rock under uv light??

[new2BP]

had a thought about placing a rock in my tank for my bp to bask on. i am wondering if it would make sense to place the rock under the UV light thinking that the light would heat the rock up. same idea as a heat rock ( which is a no no ) but just something that would conduct heat and retian it so that my bp could lay on it. i am using UTH but only on my cool side, and i us a UV light on my hot side.

[Shelby]

Personally, I would ditch the UV light alltogether. Snakes do not require any special lighting, and heat lights suck the humidity right out of the air, which can result in poor sheds. Plus that, unless it's a red bulb, you will have to turn that light off at night anyway in order to avoid stressing your snake out with the light on all the time.

If the enclosure doesn't have the correct temps (92-95 warm side 82-85 cool) with the one UTH, get another one for the other side of the tank.

[Coyotemoon]

I have a piece of arizona flagstone on the hot side under a red heat light. Seems to do okay for my baby. Temps are in the range stated by Shelby. I made the humidifier found on this site running and I mist the tank twice a day. Humidity always ranges between 48 and 72%.

[new2BP]

oh sorry its not a UV light but a infrared light that i am using. i am not at all worried about the humitidy being sucked out. i can easily keep my levels between 50 % and 60 % and even higher if i wanted too, plus my temps are always right on. 82 cool and 92 hot.

[tigerlily]

Ball pythons are nocturnal animals so 'basking' isn't really a big thing for them. During those prime basking hours a bp is curled up in a dark,cozy little spot waiting for the sun to go down. As long as you keep the temperatures right and have a hide on each side, that should provide them with the ability to thermoregulate themselves. If you do put the rock in there make sure to get a temp gun to make sure the rock isn't retaining high temperatures which might burn them.

[Forrest]

Unless, the rock has some nifty crevices for your snake to crawl under I serious doubt that your BP will ever use it, other than during a shed. If you like the look of the rock by all means use it, it should not hurt or hinder the snake in any way, and in some cases it just makes the snakes cages look a little more attractive to the eyes. One thing to keep in mind though if you do place a rock under the light and the rock is to hot to the touch then you should probaely think about changing your heat source because it is too hot ( sounds like everything is ok though)....

[Adam_Wysocki]

Ball pythons are nocturnal animals so 'basking' isn't really a big thing for them.

Actually Christie, nocturnal reptiles like ball pythons do bask, just not in the sun. They use rocks and other "heat sinks" that have been absorbed the suns heat all day long and continue to radiate that heat all night long.

A great example of this behavior can be seen first hand if you ever get a chance to do any "field herping" .... the best place to find snakes on a warm summer night is basking on a hot asphalt road!!! They love it!

The rock under the heat lamp thing should work out well for the original poster ... or, you could just go with belly heat

-adam

[tigerlily]

I guess in my mind basking is kinda like sunbathing, so without the sun no basking. I consider the other just thermoregulation, but I guess I sit corrected.

[Adam_Wysocki]

I consider the other just thermoregulation

Well technically, that's what turtles sitting on a log in the sun are doing ... thermoregulating .... I consider basking the "get warm" side of thermoregulation whether it be by sun, warm rock, or hot asphalt road.

Good discussion though ... so much better than the ubiquitous "when will my snake poop?" posts!

-adam

[tigerlily]

Aww c'mon....good poop talk never gets boring

I can definitely see your point. I have no idea why the sun is tied into my image of basking, but my brain hardly ever makes sense sooooo........