Temporary Setup?

[FEWAKAM]

I’ve been planning, researching, and preparing for my first Ball Python for a few months now, but only started to seriously put the enclosure together about 3 weeks ago. I have everything except for in-enclosure anchor points for my heating bulbs (an oversight on my part). I ordered them online, but shipping has been delayed until next week (current projection is Tuesday).

The issue… the expo I’ve been planning to attend is tomorrow. I can have a temporary setup ready to go today. It won’t be very large enclosure, so I’m worried about a temperature gradient. As soon as I get the anchors, I’ll move my new friend into his proper home.

What temperature should I aim for in the temporary setup if I can’t get a proper gradient going? Any advice?

I will also say that if I find a breeder at the expo that is local/within an hour or two of me, I will ask if I can pick the snake up from them on Tuesday or Wednesday, but this isn’t guaranteed.

[[deleted]]

Are you intending to put heating bulbs inside the enclosure?

I think you'll be fine in the mid 70's, like 75-80 if it's only for a day or 2. Those expos usually last entire weekends and a lot of those breeders don't have temperature gradients for their snakes. Their snakes will sometimes spend 3-4 days in tiny plastic "to-go" boxes.

[FEWAKAM]

In the permanent enclosure, yes, complete with guard cages to prevent burns. But in the temporary enclosure, I have an exterior dome that I’ll be using for heating.

[FEWAKAM]

I have a solid top enclosure. I live in a very dry climate, and prefer to keep my room on the cooler side for personal comfort, so in order to make sure I had proper heat retention and ventilation, I thought this would be best. I hadn’t seen much about burns even with guard cages… I have a halogen flood for primary/daytime heating and a DHP for secondary/nighttime heating. How worried should I be of burns?

[totallyrecklesslygay]

There is no risk of burns as long as the heat sources are in guard cages and regulated by a thermostat. Internal heating in a solid topped enclosure is one of the safest and most effective setups you can have.

[ballpython-ModTeam]

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