First BP, question on heating pad and ambient temp.

Picked up my first BP that will spend most of its time in a lab at the school I teach at with a number of other animals. We have an under tank pad on one side with a thermostat. We attached the probe to the bottom of the tank and set the therm to 95 degrees. That part is fine, but we have a thermometer right above that, and the ambient temp is down to 72-74 depending on time of day. On the other side we have a night bulb in and that said stays at 78-80 whenever I check it.

Question is, is the ambient temp on the heat pad side too low despite the thermostat keeping it at 95? Carl (the snake) will bury himself in the aspen shavings on the heat pad side I've noticed to pick up more of the heat I assume.

No expert here but my suggestion would be to put the heat lamp on the warm side. Then he can go to the cool side if he needs to but it is warm enough on the warm side. The heating pad only heats the bottom of the tank where it is touching it doesn't do much for ambiant temps.

Sent from my Moto E (4) using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Teacherguy5

Picked up my first BP that will spend most of its time in a lab at the school I teach at with a number of other animals. We have an under tank pad on one side with a thermostat. We attached the probe to the bottom of the tank and set the therm to 95 degrees. That part is fine, but we have a thermometer right above that, and the ambient temp is down to 72-74 depending on time of day. On the other side we have a night bulb in and that said stays at 78-80 whenever I check it.

Question is, is the ambient temp on the heat pad side too low despite the thermostat keeping it at 95? Carl (the snake) will bury himself in the aspen shavings on the heat pad side I've noticed to pick up more of the heat I assume.

---

Ambient temp as little to nothing to do with the hot spot and your UTH your cool and ambient temps depend on the temp in your home so if you cannot achieve 75 degrees min on the cool side you will need to either get your room temp up which is not very efficient for once snake, or supply with additional heat (can be a second heat pad with an additional thermostat set for the cool side)

Quote:

---

We attached the probe to the bottom of the tank

---

Hopefully not inside the tank correct?

I have a similar question. My tank has a UTH on each side and together the cover a majority of the bottom. If one of them is around 78 and the other around 88-90 should I still attempt to keep ambient temps in the tank up as well. Right now the room is about 70 degrees and the ambient temp is around 72. Just curious since almost the entire surface of the tank bottom is 78 or higher? My breeder said with this type of set up the ambient temps aren't as important as long as they are above 70.

I'm sorry teacherguy, but it sounds like you should have done some homework before bringing the animal home/to school.

I'm not sure a BP makes a very good classroom pet. They're nocturnal, shy, timid and thrive in low traffic areas.

But since you've already got the snake start here https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ius)-Caresheet

And if you've got other reptiles in that classroom I hope you followed proper quarantine before introducing a new snake to the classroom.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Midwest

I have a similar question. My tank has a UTH on each side and together the cover a majority of the bottom. If one of them is around 78 and the other around 88-90 should I still attempt to keep ambient temps in the tank up as well. Right now the room is about 70 degrees and the ambient temp is around 72. Just curious since almost the entire surface of the tank bottom is 78 or higher? My breeder said with this type of set up the ambient temps aren't as important as long as they are above 70.

---

You can add a small wattage bulb (25 watts or less), put it closer to the middle, for ambient temps if you like. Check your temps to make sure your hot spot and cool spot are still good.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Stewart_Reptiles

Ambient temp as little to nothing to do with the hot spot and your UTH your cool and ambient temps depend on the temp in your home so if you cannot achieve 75 degrees min on the cool side you will need to either get your room temp up which is not very efficient for once snake, or supply with additional heat (can be a second heat pad with an additional thermostat set for the cool side)

Hopefully not inside the tank correct?

---

The probe is inside the tank. The heating pad is under the tank. Just watching youtube this is how we saw it done. We ran with a heat lamp for a week or two but I kept seeing heat pads are better for ball pythons.

In my head, I'm weighing out as if the same thing were happening for a person. If I'm in a warehouse, the temp for me the floor could be significantly different than the temp at the ceiling, but hey, different species here.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Teacherguy5

The probe is inside the tank. The heating pad is under the tank. Just watching youtube this is how we saw it done. We ran with a heat lamp for a week or two but I kept seeing heat pads are better for ball pythons.

