Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm looking into getting a new cage that someone suggested, (switching from wood to plastic), but it only will works with an undertank heater. I have one for my geckos that works fine, but will it work to provide enough heat for a ball python? (I know not to get a regular heating pad, I have the special reptile one).

More importantly, will it be safe? Is there any chance it could melt plastic?

Could anybody let me know of good cages (I have 2 ball pythons that I"m looking to separate)? Maybe a good plastic cage that would work with a reptile bulb (built in somehow)? Wood vs plastic? Online resources?

I really need help with this. I get enough flack about housing them together, but I really need help to separate them.

I don't have much time to address all of your concerns.

In short, undertank heating is not always enough. The biggest problem with it is when it's used in cages in relatively cool rooms. Even more so when the cage is sparsely furnished. These issues are not as pronounced in racks which is probably how most Ball Pythons are kept.

I don't understand why the cage you're considering can only be used with an UTH. I'm sure you can get Bob at Pro Products to recommend a Radiant Heat Panel arrangement for whatever cage you choose. In my opinion RHP's are the ideal way to heat a ball python cage, regardless of how warm the room is.

Bill S. inititated a nice discussion about undertank heat vs. RHP's in a thread below.

Read this:

http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=753258,753447
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Current snakes:

0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

7.6 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

0.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black & Tan)

This should be a post from Bill S. further down in the same thread. It sums up my feelings UTH's pretty well.

http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=753258,755700
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Current snakes:

0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

7.6 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

0.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black & Tan)

I dont like being limited to only UTH I want the option of overrhead or UTH. So I wont even look at cages that dont allow for the two.
Look at http://www.precisioncaging.com/caging.htm or www.herpcages.com
There is also another great co that has both options but I dont know the site buut others here might.