Scared to leave light on while gone.

I have one of those heat lamps sitting on top of my ball pythons cage with a red heat bulb in it for heat. If its secure so it wont fall off the cage is it safe to leave on while gone?

Generally they are pretty safe, even though they do tend to dry your tank out.

How long will you be gone, and is there anyway you could put the lamp on a thermostat before you leave?

Well I leave the heat lamps that I have for my iguana on all day while I'm at school or just out,I don't think it's bad as long as it's giving the right heat and isn't going to burn your guy. Hope this helped at all.

Make sure you have a good quality heat lamp with a ceramic fixture. Many pet stores and hardware store also sell a cheaper lamp with a plastic fixture. These cheap plastic fixtures can be a fire hazard if left on unattended but the ceramic fixtures can safely handle much more constant heat.

Is an uth enough for him/her while im gone? I work second shift i just got the snake 2 days ago. Its a little baby yet so I have it in a 10g for now til it grows. What thermostate?

i believe this is the actual hear lamp I have.

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MzE3WDQ4Nw...G!w~~60_12.JPG

Here is a pic of the snake everyone told me it can handle a bigger mouse.

https://mail-attachment.googleuserco...747816923d57c7

First let me apologize for not welcoming you to BP.net when responding to your first post, my bad.

Welcome to BP.net!!!

A thermostat is a device used to control a heating device (Lamp, CHE, or UTH), and keeps the heating device within a set temp range. It allows for safe operation of heating devices and takes away the worry of your tank get too cold or too hot.

While having a heat lamp on a thermostat is very nice to have, putting a UTH on a thermostat is essential due to the risk of thermal burns to your snake from an unregulated UTH getting too hot. Unregulated, a UTH can reach temps of 130+ degrees.

In case you haven't had a chance to check these two threads out, I urge you to read them:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...p-w-pics-*DUW*

Welcome to the BP addiction :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by renee2287

Here is a pic of the snake everyone told me it can handle a bigger mouse.

https://mail-attachment.googleuserco...747816923d57c7

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The photo isn't showing up for me...

would this be a safe heat mat?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Heat-Heated-...item3cbfd7ae34

Im limited as to what I can buy in the area I live in. Im going to check out our small pet store here in a min. But I wanna go to indianas reptile expo coming up in about 3 weeks.

That kind of UTH would be fine, but it will still need a thermostat to control it. You can pick up a serviceable thermostat from HydroFarm on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTPR...7008824&sr=8-1

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/s.../nbmnnmnmm.jpg

here he is. or she. and how would i connect the thermostat to the uth? to get them to work together.

I am unfamiliar with the brand but for a similar price you can get one from Reptile Basics or LLLReptile.

Yes, that is a ceramic fixture heat lamp and is much safer than the plastic fixtures. The uth (with some kind of temp regulator) should be fine on its own without a lamp but I would use an infrared temp gun to ensure the temps are correct. The uth and lamp combined is probably way too much heat in a 10 gallon.

If you haven't already, I also highly recommend taking a look at the threads Slim linked too above.

Beautiful snake!

Do you have a thermometer in the cage measuring temps (or a temp gun, or some other similar device)? That's the only way to know if the heat pad will be "enough" or not (my guess would be yes, usually heat pads are sufficient if regulated and no lighting will likely be needed), but beyond that it's necessary to ensure that your snake is provided with a proper heat gradient.

Anyways im pretty sure he can eat more than a pinky. What size mouse should I ask for Im getting ready to go to the pet store here in a min.

Try to get him on rat pinks.

most the time a hatchlig bp can take a mouse hopper with no problem I always strartedd my snakes ff on a crawler and went up from there fast lol. A thermostat is like a insurance to keep you from cooking your little friend into a corpse and prevventing it from getting sick. there some good semi cheap ones I used for like 30-40 bucks new ( i use one for my snake eggs with no problems lol )

ok well off to the pet store i go.

Here is his burrow.

Hows it look? Sorry but I never had a ball pythony before lol. only thing I know about them is they need heat n humidity n fed once a week. Ive had a snake before just not one of these.

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/s...mailjbkjbn.jpg