Simple Questions

[Druzy]

Ok I’ve been a ball python owner for almost a whole year. I’ve always been very confident of how I’m caring for my python. Although sometimes I doubt myself because of all the different advice everyone gives out. As of right now my snake is in a 40 gallon breeder. I’ve got one UTH heater on the warm side connected to a rheostat. Above the UTH (screen mesh) I’ve got an infrared red light bulb (lowest watt) to help maintain the proper warm side temps. I don’t use any fancy lighting since snakes are nocturnal and the light only stresses them out. Although I do allow very little sunlight to enter my room, so I can maintain day/night cycles. The infrared light bulb and UTH is on 24/7, since the warm side temps should not drop.

Warm Side 90 Degrees
Cool Side 80-85 Degrees (drops a little at night but never below 75)

Now my questions are:

Should I have 2 UTH?
Do I really need Daylight/Moonlight Bulbs?
Lamp timers are they really necessary for one ball python?

[Skittles1101]

IMO:
1 UTH should be sufficient, especially with the red bulb on 24 hours a day....
I don't think you need a daylight, like you said, the light generally just stresses them out.
Lamp timers are not necessary as long as you are checking a few times a day to make sure temps are where they should be.

Again, just my opinion, others should chime in if they disagree please.

[Inknsteel]

How big is your UTH you have now? If you have a tiny UTH on a 40 breeder, it's not going to do much good.

But if you are able to maintain those temps and are able to keep humidity up with the lamp, I don't see a reason to change it.

Oh, and no, you don't need a timer. Not unless you're switching the lamp on or off. If you're thinking lamp dimmers that you see people mention, those are to regulate heat. You said you have a rheostat, which is essentially the same thing.

[Druzy]

The UTH is made for a 40 gallon. I don't seem to have problems maintaining proper humidity temps. I just recently switched to coconut fiber as a substrate and my snake seems to love it!

[wax32]

Sounds like you are doing well.

[Druzy]

Thank you for the nice comment! I think watching ball python cage videos on youtube can make a coffident owner feel like a newbie! Everyone seems to have these bright white lights inside there snake cages.

[Druzy]

Why do some people suggest a Ceramic Heater bulb, UTH, and red bulb on cool side? Won’t that be too much heat for the snake?

[kitedemon]

I use a dual UTH system with dual T-stats to control the hot side and cool side temps. You seem to have your temps under control no matter how you manage it. The whole if it aint broke... The UTHs uncluttered the system a bit but I feel like with a dual system you need a T-stats constantancy and a back up as the snake cannot escape the heat if something goes horribly wrong. This is a variation on a room heater in my case I have snake enclosures in 3 rooms and a rack and 2 others in a single 'snake room' but the house is old and draughty so a room heater is very costly and a poor solution in my case. Often the way if you have only one or two animals heating a whole room to 80 seems a bit much.

A CHE admits no light (true IR) we can see, a red bulb is in the near IR spectrum but in both cases the snake sees them. The labial heat pits and connected to the base of the optic nerve so the information passed by them is processed in the optical centre of the brain. There isn't really as far as the snake is concerned a difference CHE's are likely a bit more heat per watt but I am guessing. It depends on how cool the space is and 1000 other factors what ever works. I'd not bother myself and use some other way CHEs and bulbs can dry the enclosure out. I use a light during the day for 3 reasons,

The first and most important is I check every day for messes and I like to see well for that task and also I like the look of the enclosure so I enjoy looking at it.

The second the day/night cycle is not fully understood how it relates to breeding so rather than setting that up in case I do decide to breed them I already have it done.

The last is that the day and night cycle is poorly understood how if effects the animal yes they have been kept in the dark 24/7 and been healthy but does it effect them in some subtle way that is not understood. There is naturally sun in the wild and I personally try to build a captive environment that simulates the natural one as closely as I can, that means artificial light as the room is a dark one. If there is sunlight coming in and the environmental controls are set up to manage that I'd use natural sun light but no such luck.

Hope my musings help a bit,
Alex

[Kymberli]

Why do some people suggest a Ceramic Heater bulb, UTH, and red bulb on cool side? Won’t that be too much heat for the snake?

Anyone who uses heat on the cool side is most likely living in a cold environment. One of my snakes is still in a tank (gaining weight before the switch), and I only use an UTH, because I keep my room 80-85degrees, which maintains the ambient temp in the tank.
I'm no expert, but in my opinion, you're doing fine.

[Vypyrz]

Why do some people suggest a Ceramic Heater bulb, UTH, and red bulb on cool side? Won’t that be too much heat for the snake?

Either,

A) That is what the pet store told them was needed.

B) They live in a cold or drafty house where supplemental heat is needed to keep the ambient cool side temps up. When doing that, it is best to use a dimmer or thermostat on the Heat Lamp/CHE so that it doesn't get too hot.

C) They may be using the enclosure for certain reptiles that require high heat and special UV lighting.

D) They may be using a longer aquarium type enclosure where additional heat might be needed.

I'm sure there are a few cases where the people don't/didn't do any kind of research and probably don't know that they may be overkilling it.