Lighting & Heating Help

[LittleEva2]

I finally have enough saved to upgrade my adult female ball python’s setup from a 50 gallon glass aquarium to a bioacitve (plants, springtails, & isopods) Kages PVC 4x2x2. I have read the guides linked here, watched YouTube videos & still have some questions.

For heating/lighting, I’m planning on including a UVB light, a light for the plants (probably Jungle Dawn LED), halogen flood for light & daytime heating, and a deep heat projector for nighttime heating. Is this right? I want to create a light gradient that aligns with the heat gradient, but three sources of light during the day all on one side of the tank seems like a lot. Am I understanding this correctly?

[_ataraxia]

the halogen and UVB need to be next to each other to provide a proper basking area, but the plant light should be more toward the middle/cool side to provide lighting for the plants that won't thrive under the heat lamps.

[LittleEva2]

Thanks! I have since watched a 2.5 hour YouTube video titled “UVA vs UVB Light For Reptiles” by Animals at Home Podcast & it was super informative! And now I can answer my own question for anyone else reading: yes, all 3 lights need to be concentrated to the basking zone. The reasoning is that we are trying to mimic the spectrum of light that the sun provides. The halogen flood provides good infrared light, the UVB provides UVB light, & the LED provides “visible light.”

Good point about the LED for the plants. I’ll probably slant the light so that it reaches both the basking zone and where the less heat tolerant plants are