Cage problems, UTH vs. CHE

Hello all,

I recently got my ball python late September, who has been feeding properly and generally looks fine. However, the cage that the vendor sold to me has 2 problems that I am worried about: the sockets for the lightbulbs are inside the cage near the snake, which makes me worried that he will burn himself (so far has not happened yet) and since it is made out of wood, I have trouble attaching a UTH, so I have to rely completely on a CHE to maintain the ambient temperature, making his sheds bad. Should I just get a new cage? It has sliding glass panels at the front of the cage to open/close it.

edit: I should mention that this is my first ball python. I had a corn snake for a while, but he escaped when a family member did not close his cage properly.

I would vote for a new cage. If not, the che needs a snake proof placed around it so the snake can not touch it. You can google pics of snakes and heat elements. You will end snakes wrapped around fixtures and bulbs. A che is incredibly hot and can burn your snake in the blink of an eye. The center of my 100w che is over 600F.

There are heat mats that are waterproof and designed to be used inside cages. I'm on my phone right now and do not have a link for you, but they do exist.

Cut a hole in the cage with a drill. Take a picture let me see what your working with. It seems pretty nice but just needs adjusting.

Try to google Kane heat pads. Those are the ones you can use inside the cage as they are made for dog kennels and stuff so they are safe. Another idea is if you have a jigsaw, cut a circular hole about 11 inches or so and then staple some metal mesh on the hole and put either a dome light fixture with a small CHE in it or a wire cage fixture if you use a big CHE. Or you could just opt for a new cage all together.

As requested, here are the pictures: http://imgur.com/a/Zx562

I will look into the heat pads ASAP, as I still have finals left to do. Thanks for all the suggestions so far.

That cage looks like you could make it work. From the looks of the snake its young and should not be able to reach the che but soon that will not be the case. You can make the cage work but you will need to get a screen cage to place around the che and the bulb. A simple brush of the che will cause a bad burn, they really cook.

The only other suggestion I would make it to get another hide so you have one on each side. Also the pcv pipe is not ideal. You really want something that has only one small door. For the time being I would push the pipe against the cage wall to make it a tad more secure feeling for the snake.

Im not sure how the snake would like laying in a tube like that but it you wanted to continue it use you could also get two caps for that pipe and cut a hole in one of them. That would make is super dark and secure feeling for your snake.