BP Temperature Related Question.

Hi there, this isn't a seriously panicked question or anything like that, it's simply something that I have noticed over the last few days, that I ought to get some opinions on, since I'm kind of new to ball python ownership.

I've got a young ball python that I bought from a respected breeder about a month ago now, he/she (not gendered yet) is about five months old, a nice, healthy size, eating well every 7-10 days, friendly, clean, sheds normally... about as normal and healthy as I can really determine he-she possibly could be at this point. (And gorgeous too! <3)

I keep him/her in the recommended size tank, which is heated by an under-tank heat pad (temperature regulated of course) that covers the base of about two thirds of the tank... the ball has good places to shelter both on and off the pad, and up until a week ago, seemed to be regulating his/her temperature well by moving from one side of the tank to the other. However, for the last few days, he/she has been favouring the cold side of the tank, lying there against the side wall and getting quite cold to the touch! Keep in mind I'm in England, so temperatures here are quite low at the moment, even inside the house... the tank's air temperature is quite reasonable, but, I suppose being a new snake owner, I'm just nervous about why this might be! The snake is still lively and seems bright and alert as normal, but... I just want more experienced opinions that everything is okay here. I trust the snake to know where to lie and all that, but still... I'm sure you all understand what I'm talking about. New owner jitters and all that.

Thanks in advance for all and any advice! :)

what are your temperatures specifically? I know you said your temperature is controlled, but is it controlled by a thermostat? Also, I think 2/3 covered by the heat pad might be a little bit too much. I was always told 1/3-1/2 at most to create a good temp gradient. Your BP is probably either too warm or just wants to hang out in it's cool hide. I have a one who likes her cool side too. She'll move to the warm when she needs to, but lately has been quite fond of her cool hide.

I don't see any specific temperatures given, do you have a probed thermometer so you know the exact temperatures?

Is the under tank heater regulated by a thermostat?
If it isn't then the snake is telling you it's too hot by staying on the cold side of the tank.

Ball pythons need at least low 70's on the cool side of the tank and mid 80's on the warm side and they love 90ish degree hot spot to lay on.

I would doublecheck your pad; it sounds like there may be a malfunction, and it might be over heating. That would result in your snake trying to get as far away from the heat as possible!

Basically, doublecheck everything, and perhaps consider getting a smaller heat pad. As others have suggested, a pad covering 2/3rds of the cage is a bit much. At most, half the cage could be covered, but ideally it'd only be 1/3rd or 1/4th of the cage space.

-Jen

Alrighty, I've adjusted the heat pad so that under half of the cage is over it, it is thermostat controlled, and according to the probed thermometers I've got set up, (Sorry I didn't give exact temperatures before, it was because it would require conversions from my centigrade to your Fahrenheit. I've done that now though.) The hotspot is hanging around 85-87 and the cool area is hovering between 65 and 70 ish... and there seems to be a pretty good gradient between the two. He/she is still favouring the cool area, but warmed up a bit last night, so I'm not too worried about it, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't doing anything wrong.

Thanks guys!

Your temperatures are way too low.

the cool side needs to be between 78-82 F (25.5-27.7 C)

The hot side needs to be between 88-92 F (31-33.3 C)

Anything below 75 degrees F (23.8 C) can cause illness

Mkay, I'll do what I can to get those temperatures up to match those right away.

I agree with Jen, the pad is too large one third only. Check the temps and get a spare if there is a problem I would replace it anyway as 2/3 is too large.

I don't want to hijack Cornishninja thread but I'm a new BP owner and I'm having some similiar temperature issues too.

Im using a 10g tank
UTH
Hydropharm thermostat set to 98
thermostate probe is on the hot side glass under the substrate
cypress substrate
temp probe under substrate on the cool side

The ambient temp reads 77
the cool side is reading between 74-78
im not sure what the surface temp on the hot side is (IR therm on its way). But the thermostat sensor is reading 98.

He seems fine. He's eaten twice and has shed once and moves between the hides regularly. My concern is that the temps might be to low. I'm thinking of putting a second UTH on the cold side and setting it to say 85.

Are my temps to low? Is there a way to insulate the tank? Will my two UTH system work?

Thanks

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mhavens

I don't want to hijack Cornishninja thread but I'm a new BP owner and I'm having some similiar temperature issues too.

Im using a 10g tank
UTH
Hydropharm thermostat set to 98
thermostate probe is on the hot side glass under the substrate
cypress substrate
temp probe under substrate on the cool side

The ambient temp reads 77
the cool side is reading between 74-78
im not sure what the surface temp on the hot side is (IR therm on its way). But the thermostat sensor is reading 98.

He seems fine. He's eaten twice and has shed once and moves between the hides regularly. My concern is that the temps might be to low. I'm thinking of putting a second UTH on the cold side and setting it to say 85.

Are my temps to low? Is there a way to insulate the tank? Will my two UTH system work?

Thanks

---

The thermostat probe should be outside the tank directly over the Uth.

Then the thermometer probe goes inside the tank, directly over the Uth ontop of the glass.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mhavens

I don't want to hijack Cornishninja thread but I'm a new BP owner and I'm having some similiar temperature issues too.

