Belly heat requirements for proper digestion ?

I've seen it referenced a number of times that a belly heat source for 90 degrees F is needed for Ball Pythons to digest properly. I've also of course seen recommendations to provide both a hot/cool side to allow them to thermo-regulate.

I have provisions in place for that, but am curious why my snake often prefers this cool-side hide after feeding (he's 3-days sitting in his cool hide, which now shows to be at 80 F, since his last meal)... He'll sometimes move to the warm hide, but not all that much. If there's any consistency, it seems to be the location where the last meal was served (he's on f/t rats). Thoughts?

Check your hotspot with a IR temp gun.

Many keepers have their entire collection in a heated room with no belly heat at all. These collections thrive just fine and the temps these keepers provide is a somewhat wide range.

Belly heat is suggested in most cases but it is not required.

Temp gun shows the hotspot to be at 87F, cool side hide interior is 80-81F

Then all is well.

My BRB hardly ever uses his hotspot but its there just in case. My BP also uses her cool side hide more than the warm. No issues with either of them.

I had a corn snake that loved the belly heat after eating but with my ball I use heat bulbs. I haven't used a heat emitter bulb yet. How are they? I am thinking about using them for at night time instead of the infra-red night bulbs. Any thoughts on heat-emitters?

Before I moved all my snake in one room I used a CHE and really liked it. I ran it 24/7/365 and it still worked when I stopped using it. It has worked for over 3 years.

I've never used belly heat.

I never use belly heat but there is a large flat slate in my cage that easily stays at 88 degrees under the RHP. The top of the hide is 90 and the ambient temps range from upper 80's to upper 70's. My BP spends most his time on the warm side inside his hide. Eats every time he is fed.

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Originally Posted by scalrtn

I've seen it referenced a number of times that a belly heat source for 90 degrees F is needed for Ball Pythons to digest properly. I've also of course seen recommendations to provide both a hot/cool side to allow them to thermo-regulate.

I have provisions in place for that, but am curious why my snake often prefers this cool-side hide after feeding (he's 3-days sitting in his cool hide, which now shows to be at 80 F, since his last meal)... He'll sometimes move to the warm hide, but not all that much. If there's any consistency, it seems to be the location where the last meal was served (he's on f/t rats). Thoughts?

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Belly heat is not needed for digestion. Digestion is about body, not belly temperature.

I think the belly heat idea comes from wild snake behaviors. In the wild if a snake is too cool it will seek out an area that is heated by the sun. At night when many snakes are active, rocks are warmer than the air, and the snake may sit on the rock for a while gathering heat. It is also easy to provide belly heat with a UTH. As a result of observation, and convenience, many hobbyists and breeders use belly heat. Of course if a snake is underneath a rock being warmed by the sun, it is perfectly capable of absorbing heat dorsally as well.

Snakes are designed very specifically to maintain body temperatures by using any source of heat in their environment. Of course snakes do not regularly encounter temperatures much above a hundred or so degrees, and so if the belly heat source is too high, the snake does not have a program to deal with burning temps and can literally cook. As a keeper, I find it is best to provide a variety of small microclimates in the cage in order to allow the snake to choose the climate that best suits it at the time. I realize that I do not see the world the way the snake does, and I do not believe I should substitute my judgment of what the snake needs for the snake's judgment.

As long as conditions are within a safe range for the snake, I just let the snake be. It knows what it is doing. It is also designed by natural selection to survive in environments much more hostile and variable that captive conditions. This means that as long as a suitable range of conditions is present, the snake can manage it's need for optimum body temperature in a robust and effective way. As a keeper you can relax and have faith that your snake knows what is best.

David