How hot is too hot?

I have a 150 watt ceramic bulb sitting on the top of my cage. There's a large "rock" hide on that side. The digital therm probe says that the temp on the top of the rock is 102 and inside the rock is around 86 degrees. My question is...is 102 on top too hot for my BP? It's by no means too hot for my hand....but I don't know if that means anything! :P

Thanks!!

if the inside is only 86 then i guess thats fine

150 watt? The bulb atop my cage is only 55 watt.
Doesn't 102 seem a little hot?
86 is perfect, but I think he/she may burn their self if they venture on top of that rock.

Touching isn't really a good way to measure heat since your body temperature is already at 98°F. A 150 watt bulb seems like overkill to me, and I personally wouldn't be comfortable letting any part of the tank reach over 95°F.

102 is definitely too warm. The other thing about the bulb, especially at that wattage, it will suck out all of your humidity.

It's not too hot for your hand, but you're not going to leave your hand on the rock for hours at a time. Your ball may bask on the rock for hours, and staying on a rock that hot for an extended length of time may result in a bad belly burn.

Thanks everyone!! I replaced the bulb with a 120 and put the bulb in a metal cage housing instead of the metal surround housing. I also added a UTH under the hide. Inside the hide is now 90 degrees and b/c of the way I have the heat bulb, to the top of hide is only 80 degrees!

Thanks for the help!!

You should look into installing some flexwatt for belly heat instead of the heat bulb. The snakes will be happier, and your energy costs will go down.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by png_lovebirds

Thanks everyone!! I replaced the bulb with a 120 and put the bulb in a metal cage housing instead of the metal surround housing. I also added a UTH under the hide. Inside the hide is now 90 degrees and b/c of the way I have the heat bulb, to the top of hide is only 80 degrees!

Thanks for the help!!

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120! Does your snake have sunglasses.:cool:
You know a python is nocturnal, right?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by png_lovebirds

Thanks everyone!! I replaced the bulb with a 120 and put the bulb in a metal cage housing instead of the metal surround housing. I also added a UTH under the hide. Inside the hide is now 90 degrees and b/c of the way I have the heat bulb, to the top of hide is only 80 degrees!

Thanks for the help!!

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120 seems high as well, and remember BP's are nocturnal. They do extremely well with no extra light at all.

JonV