Is 82-85 degrees in the hot spot okay?

[squale]

I am still waiting on my animal plastics cage, but for now, my 6-month old Ball Python is in a 10-gallon aquarium and I have a 100-watt red heat light over him. Anyhow, the hot spot on the floor is between 82-85 degrees. The temp probe for this is right next to his hiding spot which is a plastic flower pot upside down. So it MAY be a little hotter INSIDE the hide, I don't know what do you guys think?

anyhow, are these temps too low?

the cool side is at about 72-75 degrees

Thanks

[Karma]

Well from what I've read you currently have a cool and a very cool side... you could put a heating pad under one side to help bring the belly temp up.

[Jeanne]

10 gallon tanks are very hard to keep a decent temp gradient, while you are waiting for your other cage, why not go out and get a rubber maid and set that up. Your temps are definately too low in both the hot side and cool side. Also, lamps dry out the air pretty bad and can cause bad sheds, but then so do heat emmitters also. Try a heating pad under one side thats on a thermostat.

[Adam_Wysocki]

Exposure to temps below 80 could cause an upper respiratory infection in your ball python.

The temps you listed could also cause problems with your snakes ability to digest it's food.

Your ball python needs a good temperature gradient of 82-84 on one side of the cage and 92-94 on the other. If you cannot provide that gradient it would be better to heat the entire cage to the mid 80's than to let the temps get below 80 degrees anywhere in the enclosure.

-adam

[SatanicIntention]

I don't see how you're not frying the snake with that 100w bulb in such a tiny space. Put the temp probe in the warm side hide and see what you get. 82-85 is good for the COOL side, and it should never go below 80 at any given time. Warm side should be 92-94 constantly.

Have you tried covering the screen top with Glad Press N' Seal, foil, saranwrap, a cut-to-fit piece of plastic? Covering the sides of the tank with a thick towel or some styrofoam insulation will help keep it insulated against the outside conditions.

How is your humidity? Probably next to nil with that 100w bulb. Covering the top with anything other than a wet towel will work wonders. You will probably still have to mist the tank, but it will help. Wet towels and washcloths harbor bacteria and as air is filtered down through that bacteria and fungus-infested wet towel that is being warmed(which equals a perfect environment for icky things), your snake is breathing that air that is contaminated. Can we say Eeww?

It may be worth your trouble to go to the dollar store or to WalMart and buy a small(16qt), locking underbed box. Just drill or use a soldering wand to put holes in each side, put your heat pad under, and you would be set to go.

Hope that helped a bit and try to get everything equalized soon. You don't want your snake getting a respiratory infection because of all of this mess.

[squale]

I have the heat lamp elevated about a foot over the screen lid, when the lamp was only about an inch over the tank, the temps were like 105 degrees...