Just a few questions

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Originally Posted by Toad37

It's a 20 gallon high and the basking spot is 97-99. The temperature on the warm side is 89-81. And on the ambient side it 77-81. My little guy is thriving on just a heat lamp. It doesn't fluctuate like a an UTH so I don't need a thermostat.

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Your temps are way too high. 78º-80º cool side, 88º-90º hot side - ALL HEAT SOURCES REGULATED BY A THERMOSTAT. This can not be overstated. Unregulated heat sources, whether lamps or mats, are a recipe for a (neurologically) cooked snake.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

A 20-high glass tank with those temps from a heat lamp is creating a desert environment for a snake that needs high humidity. You need to dial those back and cover the tank with something to hold moisture in.

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Haha I do. Don't mean to sound like an ass but please don't assume my situation. There's a towel on top that I wet every other day. He has a humidity hide and I use reptichip ( which I recommend to everyone) it's amazing at holding humidity. I have 2 hydrometers the humidity stays between 45 and 55. During shed I mist the tank a few times daily to bump it up to the 70s. My little guy seems very happy and has never refused a meal for me and his sheds are perfect in one piece. Any more questions?

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Originally Posted by Toad37

Haha I do. Don't mean to sound like an ass but please don't assume my situation. There's a towel on top that I wet every other day. He has a humidity hide and I use reptichip ( which I recommend to everyone) it's amazing at holding humidity. I have 2 hydrometers the humidity stays between 45 and 55. During shed I mist the tank a few times daily to bump it up to the 70s. My little guy seems very happy and has never refused a meal for me and his sheds are perfect in one piece. Any more questions?



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You go dude. I’ve been doing this for well over thirty years plus. And I’m proud to say I learn new things all the time, and I learned a lot from this form. So you be what you gotta be bro, peace.

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Originally Posted by Toad37

It's a 20 gallon high and the basking spot is 97-99. The temperature on the warm side is 89-81. And on the ambient side it 77-81. My little guy is thriving on just a heat lamp. It doesn't fluctuate like a an UTH so I don't need a thermostat.

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Not to derail this thread, but I don't want the OP to have incorrect information. Toad37, look it up on on ANY reliable reptile site or care sheet and they will all recommend the same thing: 90 degree hot spot max for BP's. Your temps are way too hot. I use infrared heat lamps in conjunction with heat mats for ambient temperature purposes, and I don't go over 75 watts but they are all dialed down on dimmers. 100 watts at max power in a 20L... :(

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Originally Posted by Toad37

It's a 20 gallon high and the basking spot is 97-99....

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IF you are actually measuring your temps. accurately, that is a BURNING spot, not a "basking" spot. As everyone else has already tried to tell you, it's too hot.

I measure it with a heat gun daily. Maybe my bp is retarded cuz he lays there often. Since the general consensus is my temps are too high I will look into a lower wattage bulb.

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Originally Posted by Toad37

I measure it with a heat gun daily. Maybe my bp is retarded cuz he lays there often. Since the general consensus is my temps are too high I will look into a lower wattage bulb.

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Thank you...and you might just use a lamp dimmer instead. I use them on all my overhead "warming" lights to control the output to what's needed.

I wouldn't say he's retarded btw, but for unknown reasons many snakes have gotten burned either from UTH or overhead heat that's too high...they
seem not to be able to sense when it's too much until it's too late. That's why we're all trying to keep you & yours out of trouble...burns can be serious
or fatal, they take a long time to heal & are very very painful. We don't want you to learn the hard way.

He's not retarded.
Sometimes reptiles just don't move from a too hot area until its too late and damage is done.
Not to "beat a dead horse" but that's entirely too hot.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Thank you...and you might just use a lamp dimmer instead. I use them on all my overhead "warming" lights to control the output to what's needed.

I wouldn't say he's retarded btw, but for unknown reasons many snakes have gotten burned either from UTH or overhead heat that's too high...they
seem not to be able to sense when it's too much until it's too late. That's why we're all trying to keep you & yours out of trouble...burns can be serious
or fatal, they take a long time to heal & are very very painful. We don't want you to learn the hard way.

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OP I wish I knew your humidity secret. I use a 30 long and if the temps under my light ever hit 90 or higher I would be sweeping up ashes. I have a humid hide secret under substrate humidity ponds ( best name I could come up with) and I mist daily.

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Originally Posted by Toad37

I measure it with a heat gun daily. Maybe my bp is retarded cuz he lays there often. Since the general consensus is my temps are too high I will look into a lower wattage bulb.

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It's definitely not that he's retarded. :rofl:

But from what I remember there was a thread on here that explained the phenomenon pretty well. The issue is that BP's, as well as many other snakes I assume, use internal core temperature to regulate their basking behavior. So by the time their core reaches the proper temp, they are already burned pretty badly. Same as how we as humans will stay in the sun until we're burnt crispy, but won't feel it until after it's to late.

In nature it isn't really observed because they, being nocturnal, usually come out to warm up after sundown and by then most surfaces are cool enough to not cause damage. On the other hand diurnal snakes that will bask on a hot rock during the day don't burn very often either. As the surface they are laying on will cool as they lay on it, because their body blocks the sunlight from hitting where they are laying.

In captivity even as they absorb the heat, our heaters will continue to pump it out until they get warm and move. (unless it is unregulated, in which case they will burn.)

A good way to test this for your self is to lay on concrete that's in full sun, the temperature of the concrete under you will slowly go down.

Opposite that, turn a heating pad (for humans, like from the pharmacy) on it's lowest setting, then lay on it and wait. The longer you lay on it the warmer it gets because your body isn't able to dissipate the heat as fast as it being produced.

Same concept, but we can feel the heat growing and can remove the heat pad before we burn, snakes don't, it's just the way they are wired.