First b.p Help with need heat options please. Matts? bulbs? emitters?

[robocop]

I bought a banana ball python today. What does everyone recommend for heat. I asked some vendors at the expo and half said blue or red bulbs and the rest said heat mats with thermostats. I couldn't find a thermostat so i went with the red bulbs for now. The heat pads scare me a bit. I've red about how they can malfunction and burn the snake or catch fire also looking at ceramic hest emitters but I've read a few horror storys about them to... Also are the zoomed or zilla thermostats and matts decent? Another question is lighting. I've heard to use red zoo med or exo terra bulbs because they cant see the light. Others say that they do and the light stresses them. Any opinions? Thanks. Reading over this i seem a bit paranoid. I just want fluffy to be happy and safe as well as not burn the place down

[bcr229]

I prefer heat mat / heat tape + thermostat, but I don't keep my snakes in tanks so lights are a no-go. My snakes are all in racks or appropriate reptile enclosures, so overhead heat comes from a radiant heat panel.

[CALM Pythons]

I bought a banana ball python today. What does everyone recommend for heat. I asked some vendors at the expo and half said blue or red bulbs and the rest said heat mats with thermostats. I couldn't find a thermostat so i went with the red bulbs for now. The heat pads scare me a bit. I've red about how they can malfunction and burn the snake or catch fire also looking at ceramic hest emitters but I've read a few horror storys about them to... Also are the zoomed or zilla thermostats and matts decent? Another question is lighting. I've heard to use red zoo med or exo terra bulbs because they cant see the light. Others say that they do and the light stresses them. Any opinions? Thanks. Reading over this i seem a bit paranoid. I just want fluffy to be happy and safe as well as not burn the place down

Might have been a better idea to reaearch all this before you brought a cold blooded reptile home in January. Don't mean to sound like a jerk but Ive seen like 10 of these kinds of posts in 3 days...
Heat Mats for Belly heat are really good when done correctly. You mentioned a heat lamp because you couldnt find a Tstat, well the heat lamp needs to be monitored on one as well. There are 2 Stickys about setting up a Aquruim or a PVC Enclosure.. Eveything you need to know is there about a setup. This site is full of info. Just look through its all here.

[Herps4Jesus]

I'm still investigating thermostats as I've never used them before. But I just got a Jump Start that seems to work pretty good. I have a 36" x 18" x 16" wood cage, 80% glass 20%screen front, and just threw a Pro Products 40w heat panel in it. Thing is fantastic and one of the few that is UL/CE approved. Screwed to the top of the cage with ease, sides and back are cool to the touch, front panel won't burn the animal and they have a 10 year warranty providing you don't monkey with it. I'm getting 88 on one side, 75 on the other.

The Zoo Med Repti-Therm under tank are great too. I have one tank with it mounted on the side of an aquarium, 3 with them underneath (tanks propped up with 3/4" rubber feet that we sell to a customer). I also have one red tail tank with an under tank on one side, and a ceramic screw in and ZooMed (I think) 75w red lamp in a dual hood on the other (3'wide tank), hot spot to lay on one side, 75-80 in the center and about 90 on the other end. I've run setups like this for years with no problems and good animal health.

Keep'em warm, and figure out what works for what you have. Get a laser thermometer gun and check them in the morning, afternoon and night, see what it runs and adapt accordingly. I would recommend not using hot rocks. Checked one a buddy had the other day with said laser, thing was 135 degrees. Waaaaaaaay to hot for a snake to lay on.

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I'm still investigating thermostats. I just got a Jump Start that seems to work pretty good. I have a 36" x 18" x 16" wood cage, 80% glass 20%screen front, and just threw a Pro Products 40w heat panel in it. Thing is fantastic and one of the few that is UL/CE approved. Screwed to the top of the cage with ease, sides and back are cool to the touch, front panel won't burn the animal and they have a 10 year warranty providing you don't monkey with it. I'm getting 88 on one side, 75 on the other.

The Zoo Med Repti-Therm under tank are great too. I have one tank with it mounted on the side of an aquarium, 3 with them underneath (tanks propped up with 3/4" rubber feet that we sell to a customer). I also have one red tail tank with an under tank on one side, and a ceramic screw in and ZooMed (I think) 75w red lamp in a dual hood on the other (3'wide tank), hot spot to lay on one side, 75-80 in the center and about 90 on the other end. I've run setups like this for years with no problems and good animal health.

Keep'em warm, and figure out what works for what you have. Get a laser thermometer gun and check them in the morning, afternoon and night, see what it runs and adapt accordingly. I would recommend not using hot rocks. Checked one a buddy had the other day with said laser, thing was 135 degrees. Waaaaaaaay to hot for a snake to lay on.

[PitOnTheProwl]

Most of what you will find with people complaining about UTH sources are those that ran them unregulated and don't understand their use.

[GoingPostal]

Any source of heat needs to be on a controller. There's rheostats which are basically lamp dimmers, control current-not very accurate or controllable and will vary with temps around it so if you run lamps you need to keep very on top of temps in there. Rheostats are decent for running a ceramic heat emitter but I would get something more controllable and accurate for a heat mat. Most light emitting heat bulbs aren't controllable with dimmers and will just burn out quickly but ball pythons don't like or need lights so I'd steer clear of them entirely. Then there's on/off thermostats, get up to temp at full power, shut off, turn back on when temps drop. These are good for running oil filled heaters but not ideal for heat sources like radiant heat panels or flexwatt or UTH if you want to keep a steady temp. Proportional thermostats are great for those, keeping temps steady and constantly adjusting as needed without running full power or shutting on/off all the time. Personally I use pvc cages with flexwatt and radiant heat panels controlled by a herpstat thermostat. My advice is don't go cheap when it comes to the most important thing for your snakes health.

[LittleTreeGuy]

The best way to heat is the one that works best in your setting and keeps your snake's enclosure at the right temps. You want a warm side around 90-92F and a cool side that can be as low as mid-high 70's (better around 80F).


Having said that, here are the three most popular (in my opinion) heating methods.

1. Heat mat/ flexwatt - this is a thin heating element that can be placed on the sides or bottom of an enclosure ON THE OUTSIDE.
2. CHE - ceramic heat emitter - this can go in or on top of the tank/cage but you need a wire mesh to cover it so the snake cannot touch the bulb or light housing as it gets very hot.
3. RHP - radiant heat panel - this is made to go inside on the ceiling of the enclosure. You set it with a thermostat until the temperature below is what you want/need it to be.

ANY HEAT SOURCE MUST BE REGULATED. The #1 way to do this is with a thermostat. You can use dimmer switches in some configurations. Some internet searches can help you learn more about that. I have tried all three, and I tried them in the order they are listed above. In my opinion, the RHP is hands down the best solution for me, as I use a PVC enclosure. I Strongly recommend PVC for ease of heating and maintaining temps/humidity/ and ease of cleaning. They are more expensive, but once you have it, it will last a very long time.

You are better off spending $500 now and keeping your snake healthy.