---

The thermostat probe should go between the UTH and the glass, not inside the tank.

So what is a safe temp to set the thermostat to? Inside the tank, on the bottom under the aspen, it's set to 95. Just a plain glass aquarium is what he is in.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Teacherguy5

So what is a safe temp to set the thermostat to? Inside the tank, on the bottom under the aspen, it's set to 95. Just a plain glass aquarium is what he is in.

---

You should put the probe between the UTH and the bottom of the tank. Once that's done, you should set it so that the surface temp measured from the inside with a heat gun is no more than 88-90. Right now, with your probe inside and your thermostat set to 95, you're too hot.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Teacherguy5

So what is a safe temp to set the thermostat to? Inside the tank, on the bottom under the aspen, it's set to 95. Just a plain glass aquarium is what he is in.

---

This is why we research BEFORE acquiring an animal.

I'll try this again....
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ius)-Caresheet

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Teacherguy5

The probe is inside the tank. The heating pad is under the tank. Just watching youtube this is how we saw it done. We ran with a heat lamp for a week or two but I kept seeing heat pads are better for ball pythons.

In my head, I'm weighing out as if the same thing were happening for a person. If I'm in a warehouse, the temp for me the floor could be significantly different than the temp at the ceiling, but hey, different species here.

---

Well sadly the is a lot of "expert" on youtube and a lot things we have to correct the probe should NEVER be inside the enclosure regarding of the type of enclosure it should be sandwich between the uth and the bottom of the tank so on the OUTSIDE. Once done you simply adjust your t-stat to whatever setting allows you to achieve optimal temperatures.

Now why is that? Well it simple probe placed inside can

Be dislodged

Be cooled down if the animal pees large amount and they will

Be cooled down if the water dish is tipped over which they will do too

All of which will result in a false reading, leading the t-stat to think the temps are not where they should be, which means there will be an increase in heat which can and will lead to thermal burns.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Teacherguy5

So what is a safe temp to set the thermostat to? Inside the tank, on the bottom under the aspen, it's set to 95. Just a plain glass aquarium is what he is in.

---

There is obviously no one fit all set up it depends on the enclosure thickness and type, UTH, T-stat etc you just want to play with it (preferably without the animal inside which is why we recommend to setup an enclosure prior to acquiring an animal) so you achieve a stable desired temps anywhere between 88 and 90

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Craiga 01453

This is why we research BEFORE acquiring an animal.

I'll try this again....
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ius)-Caresheet

---

Don't believe it says anything about what you are quoting me on as I've already read though that page. As I said, I'm getting my info from a few places and wanting clarification.

Chill.

Even looking at the instructions on a couple thermostats, it says place them in the tank. So as I said, just looking for clarification or what other folks think. It's not rocket science, but I was interested in best practice.

A thermostat probe inside the tank has too many variables. Probes can be moved off the hot spot, peed on. Which would send your thermostat into the on position creating a unsafe heat source. Ive made the same mistakes before. Now i use thermostat with proble sandwiched between the uth and bottom of the tank. And a thermometer probe inside the hides. I find the glass is 1 or 2 degrees cooler than reading on the thermostat this way.

I've never met a snake yet that could "resist" climbing on or otherwise tugging on something like a wire in their cage, simply because they always try to gain traction by hanging onto things, so it's really "asking" for a disaster to have the probe inside the tank, IMO. When, not "if", it gets tugged away from the heat
& runs full-on, you'll have a cooked snake :tears: & we really hate hearing about such tragedies, so we do our best here to prevent them by sharing the "best"
ways to do things. Our captive snakes are depending on us to keep them safe.

Also (it has kind of been touched on) don't rely on the temp of your thermostat. I am in the learning phase and have my UTH with the probe sandwiched under the glass. I am aiming for the surface temp of the glass to be 88 degrees on the hot side. I have the thermostat set at about 92 degrees and t he glass is at 88 degrees. You need a temp gun, I have a cheep one from Amazon and it is very accurate. I go by the temp gun readings not what is on the thermostat.