My ball is constantly choosing the cool side..

[chz]

I have a hot and cool side, with my hot side at around 84 ambient, and 88 on the surface of the substrate. The cool side is much cooler, being around 78 ambient, and MAYBE 80 on the surface. Thor is constantly on the cool side, and it worries me a bit. I've read in one of my python books that they do well in temperatures of anywhere form 76-88 or something. But then others say that they shouldn't be below 80 even on the cool side.

One of my books says that pythons need a fluctuating day/night temperature to do well in captivity. By this I mean ~5 degrees cooler during the night. But then I've seen people on these forums say that they need a constant temperature regardless of day/night. This doesn't make sense, as in the wild the temperature naturally drops at night. However, I know BP's burrow into termite holes and such to keep warm, so the lower nighttime temps might not even make contact with them. I've been dropping my nighttime temps by 3-4 degrees since I got him.

Why is there so much mixed information out there? Its kinda annoying to be told 3 different things, especially when the info is coming from 3 different professional herp breeders/keepers.

[Reediculous]

the longer people keep ball-pythons the more they learn about them......i think the normal temps now are 92-94 hot side 82-84 cool side....


what kind of hides do you have? sometimes balls will choose the hide they like most, if they are different, try to get the exact hide on both sides


hope this helps you out!

[chz]

Thanks reediculous. I thought about this earlier and moved his smaller hide from the cool side to the hot side. He seemed unsure about moving to the cool side, but ended up going back to it anyway.. regardless of the new hide being there. Maybe he just likes the cool temps?

I'm going to have to bump up the temp on the cool side a bit i think, because I'm worried about him getting a respiratory infection.

[harfieldthethirsty]

My 2 year old female Maggie has 83 on the cool side and 92 on the warm 55% humidity and is also always on the cool side even with the same hides. If the temps are all safe dont be concerned some balls just like to be cool. If he eats and poos its ok. Just so long as the warm hide (92) is available to them at all times night or day, and the cool hide dosnt get cooler than 80. Maggie will go in her warm hide after she eats for about 6 to 10 hours then its in her cool hide for the rest of the week. Once a month or so she will go in her wet hide that is also available all the time and is 80 and soak herself a short time, a few hours then back in her cool hide. She just had a checkup and was given a clean bill of health and has been in that set up doing that for over a year now so let him do what he does and enjoy him. Balls will be balls.

[chz]

My 2 year old female Maggie has 83 on the cool side and 92 on the warm 55% humidity and is also always on the cool side even with the same hides. If the temps are all safe dont be concerned some balls just like to be cool. If he eats and poos its ok. Just so long as the warm hide (92) is available to them at all times night or day, and the cool hide dosnt get cooler than 80. Maggie will go in her warm hide after she eats for about 6 to 10 hours then its in her cool hide for the rest of the week. Once a month or so she will go in her wet hide that is also available all the time and is 80 and soak herself a short time, a few hours then back in her cool hide. She just had a checkup and was given a clean bill of health and has been in that set up doing that for over a year now so let him do what he does and enjoy him. Balls will be balls.

Dude that's exactly what my ball Thor does. Cool side 90% of the time unless he just ate a mouse-kabob. Makes me feel better to know that. He seems very happy and has never turned down a meal, and poos/pees regularly.

<-- warm -- cool-->

[muddoc]

Snakes are just like people, some like it hot, and some don't. With that said, do everything in your power to set up his enclosure properly (i.e. identical hides on hot/cool side and proper temps on both sides of the tank) and your ball python will go where he knows he needs to go. This debate helps to confirm why we give our snakes a thermogradient. We provide them with the proper temperatures, but allow them a range of temperatures, so that they can pick what they want and deem necessary.

I have some breeder females that I have had for a number of years that do great, and I rarely if ever see on the hot side of their tub. They know what they need, and so long as you provide what is required, they will do fine.

[West Coast Jungle]

Snakes are just like people, some like it hot, and some don't. With that said, do everything in your power to set up his enclosure properly (i.e. identical hides on hot/cool side and proper temps on both sides of the tank) and your ball python will go where he knows he needs to go. This debate helps to confirm why we give our snakes a thermogradient. We provide them with the proper temperatures, but allow them a range of temperatures, so that they can pick what they want and deem necessary.

