I've got about a 5 year old male ball python, approximately 4 ft. long. He's in a 40 gallon long terrarium with a screen top. His hide box is on the heated side of the terrarium, and his water dish is on the other side.

Initially, I've used a 100W ceramic light bulb for heating. I have a digital thermometer/hygrometer that displayed around 83 inside his box during the day, and about 80 at night. He hardly EVER comes out, if he does, it's at night, which I understand to be normal. I never see him. When I handle him he feels semi-warm to the touch, but who knows.

I've been reading about temperatures, and find that most people are using 92-94 for a basking spot (never seen a ball python "bask"?).. Since I NEVER see my snake, I figured I'm keeping his area too cold. So I purchased a 150W ceramic bulb today, and it got up to 90 in his hide box. I walked in the room tonight, turned on the light, and about 18 inches of him was outside of the house towards the cool side of the terrarium. Is 90 too hot inside his hide box?

My questions are, since he never leaves his hide box, what temperature should I keep it at? Where in the terrarium should his hide box be? Currently, it sits underneath the heat lamp.

I can provide pics or whatever of my setup, just please help me understand how I should keep it and be specific. Thanks in advance.

Mark