BP sleeps on cool side?

[Caramell]

Hi, maybe some of you remember me as the noob whose mother bought a BP on impulse and I had to set up a proper environment fast.
My questions are in bold.

Well I upgraded the ball to my spare 20 gallon, and I made sure to fill it up with a lot of fake foliage to make it feel more secure. The hides on each side are nearly identical(same material, same basic shape, just another small opening on different side; I made sure the small extra openings face the wall to make it secure). There's a circular wide water dish in the middle of the tank.
Hot side is heated by a UTH, and since it's usually cool in my room, I also have a ceramic heater. Hot side is 94-96 degrees F all the time, and the cool side is in the mid-80s.
Humidity goes from 50-60%, but doesn't stay there long. She wheezes slightly when she breathes, I know that bad since it's an early sign of RI. I mist more often now. Should I replace the foil over the screen top with seran wrap?
For some reason, my ball python always sleeps on the cool side, no matter what. She's very active at night, and has only once actually stayed in the warm hide, but she knows where it is and still refuses to be there.
She eats like a champ, feeding response is nearly immediate, taking a fuzzy once a week(she looks a bit skinny to me, should I give her two fuzzies next time I feed her?).
Now every time I take her out to handle her(certainly two days after feeding), she always feels cold to the touch, although I'm not sure if that's normal or not since I've never owned/touched another snake before.
So,my main question here is, why is my BP sleeping on the cool side? What should I fix, or does she just like it cool?

Thanks in advance.

[snakesRkewl]

Because the hot side is a bunch too hot.

Temps should be about:

Cool end 75 minimum closer to 78- to 80 is better
Warm end 86ish
Hot spot 90-92

Your snake is running from the heat
Is the UTH on a thermostat?
What are you reading the your temperatures with?

[Nick_bp]

my bp is always on the cold side too. she loves it there and thats were i can always find her. snakes are cold blooded so they depend on the weather to regulate their body temperature. if your bp wants to be on the cool side then let it be on the cool side. it knows how to regulate its body temperature better then anybody else. hopes this helps. hopefully someone more expierenced can help in this thread. good luck!

[Caramell]

Because the hot side is a bunch too hot.

Temps should be about:

Cool end 75 minimum closer to 78- to 80 is better
Warm end 86ish
Hot spot 90-92

Your snake is running from the heat
Is the UTH on a thermostat?
What are you reading the your temperatures with?

Oh wow I didn't realize that the temps were too high! I've usually read that hot side should be in the 90s and cool side in the 80s. I still have a lot of reading to do.
The UTH is not on a thermostat. I read temps with the regular dial thermometers. I know they're not as accurate as I would like them to be, but my parents hate it when I ask for supplies, since I lack money. I am trying to save up for the acu rite probe thermometer, though.
Should I remove the ceramic heater? When I do, the temp on the gauge goes from 95 to 80(not accurate, but still) very quickly. Should I just stick with the UTH?
I'm trying my best right now.

[Valentine Pirate]

Oh wow I didn't realize that the temps were too high! I've usually read that hot side should be in the 90s and cool side in the 80s. I still have a lot of reading to do.
The UTH is not on a thermostat. I read temps with the regular dial thermometers. I know they're not as accurate as I would like them to be, but my parents hate it when I ask for supplies, since I lack money. I am trying to save up for the acu rite probe thermometer, though.
Should I remove the ceramic heater? When I do, the temp on the gauge goes from 95 to 80(not accurate, but still) very quickly. Should I just stick with the UTH?
I'm trying my best right now.

I'd say save up for a temp gun. As accurite as you can get and you only need one! My own setup is rather humbling, just UTH's on lamp dimmers, but with the temp gun I've gotten the temps perfected so that they're fine without much hassle

[Caramell]

I'd say save up for a temp gun. As accurite as you can get and you only need one! My own setup is rather humbling, just UTH's on lamp dimmers, but with the temp gun I've gotten the temps perfected so that they're fine without much hassle

Okay, I'll ask my parents about it! Anything I do or get obviously needs their permission(I'm 16, yet still dependent ).
My room in the summer is fairly cool, sometimes almost freezing(it's the most insulated room in the house), and in the winter it's the warmest.
So I should take off the ceramic heater and leave the heat all to the UTH, right? Sorry for being repetitive.

[Caramell]

Okay so these last two weeks, the tank has been heated only by the UTH, I took the ceramic heater off. I added more foil onto the screen top, too.
The temp on the cool side is now 80-85 degrees and the cold side is a steady 75. She now sleeps on the warm side, and even hides behind her foliage during the day in the middle of the tank instead of sleeping in her cool hide. The humidity now holds at 60%, which is great since it only held at 50% for a few hours before I covered more of the screen.
I also asked my dad about getting a temp gun, and he's considering it!

And as a side note, when I ran out of fuzzies to feed her, I bought her fuzzies and one adult mouse, to see if she could take one. I used the 'widest part of the snake' rule. She took it on thursday with no problem! So after she consumes the other 3 fuzzies left, I'll permanently switch her to the adult mice!
If you have any more advice to offer, please do!

[Nimitz87]

get a dimmer for the CHE 75 is about the coldest you want it...

dimmer's are cheap way to regulate the temp

Chad

[franken_stein]

Because the hot side is a bunch too hot.

Temps should be about:

Cool end 75 minimum closer to 78- to 80 is better
Warm end 86ish
Hot spot 90-92

Your snake is running from the heat
Is the UTH on a thermostat?
What are you reading the your temperatures with?

I'm a little concerned for some reason now, actually :/ My temperatures are at these recommended ones, and I did actually use a temp gun to double-check (I have a probed thermometer inside the enclosure at all times though). The temperatures seem all right! ...and yet, my BP never seems to hang out on the warm side, ever. Is this weird?

[ChuckSM]

OK, some of my snakes prefer the cool end and some will actually push the supstrate away from the hot end basking area to get a little warmer. I think they are just like people and some just prefer differnt areas.

Temps 75 to 90
humidity best at 60 to 70

a hardware store will sell a rheostat light switch for 10 to 15. I got one at Home Depot for 10.49 and it plugs right into the wall. Just remember that when its light is brightest it is off ( so you can see it in the dark). Play around with the setting until the basking area is around 90. Using a simple thermoater is fine just make sure it stays on the area where the UTH is at and that is where you want it to stay at 90.

If foil is not working for about 10 you can get a piece of plexy glass ( hard plastic that will fit over your tank. Just drill about 10 quarter inch holes at one end, preferable the side fathest from the UTH side.