Seeking Advice for my BP Enclosure

Hi. I have tried to do my best to set up my BP's habitat according to all the advice I've been told and have read (here and from other internet sources). I have included a couple of pictures below. My main concerns are regarding temperature. I have a heating pad under the left half of the enclosure. You can see the two hides in the foreground and the water dish in the back right on the cool side.

I put a temp probe in several places and found that the temp on the left side gets up to about 85 F and the right side up to about 74 F. The temperatures were taken on the surface of the substrate (Aspen). I've noticed that my BP (a little over 2 months old) digs trenches in the substrate, I'm assuming to get to the warmer part of the substrate. Is this normal, or should the temp be 90-95F at the surface? Is my substrate too deep maybe? Should a heat light be necessary in addition to the UTH? I put a 40W red heat light on the left side which only helps a little bit at the surface but gets the temp up to 93F about half way up the branch. I was hoping not to have to use a heat light at all but the UTH doesn't seem to be cutting it on its own. Last question... should the water dish be on the cool side (where I have it)?

Thanks for helping out a newbie! :juggle: ... so much to learn.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...8/hpim2039.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...8/hpim2043.jpg

You should be checking temps down near the glass, not at the surface. Make sure your UTH is connected to a rheostat or thermostat, something so it's not running on full "on" position. I prefer water bowl on the cold side. If you're having humidity issues you could move it to the warm side to help.

Also you may want to cover the back and sides to add security for your ball! I would also get the temp up to 90-94 on the warm side!

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Originally Posted by bobbittle

You should be checking temps down near the glass, not at the surface. Make sure your UTH is connected to a rheostat or thermostat, something so it's not running on full "on" position. I prefer water bowl on the cold side. If you're having humidity issues you could move it to the warm side to help.

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That clears up a lot. :D The temp further down near the glass is around 94 F. So I think I'm OK. Is the heat lamp just a waste of electricity then?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by seeya205

Also you may want to cover the back and sides to add security for your ball! I would also get the temp up to 90-94 on the warm side!

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Thanks also for that advice. I'll see what I can find to cover the back and sides.

:)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Herp Hugger

That clears up a lot. :D The temp further down near the glass is around 94 F. So I think I'm OK. Is the heat lamp just a waste of electricity then?

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It is mostly a waste of humidity. Heat lamps will suck out most of the humidity from the air making it near impossible to keep at the recommended 50-60%. If you can keep your ambient temps above 75*F without the light then just get rid of it. If not, you can either get another UTH on a dimmer for the cool side or get a low wattage heat bulb.