Im using a 10g tank
UTH
Hydropharm thermostat set to 98
thermostate probe is on the hot side glass under the substrate
cypress substrate
temp probe under substrate on the cool side

The ambient temp reads 77
the cool side is reading between 74-78
im not sure what the surface temp on the hot side is (IR therm on its way). But the thermostat sensor is reading 98.

He seems fine. He's eaten twice and has shed once and moves between the hides regularly. My concern is that the temps might be to low. I'm thinking of putting a second UTH on the cold side and setting it to say 85.

Are my temps to low? Is there a way to insulate the tank? Will my two UTH system work?

Thanks

---

UTH's do not change the temperature of the air inside the tank so if your air temperatures are too low you are going to need to use a heat lamp to increase them.
How thick is the layer of substrate? if it is thicker than 1/2" the UTH won't be able to do its job effectively.

Checkout this thread: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...t-Thermometers

Aaron

Thanks for the info. I have read that post like 10 times. It's very informative. I actually based my set up on that article and I'm in the process of getting a heat lamp.

The substrate is around 1/2". I actually took soom out so that it was a little thinner. But I was nervous about setting the thermostat to 98 degrees. I don't want to burn him. I have a temp probe on the edge of the hot side under the water bowl, it's reading between 80-82 degrees.

When he gets bigger and needs to move into a bigger cage I will probably get a PVC one. I think if I remember correctly you did a nice write up on PVC cages.

Thanks everyone for the advise. I can't believe how much my daughter and I are addicted to this ball python. We absolutely love him and want to make his home comfortable.

Update.

Okay, after a couple of days of careful measuring and adjusting, I've got the temperatures balanced healthily at the ones recommended by you guys, and the snake seems to be moving back and forth between cool and hotspots again as he/she was before. So I guess everything is alright now!

Thanks so much! :) I'll be hanging around in the future, learned a ton of new stuff already just from reading around, so I'll be sticking around to learn more!

and to Mhavens, I don't mind you getting in on the thread at all :) I hope you can get your query solved too!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cornishninja

Update.

Okay, after a couple of days of careful measuring and adjusting, I've got the temperatures balanced healthily at the ones recommended by you guys, and the snake seems to be moving back and forth between cool and hotspots again as he/she was before. So I guess everything is alright now!

Thanks so much! :) I'll be hanging around in the future, learned a ton of new stuff already just from reading around, so I'll be sticking around to learn more!

and to Mhavens, I don't mind you getting in on the thread at all :) I hope you can get your query solved too!

---

Cornishninja are you measuring the surface temperature or the glass temp under the substrate? Also what kind of substrate are you using?

To everyone else. Is setting the thermostat to 98 too high? I took the thermostat probe out of the tank and mounted it to the backside of the UTH. I hot glued a thermometer probe to the glass above the UTH and it reads about 94-95. I have about a half inch of cypress substrate. I measured the surface temp with an IR thermometer and it reads about 81-82. My fear is if I thin the substrate and raise the thermostat tempurature he may burrow down and get burned.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mhavens

Cornishninja are you measuring the surface temperature or the glass temp under the substrate? Also what kind of substrate are you using?

To everyone else. Is setting the thermostat to 98 too high? I took the thermostat probe out of the tank and mounted it to the backside of the UTH. I hot glued a thermometer probe to the glass above the UTH and it reads about 94-95. I have about a half inch of cypress substrate. I measured the surface temp with an IR thermometer and it reads about 81-82. My fear is if I thin the substrate and raise the thermostat tempurature he may burrow down and get burned.

---

Most people have to set the thermostat much higher than 98 to reach a proper hot spot.

The probe for your thermometer should be directly over the Uth inside the tank. If its reading 94-95 it means if your Bp burrows, it can reach the 94-95 hotspot.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bobbafett

Most people have to set the thermostat much higher than 98 to reach a proper hot spot.

The probe for your thermometer should be directly over the Uth inside the tank. If its reading 94-95 it means if your Bp burrows, it can reach the 94-95 hotspot.

---

I have the thermometer probe hot glued to the glass directly over the UTH inside the tank. So this would tell me that the max temp my BP could come in contact with. I took the thermostat probe out of the tank and mounted to the backside of the UTH. I believe you also recommended this.

I have been reading a lot where people are saying that the belly heat should be in the upper 80's low 90's. It looks like I would need to crank up the thermostat to 100 or more.

Thanks for the advise

The average temps recommended are 80ºF/80ºF/90ºF (ambient/cool/warm) the extremes I have seen from reasonable sources (there are a number of out to lunch ones too) are 75º-88º/77º-84º/87-94º personally I would avoid the extreme ends but I gives you a sense of the temps many accept. I personally believe 88ºF for small balls (600gm and under) is about right and 90º for the rest. The cool side IMO 79-81ºF and ambient I feel has the largest range of ok for me 77º-85º. I target 80º/80º/90º myself the only place where I have variation is the ambient air temps which I personally ramp from my low end (77ºF) to the high end (85ºF) during a 24 hour period. I hope this helps.