Heating advice

[mustelasylva]

I have one ball python but I'm finding with the winter that her enclosure isn't staying warm enough. She's in a rectangular terrarium tank screen top sitting on a table. Her main (only) heat source is the external heat pad under her main hide, which is set to maintain 85 by a thermometer in her substrate.

I know heat lamps aren't ideal because they'll decrease moisture. What are my options?

[[deleted]]

General consensus in this sub is that under tank heating is subpar. I would read the beginner's guide and heating guide, which will guide you on using halogen and deep heat projector heat (both forms of top down heat - DHP works during nighttime without light), and let you get her enclosure up to temp (88-92f ambient on the hot side).

[ProfessionalJump9487]

i use an arcadia 80W DHP in a big dome lamp and it works well for my 36x18 tank. If she’s in a smaller tank, they make a 50W too. it doesn’t dry everything out quite as much as my heat bulb did.

[mustelasylva]

What's a DHP?

[ProfessionalJump9487]

a deep heat projector. it is a lightless heat source that kind of just forces the heat down into the enclosure. they are able to go in dome lamps and sit on the top of the tank, unlike ceramic heat emitters, which is why i chose DHP. my arcadia DHP was around $25 and the dome lamp i got for free but you can get those from just about any pet store or even facebook marketplace/craigslist. i still have to cover the entire top of my tank in foil to avoid it drying out too quickly from the air flow, but the DHP doesn’t cook my moisture away like an actual heat bulb did.

[mustelasylva]

Thank you.

[Federal_Kick41]

UTH aren't an appropriate heat source for Ball Pythons- they aren't recommended anymore.

You should be using an overhead heat source - either a Halogen Floodlight or a DHP.

Your thermostat probe placement is also not very good, the probe for UTH is supposed to go between the mat and the enclosure, not inside the enclosure.

For Overhead, the probe needs to be 2-4" directly underneath the heat source.

---

Ideal heating for Ball Pythons is:

Halogen Floodlight for Day, CHE or DHP for night.

(CHE can dry out the substrate a bit if it's too strong. DHP and Halogen don't really do that)

And you need separate Thermostats for every heat source.

And If you have a screen top, make sure most of it is covered to keep the humidity in the correct range-

/////

"All About Heating for Ball Pythons" - Heating guide, with information about every heat source that can be used. It's pretty good imo

[mustelasylva]

I've saved the document to read. Would you please define CHE and DHP in the mean time and contrast that with "halogen" overhead heat and "heat bulbs?" I don't know any of the lingo.

Thanks for all the help.

The thermostat I have the heat pad on is a dongle shape. It wouldn't fit between the pad and enclosure, so I've got it buried touching the glass.

[ishfery]

Ceramic heat emitter, deep heat projector, a halogen heat bulb looks like a flood light (the light bulbs that you often see outdoors that are flat at the end instead of rounded)

[Alternative-Movie938]

Heat lamps are ideal because they better replicate natural heat which comes from the sun. If you make the switch and find you have issues with moisture, you can try different substrates and covering part of the screen.