I have some breeder females that I have had for a number of years that do great, and I rarely if ever see on the hot side of their tub. They know what they need, and so long as you provide what is required, they will do fine.

I agree with Tim 100%

When you have lots of animals you will see they all have different preferences. As long as your set up is correct they should be fine. I have some that spend 80% of the time on warm and some 80% on cool. As long as they are not sick you have nothing to worry about.

[kc261]

(Bits and pieces I snipped from the OP...)

I've read in one of my python books that they do well in temperatures of anywhere form 76-88 or something. But then others say that they shouldn't be below 80 even on the cool side.

One of my books says that pythons need a fluctuating day/night temperature to do well in captivity. By this I mean ~5 degrees cooler during the night. But then I've seen people on these forums say that they need a constant temperature regardless of day/night.

Why is there so much mixed information out there? Its kinda annoying to be told 3 different things, especially when the info is coming from 3 different professional herp breeders/keepers.

Yes it is annoying, and confusing too! Check the copyright date on your book. In lots of things a book that is 10 years old is just fine, but in BPs and probably most herps, that is pretty out of date. At least it isn't as bad as computers where 10 months is out of date!

It is possible even with recently published stuff that it was basically copied from out of date stuff, so try to find out about the author too. I know you said yours was written by professional breeders; I'm just mentioning this part for others reading this. I've seen web pages with recent dates on them recommending a night time drop to 75. I realized it had simply been copied from an out of date source, not actually written by anyone who knew what they were talking about.

[West Coast Jungle]

Yes it is annoying, and confusing too! Check the copyright date on your book. In lots of things a book that is 10 years old is just fine, but in BPs and probably most herps, that is pretty out of date. At least it isn't as bad as computers where 10 months is out of date!

It is possible even with recently published stuff that it was basically copied from out of date stuff, so try to find out about the author too. I know you said yours was written by professional breeders; I'm just mentioning this part for others reading this. I've seen web pages with recent dates on them recommending a night time drop to 75. I realized it had simply been copied from an out of date source, not actually written by anyone who knew what they were talking about.

The temps do vary.
I like to keep my ambient temps around 82-84 degrees,

But when breeding season comes I put my breeders in another romm and let the night temps get down to 76 and daytime in the low 80's. At these lower temps you have to keep a close eye on them to make sure no one gets sick and if they are still feeding(many go off feed) the meals need to be much smaller than usual.

As far as the warm side goes different breeders use different temps. I like 90-92 some go a little warmer some go a little cooler. I know some breeders offer no warm side during breeding, i do offer warm side although many snakes may not use it much until they are gravid.



If you stay within these general parameters you should be OK. We do get many posts from people who say my snake isn't eating and then we come to find the ambient temps are in the 70's. So when people on the forum say 84 degrees it's because they know your snake will keep feeding and not go into cool down mode.

Some books give very generalized info, so saying 76-88 isnt entirely wrong BUT they are not mentioning that 76 is an extreme low (for breeding cycles) and 88 is kind of on the lower end of the warm side. If you shoot for the 84 cool and 93 warm there will always be some fluctuations but in general you should not have many problems and your snake should eat well and shouldn't get stress related illnesses.

[chz]

Yes it is annoying, and confusing too! Check the copyright date on your book. In lots of things a book that is 10 years old is just fine, but in BPs and probably most herps, that is pretty out of date. At least it isn't as bad as computers where 10 months is out of date!

It is possible even with recently published stuff that it was basically copied from out of date stuff, so try to find out about the author too. I know you said yours was written by professional breeders; I'm just mentioning this part for others reading this. I've seen web pages with recent dates on them recommending a night time drop to 75. I realized it had simply been copied from an out of date source, not actually written by anyone who knew what they were talking about.

Kc, I didn't want to post any info about the books on these forums, out of respect for the authors. From what I've read in peoples responses, it seems as though a lower temperature gradient is just fine, as long as your hot side doesnt drop below 85-90. I can see now why some professionals may have differing opinions, especially if they've been keeping snakes a certain way for a number of years without problems. I think I am still going to bump up his temp a bit on the cool side, only because the cooler weather is causing it to drop to 75 at times..

Anyway, I couldn't have asked for better responses. Thanks a lot guys.