Ball Python Temperatures

Hi i am about to get 2 female ball pythons in like 2 weeks. they will be housed in a rack. what should the temps be on the hot and cool end? because i read caresheets and some say 90-92 and some say 85. please help

92-94 warm side/ 82-84 cool side. Never below 75 ambient air temp for any reason :)

ok thank you. but it seems as my cool end doesnt achieve those temps you said. my hot side will achieve 92-94 easily. ambient air temp should be fine

do whatever u have to do to get your cool side 82 - 84 F and keep that hot side at 92 - 94. i also have seen caresheets that say different temps but if u ask around this site, u will find that all the pros say 82 - 84 and 92 - 94.

ok thank you. i was worried about what the temps should be. but my ambient air temp is 79 . i will have to get my hot and and cool end temps in about 5 minutes.

Ideally your ambient air temp should be around 82 degrees. One thing that many keepers do not realize is that although a hot and cool spot of the appropriate temperature are provide, the ambient air temperature in the enclosure can still be 'too cold' for a ball python. Low air temps can result in RIs and other problems even if a correct warm and cool spot are available.

so is 79 to cold?

Like I said....75 is the minimum....but your snakes will do much better with an ambient temp around 82 :)

ok i will see what it gets to when i get the temps right

That sounds like a good plan. Most times the only real reason that the ambient temp gets really low is because the temperature in the room is really low. I used to have a hard time getting my ambient temps right because my old roommate liked to set the apartment thermostat on 60 deg.....geez...that drove me crazy :)

What should the temp be inside the hide box, ours is a bit high I think. It averages about 100deg, that's the one on the warm side...

:eek: That's too high!! 92-94 is preferable for the hot side. It sounds like you could you a thermostat! Definitely get those temps down.

ok here are the temps.

on the hot side without substrate it ranges from 93.7-93.2
on the hot side with substrate it ranges from 92.8-92.1
on the cool side without substrate it ranges from 82.0-81.9
on the cool side with substrate it ranges from 82.9-82.4
the cool side ambient air temp ranges from 86.4-83.3
the hot side ambient air temp ranges from 86.4-80.2

those are all of the temperatures. tell me if some are to high or to low. please respond as i am getting a baby ball python tomorrow.

i use a piece off towel to place under my hide to keep the temp down. on my hot hide i have 3 layers plus my substrate. works like a charm.

i know but are any of my temps to high or to low or are they all fine?

your temps look fine to me

are the ambient air temps to high?

i would try and keep the ambient around 82 - 84 but even if it does jump up to 86 as long as your snake still has a place to go were it is around 82 you should be fine.

ok thank you all a ton.

ok, call me a dumb blond, but what is ambient temps?

ambient temp is an overal temperature in the cage. correct me if im wrong

it is the air temperature

Ok, so how do I measure that? Do I need another therm?