I thought he was dead! :(

So this morning was the morning after I moved. When I woke up and turned Geno's heat lamp on he was balled up kinda oddly in the back and I couldn't see him breathing. I very quickly got him out and he was stiff and cold. I thought it got too cold in there, but it was 73ish degrees I think. His head moved a little bit and I got him under the covers with me to try to warm him up? After like 5 minutes he started moving more and more until he was full on slithering around. Then I went ahead and put him back. I really really hope I didn't do anything wrong and if I did I'm sorry I promise I'd never do it intentionally I LOVE GENO like no other and if I knew I was putting his life at risk I'd do everything in my power to fix it. He's an amazing snake and I never want anything to happen to him. Please tell me what happened if you know! His UTH was on all night like always. Thank you :(

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Originally Posted by GpBp

So this morning was the morning after I moved. When I woke up and turned Geno's heat lamp on he was balled up kinda oddly in the back and I couldn't see him breathing. I very quickly got him out and he was stiff and cold. I thought it got too cold in there, but it was 73ish degrees I think. His head moved a little bit and I got him under the covers with me to try to warm him up? After like 5 minutes he started moving more and more until he was full on slithering around. Then I went ahead and put him back. I really really hope I didn't do anything wrong and if I did I'm sorry I promise I'd never do it intentionally I LOVE GENO like no other and if I knew I was putting his life at risk I'd do everything in my power to fix it. He's an amazing snake and I never want anything to happen to him. Please tell me what happened if you know! His UTH was on all night like always. Thank you :(

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Is there a reason why you turn his heat lamp off at night? 73 is pretty chilly for a ball python; my suggestion would be to leave the heat lamp on 24/7.

Everything I saw told me to turn the heat lamp off if using a heat lamp and UTH, but yes I can defiantly leave it on at night. :)

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Originally Posted by GpBp

Everything I saw told me to turn the heat lamp off if using a heat lamp and UTH, but yes I can defiantly leave it on at night. :)

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what reason is there to turn off a heat lamp because of a UTH? as long as all heating elements are regulated and you know how they work then they will work fine together.

Your tank should be long enough so that there's a warm side and a cool side. Your snake can just move to the other side if it gets too warm/cool so you shouldn't have to mess with your setup. The temperature should be constant. Hope this helps :snake:

I'd leave the lamp on at night, it sounds like you need it to maintain proper ambients during the cooler nighttime hours. A CHE or a red or black heat bulb are my picks for nighttime bulb usage, so it doesn't mess with the snakes photoperiod.

I'm assuming 73 degrees was the ambient (cool side temp) and not the hot spot temp though. If you're reading 73 over the heat pad you'll need to turn the temp on the thermostat up as well.

Thank you, yes there's a temp gradient and he was on his warm side this morning. I guess what happened was he was just too cold? He wasn't directly on top of the UTH, and I've had it where I turn the heat lamp off at night ever since I've got him and he's been fine.:confuzd:

I've had a scare like this before too, only it was too hot. At the time I had a crappy analog thermometer and it was reading 103° and I was afraid I had cooked my snake. I now know that that temp won't actually kill her if she's in there for only a few moments, and those thermometers really suck so that temp probably wasn't even accurate but yeah. There's no real reason to turn off the heat lamp at night. If it was because of the whole lighting/temp change at night, I wouldn't pay it any mind. Changing temps at night is pretty counter intuitive if you think about it, and it can cause things like this to happen. Try leaving the lamp on for the night and see how things are in the morning. Hopefully that helps.


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but it was 73ish degrees I think.

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Here is your main issue " you think", BP husbandry is not a I guess or I think it's a "I measure and I know my temperatures" on both cool and warm side, and "I provide proper husbandry".

If you do not know but guess you cannot provide proper husbandry, and if you do not you will sooner or later deal with anything from food refusal, stress, aggressive behavior and health issues.

So the first steps are to know what your husbandry should be like (See caresheet) and the second is to provide said husbandry using the right tool that are at your disposition.

Well, I am pretty positive it was 73, Like 73-74 ya know, that's why I said I think. And I mean it was right after I woke up I didn't really focus on it I was just focused on checking on him, but I realize I should've payed more attention to it, that's important. Sorry I didn't mean to come off rude! Thank you Deborah :)

The only reason I would turn a heat lamp off overnight would be if it was a white incandescent bulb - so I never use those as heat lamps anymore. ;)

Red or blue seem to be fine and not annoy them but the ceramic bulbs ( on a good thermostat ) beat both hands down. :gj:

How do you measure your temps GpBp? Temp gun, digital thermometer, analog gauge?

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Originally Posted by Sunnieskys

How do you measure your temps GpBp? Temp gun, digital thermometer, analog gauge?

