temprature but I bought a Digital thermomoter today and apparently(after leaving the probe in for the whole day) the highest the hot side reached was 73.3 F

I know this is a real problem and I was wondering if anyone knew how to fix it

This eaxact bulb by the way(only from the pet store) http://www.petstore.com/ps_ViewItem-category-Zilla_Night_Red_Heat_Incandescent_Bulb_(100_Watt)_Reptile_Supplies_Lighting_Black_Lights___Specialty-vendor-Coralife-SearchStr--action-view-idProduct-ES68005-idCategory-RPLIBL.html
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0.1.0 Bearded Dragon
1.1.0 Ball Pythons
0.2.0 Dogs
1.1.0 Cats
1.2.0 Ferrets
1.0.0 Gerbils
1.1.0 Bunnies

Hey,

I used bulbs for two years. Two years too many. If you are truly using them for a basking area than it works or if you get a bulb that works correct. It seemed like only 1 to 2 bulbs out of 4 ever worked correctly. If you want my opinion and I have been down your road, go and buy an Infrared Temp Gun. And then buy either heat tape or buy some heat pads and either hook them up to a thermostat or if money is tight buy a cheap dimmer switch and dim it down to about 90 degrees for the hot spot or basking spot. Unfortunately, I think almost all of us evolve this same way but we all want to spend as little as possible when starting out than after a year or two we realize that spending some money really improves the quality of our and our snakes lives. I bet if you add up what you spend on bulbs you would be ahead if you went with heat tape or pads.

Good luck,
Bill

Umm, I am one of those people who, in the beginning, took casual advice from pet store ppl.

I bought my first BP about 9 yrs ago from a reputable guy in Columbus Ohio, Captive Born Reptiles. He was great, and sold me a set up with a heavy melamine? lid w/ a light outlet. He also sold me a specific bulb to heat the ambient temp. The bulb was a particular wattage, and I had great success with my BP for the first year.
However, when I knew I had to get a bigger enclosure, I unortunately went shopping at a local pet superstore.
Some of the emlployees care, and some don't give a crap (or are trained to lie).
Anyways, I bought a 20Long, screen top, and a zoomed heat mat. I didn't have any major problems until my snake shed badly,,,,, then I ran back to Captive Born to buy one of their custom cage tops.

Your greatest resource is knowing the breeders & keepers around you.

What I've learned:
You need humidity= cover the top
You need a decent basking spot = CONTACT surface NEVER reaching over 100 degrees.
Aquariums are useless regulators of temperature: the darn glass lets out most of the ambient temp,,,,,,,,,so if using a heat pad, the only way to know the temp is to either impractically keep a thermometer directly on top the pad, or easily use a temp gun.

Non glass cages = better ambient temp control.

Dimmers/Rheostats/Termostats are ESSENTIAL (from cheapest to less cheap)

Patience cleanliness = sucess with Balls.

Peace.

Okay thanks for the help I'll try some of those suggestions
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0.1.0 Bearded Dragon
1.1.0 Ball Pythons
0.2.0 Dogs
1.1.0 Cats
1.2.0 Ferrets
1.0.0 Gerbils
1.1.0 Bunnies