Temps..........?

Ok, I am a fairly new ball caretaker ( i do not like saying owner because my Garters are so spoiled = they eat off of plates and so have it their way), and i have been purusing this site for the last week looking at temps, humidity, feeding, ect....

Now I ask this for information purposes only.... I have been seeing every one posting that ball should be kept at a 92-94 hot side and low 80s for the cold side with air temp in the mid 80's ...... Ok I have the cold side reading at 78 1st thing in the morning and by the afternoon it is reading about 82....(55Gallon glass tank) and the hot side is reading 89... now my little baby ball stays right in the middle of the tank.... Not on the cold and not in the heat. This snake appears to bevery healthy, Avid eater, cruises around at night. will know more for sure after it's first check up tomorrow,... but what are temps suppose to be by the book and what are the temps suppose to be by what others actually practice... Oh and by the way I am in the Bay Area CA where just last week week end we were in the 100s so I do not want to over heat this baby.:confused:

I was wondering this aswell...

Would it be wise to turn off all heat sources if room temperature is above ~95F?

Well you should be using a thermostat that would control the temps in the enclosure. So if the room got over 95*, then it would just shut off.

Shoot for the suggested hot side temp of 92-94*. That is probably the most important. Your cool side can fluctuate a bit and your BP will be just fine.

Does your ball python have two tight fitting hides that are identical? One for the cool side and one for the hot side.

I'm using light dimmers so I will have to manually turn them off when room temperature is above 95F.

Thanks for the info! :gj:

PS sorry for hijacking your thread k2l3d4. It wasn't intended.

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Originally Posted by eMonk

I'm using light dimmers so I will have to manually turn them off when room temperature is above 95F.

Thanks for the info! :gj:

PS sorry for hijacking your thread k2l3d4. It wasn't intended.

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If your room temps get that hot or fluctuate a lot, a dimmer will not cut it. You really should get a thermostat to prevent heat spikes. If you don't you will find yourself adjust the dimmer every hour to compensate for the room temp change.

Trust me, your life will be so much easier after you get a thermostat.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

If your room temps get that hot or fluctuate a lot, a dimmer will not cut it. You really should get a thermostat to prevent heat spikes. If you don't you will find yourself adjust the dimmer every hour to compensate for the room temp change.

Trust me, your life will be so much easier after you get a thermostat.

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Which thermostat do you recommend? Wouldn't it need 2 probes for both the hot & cool side inorder for it to know when to turn off & on?

For example, the Zoo-Med 500r only has 1 probe I believe. Can you set it to turn off when the probe is over 95F?

So far I am running with just a lamp dimmer and the hot temp has stayed pretty constant.... When the outside temps hit the 100s I turn on the AC in my place so I am not too worried about the ambient temps.

And as far as identicle hides? Yes I have plenty of hides... I have two of the same on each side of the tank, and then a low lying bush (that the baby hangs out under,) and then a hollowed out log thing that helps to connect the whole tank. If the baby wants it can get from one end of the tank to the other with out ever having to show itself.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by eMonk

Which thermostat do you recommend? Wouldn't it need 2 probes for both the hot & cool side inorder for it to know when to turn off & on?

For example, the Zoo-Med 500r only has 1 probe I believe. Can you set it to turn off when the probe is over 95F?

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If you have two heating pads, then you can actually still get away with just one thermostat. The 500r is a good starter thermostat. I have used it and was very pleased with it. If you want to use it to control a warm and a cool side, plug the cool side into a dimmer and then into the thermostat, this allows you to dial down the hot side temp to give you the correct cool side temp. Make sense?

Is your baby ball python in a 55 gallon tank? This could be a big source of your problems, he is only staying towards the middle because the tank is very large and he feels insecure. Just asking for clarification.

That does seem like a large tank for a young snake, but i am no expert on younger snakes. As far as thermostats, i would recommend spending more money now and get a really good one like a Helix or Herpstat. they offer much finer control over temperature that cheaper ones. I own a helix and love it.

Move the baby out of the 55 gallon. That is too big even for a full grown adult. Laying in the middle of the enclosure is a sign that your baby is stressed. They should spend about 90% of their time hiding.

Here is a picture of my set up.....

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...5_923290_s.jpg[/IMG]

My baby likes to hang out under the bush and is able to move the whole length of the tank in hiding....

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

Move the baby out of the 55 gallon. That is too big even for a full grown adult. Laying in the middle of the enclosure is a sign that your baby is stressed. They should spend about 90% of their time hiding.

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Wow.... 55 is too big for a snake that will live for 20 to 40 years? That does not seem reasonable..... I have heard that for the lifetime of the snake one woudl look at a 150 gallon tank.... I mean if I were to put the baby in the 30 gallon that I have my two garters in,.. there would be no room for the baby to raom... As it did from 11:15 pm, last night until who knows when. My snake shows no signs of stress and seems to like the area that it has to be able to moce about. I bought the snake from Petco and they had six ball pythons in a 20 gallon tank..... Eicks. poor things. how on earth would they build up their muscles when they had no room to move about..

What I was trying to show by where my snake is in the tank was in regards to temperatures.... My tank is not running quite 92 degrees and the baby seems to choose to stay on the warm side of the hot instead of on the hot side.