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Welll... I know that I shouldn't but I use a zoo med thermostat/hygrometer :no: I promise I'm planning on getting a temp gun! A week at most! And I know the readings are defiantly not 100%accurate, but that's all I have for right now :( But I know I should get a different thing to read temps/humidity you don't have to tell me. Sorry :hmm:

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Originally Posted by dr del ❤️

The only reason I would turn a heat lamp off overnight would be if it was a white incandescent bulb - so I never use those as heat lamps anymore. ;)

Red or blue seem to be fine and not annoy them but the ceramic bulbs ( on a good thermostat ) beat both hands down. :gj:

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Thermostats, thermometer probes, infrared thermometer guns... these all are more important than I ever imagined when I first started keeping snakes.

Thank you guys for the help! I'll leave his heat lamp on tonight. :) I'm going to add some pictures so you see where he was laying.


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https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...1df93044bf.jpg he was laying in this corner this morning


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https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...34eda3250e.jpgHe's under the rocky hide right now. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...372bf67087.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...b5c892d2b7.jpg


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https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...40c0e4414e.jpg And here's his tank from my doorway [emoji846]


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The only thing I would change is the bulb. It's a bright one. Get a Che so there is no light. Everything else you know what you need to,do and has been discussed.

So, I left his heat lamp on all night last night. It was 98 when I checked this morning which is pretty warm. I'm thinking I'll get a lower wattage blue bulb for night time and leave the normal light on during the day? So it doesn't screw up his sense of day/night, and so it stays warm in there at night, but not as warm. (And also, the other night I was measuring on the cool side. That's why it was extra low.:))

Put the lamp on a thermostat.

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Originally Posted by Godzilla78

Put the lamp on a thermostat.

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I probably sound like an idiot, but what do you mean?

Get a thermostat with a thermometer probe. Plug in the thermostat, place the thermo-probe somewhere to monitor the temperature. Set the thermostat to desired temperature, and plug your heat-light into the thermostat. :)

Ok! I'll do that :) Thank you :D For now, do you think I should leave to light on at night or no?

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Originally Posted by GpBp

Ok! I'll do that :) Thank you :D For now, do you think I should leave to light on at night or no?

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I suppose so, without the thermostat, you will need to place the light on the hot side and leave a cool side somehow.

Leave it on. I see you have a stand, I would raise the light at night higher until you get a thermostat.

GpBp if you can PM with your address - I have an extra PE-1 temp gun that I don't use any longer since I upgraded. Its a nice little temp gun to get you started.

The temp gun is just like this:

https://www.hobbytown.com/tg1-temp-g...-pxtpe1/p40152

You are welcome to it for free. Always willing to help fellow herpers get started.

As far a thermostat goes - these are pretty cheap and will do the job until you can afford a decent one.

https://www.amazon.com/MTPRTC-Contro...art+thermostat

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Originally Posted by L.West

GpBp if you can PM with your address - I have an extra PE-1 temp gun that I don't use any longer since I upgraded. Its a nice little temp gun to get you started.

The temp gun is just like this:

https://www.hobbytown.com/tg1-temp-g...-pxtpe1/p40152

You are welcome to it for free. Always willing to help fellow herpers get started.

As far a thermostat goes - these are pretty cheap and will do the job until you can afford a decent one.

https://www.amazon.com/MTPRTC-Contro...art+thermostat

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That'd be great, but I see you live in Michigan. I'm in Oklahoma :( Thank you though! :)

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Originally Posted by GpBp

That'd be great, but I see you live in Michigan. I'm in Oklahoma :( Thank you though! :)

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Hes going to Mail it to you. :D For free :D pm him your address.

:O Oh my! Awesome thank you so much! I will :D

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Originally Posted by OneEyedFox

I've had a scare like this before too, only it was too hot. At the time I had a crappy analog thermometer and it was reading 103° and I was afraid I had cooked my snake. I now know that that temp won't actually kill her if she's in there for only a few moments, and those thermometers really suck so that temp probably wasn't even accurate but yeah. There's no real reason to turn off the heat lamp at night. If it was because of the whole lighting/temp change at night, I wouldn't pay it any mind. Changing temps at night is pretty counter intuitive if you think about it, and it can cause things like this to happen. Try leaving the lamp on for the night and see how things are in the morning. Hopefully that helps.


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I had my husband pick up one of those preset all in one 20gals for his banana and it had a 100w bulb....I came home to inspect it and omg it was the same 102 I pulled the worm out and switched out the bulb for 50w. The room maintains 92 degrees cause of all the heating elements we have (7 heat lamps total)! But the beep is perfectly fine


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I turn my heat lamps off at night and my temps drop into the low 70s all the time. As long as they get enough heat during the day they'll be fine at 73 overnight. Also if your UTH is still on at night the snake can always warm itself up if it chooses to. I don't have my heat lamps on a thermostat either. I use a dimmer switch for the lamps and the UTHs are on thermostats.

I got your message with the address. I will ship it on Monday. Happy to help out. It's actually a pro exotics PE2 temp him. Nice little unit.

Remember that fall is here and winter is coming. Until you can get a thermostat, your temperatures might fluctuate, since you're using an analog.