first snake

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Originally Posted by mlededee

i would think the ground in their native habitat would be pretty warm to begin with. and since we have the ability to provide them that constant source of heat and an optimal living environment, why not do it? the bps that are cared for by people that do give them that optimal care are probably way more healthy than those that are living in the wild. nothing wrong with that.

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I guess I just can't get the notion of where a wild bp would be able to find a constant, perfect source of belly heat that is supposedly so necessary for proper digestion.

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Maybe on a rock that has been sitting in the sun for a while? And on a hot day if you feel the dirt (not the grass) its pretty warm also.

oops sorry i didnt mean to quote mlededee's message too.

im still sticking with over head heat source, ive not had a problem with it, and all the heating pads ive gotten always get too hot, and i would much rather have a heat light that makes the ground 90* then have to go get a better heat pad, or spend more


so, if you are talking about the ground being a certain temperature, then mine is about 90* becasue i have the probe on the floor, and it always stays there, and my bp has been digesting food great

I'd have to agree with mlededee, captive ball pythons well out live ball pythons in the wild. We make sure our babies are in top health ... well some of us do anyways.

Also, I was wondering how Royal keeps his humidity at a good level with a heat lamp. What is your humidity in the enclosure anyways?

57% thats what its at, give or take 1-2 during the day, but not much, i dunno how it works out, but it does, but my room is like that anyways, i bet if i had a UTH, itd be a lot higher

I use a UTH in combo with a timed overhead source and I've never had problems with it. I just turn her overhead on (low wattage) during the day, then when I get home from work turn it off again for the nighttime drop. Both my BP and VB seem to be doing pretty well on it.
Even if it's covered with substrate and a hide, a UTH is an incredibly valuable tank element.

I use human heating pads myself. I would use a combo like alice but I have a designated snake room which I keep at about 75 degrees. I have tried the zoo meds in the past, but they stick to the bottom of the tank and get far too hot. I like the human heat pads because they have three different heat settings, they have cloth around them and they get the perfects temps. Also very nice not to have to worry much about humidity.
The reason I really like undertank heating is because they can still get the warmth for digestion even while they are hiding (which they do all day).

What I did with my UTH is to stick it on the bottom, cover the area with substrate, then make what I call a "double-boiler hide": three chunks of rock that support a slate platform directly over the UTH (I use Zoomed), with a small piece of aquarium decoration (in my case, a pagoda) functioning like a second hide over the UTH. The heatspace under the pagoda keeps warm because of the UTH while creating a heat buffer. The slate warms up from the insulated space under it, and Roo just adores it. I made one for my VB, but she doesn't have much interest in it. She prefers to either bask under the heatlamp or stay in her cool hide for the most part.

I believe in underbelly heat 100%. I'm sure that there are times in a BPs natural habitat that the ground gets pretty darn hot. Regardless, put simply, I just think it's better for the animal and easier to maintain proper husbandry. I have employed overhead heat as a supplement to the heating pad but then had issues w/humidity (solved by the great DIY humidifier), but now that I no longer use a fish tank, I have no problems w/heat or humidity and all I use is the heating pad. To me it just makes more sense.

Caren, I tried the DIY humidifier, and it didnt raise my humidity very much... did you use the standard sized tubing? I used standard sized tubing but only a 32oz bottle. I wonder if larger tubing and bottle would make a difference. Right now I just run a tube to my waterdish with a bubbler on the end and that seems to help out alot.