Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does anyone use homeade racks without belly heat. Is it necessary if their in a a temp controled room of 82 to 85 degrees? Will they still eat normally and breed without the belly heat? Thanks for any replies.

I would recommend having a higher temperature basking area for your snakes. You want to make sure that your animals have enough heat to properly digest their food. If they don't get enough heat, the food will rot in their stomach and this will cause problems. 82-85 is a good temperature for the cooler end of the cage, but I would suggest a basking area between 92-96 for basking.
As for breeding, this is very temperature dependant, but requires cooling of the animals over a period of time rather than higher temperatures. I am going to guess that the snakes won't breed in such a room as you describe. Breeding requires the simulation of the breeding season of the snake which requires a different photo period with longer periods of darkness compared to light and lower temperatures of around 73-75 degrees.

Hope this helps

I use dual side radiant heat. There is a strip of 11" flexwatt on side walls of the rack near the back with the thermostat prob taped directly to the tape outside the tubs. I keep the warm side about 89 degrees F and the cool side is ambient temps, somewhere between 71-75 F. I like this method because the tubs do not set directly on or rub on the tap when I pull them in and out. It is not an efficient heating method compared to belly heat, however, because I have to have the thermostat set a little higher than the desired temp to keep the heat up.
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Lincoln, NE
0.1 Pastel, 1.0 Pastel het Pied, 0.1 Pied, 0.1 Cinn, 1.0 Black Pewter, 1.0 Woma (hidden gene?), 0.1 Yellowbelly
2.0 Normals, 1.0 Thayeri, 0.1 Thayeri X Alterna, 0.1 crazy cat, 1.0 husband

Yes, you can use ambient temps for BP's. I've bred BP's for the past 5 years using ambient temps - no back or belly heat provided. You will be fine as long as your ambient temps are consistent. A long time ago when I was really pressed for space, I kept a few pairs in a walk in closet. I kept the closet heated with a single spotlight and for the breeding season, I turned the spotlight off! Good luck!
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Jon F

We also heat our room but we have a heated rack when our females Ovulate. Check out David and Tracy Barkers book - Ball Pythons: History, Natural History, Care, and Breeding... Very helpful information and definitely worth the $.
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