Setting up for BP - which heat bulb to use?

Hello all. I'm setting up for a BP. I have researched and feel pretty confident in all but one area. For the ceramic heater, what type of bulb do I use? I'm reading to use infrared, use UV, use a night time bulb, and use something that emits no light at all. Which is best? What do you use and why?

I use radiant heat panels and flexwatt under the cage so it doesn't dry out the enclosure or pose nearly the fire risk as a heat lamp. If a heat lamp is your only option I'd go with a ceramic heat emitter as low as wattage as you can get away with and controlled by a good thermostat.

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Originally Posted by MaggieMae

Hello all. I'm setting up for a BP. I have researched and feel pretty confident in all but one area. For the ceramic heater, what type of bulb do I use? I'm reading to use infrared, use UV, use a night time bulb, and use something that emits no light at all. Which is best? What do you use and why?

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Greetings! Glad you are doing your homework!

Depending on your enclosure there are many good choices. IMO: Your thermostat(s) regulating your heating elements will be the most important piece of equipment. A good proportional thermostat like a Herpstat or VE-200+ series would be ideal.

With a good thermostat: the brand of the heating element will make minimal difference unless you are referring to longevity or placement/mounting options...Of course-make sure to get a heat reflector that is rated for the CHE wattage range you choose. A CHE will produce no light and I personally consider it the best ambient heating option (shown below).

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...che_nnucqv.jpg

UV light--nothing wrong with having it, but, it is totally optional. None of my ball pythons receive UV, many generations going strong, no issues.

As for a night light: it is useful if you have a snake room with no windows and zero stray light (like a black hole-sensory dep.)--this situation would be unusual (even a single LED will throw enough light for nocturnally designed eyes). If the night light is for you to look at your pet, you could just turn on a dim lamp when you enter the room...much simpler.

:)

Does the VE series have a dimmer on it like the herpstat?

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Originally Posted by MaggieMae

Does the VE series have a dimmer on it like the herpstat?

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Have you considered using using a heat mat like previously mentioned before? They usually are a better option in general. I use one, but mine is not big enough to extend the gradient over to my cool side to get it to 77-80. To achieve this, I use CHE on my cool side turned low with a dimmer. Then on my hot side I use a heat mat with a jump start thermostat. The jump start therms are easy to use and are very cheap. They also have some cheaper.


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We do have a heat mat on the warm side. But the cool side is still too cool so we were going to add a infrared, but now we're doing the ceramic emitter instead (no light) and I do have a dimmer that I will plug that into. I'm exchanging the infrared for the heat emitter tonight.
We have a thermostat on the heat mat, but I actually just ordered the VE300x2 as well....
I think I'm getting there... I'm so glad we started setting up way in advance!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MaggieMae

We do have a heat mat on the warm side. But the cool side is still too cool so we were going to add a infrared, but now we're doing the ceramic emitter instead (no light) and I do have a dimmer that I will plug that into. I'm exchanging the infrared for the heat emitter tonight.
We have a thermostat on the heat mat, but I actually just ordered the VE300x2 as well....
I think I'm getting there... I'm so glad we started setting up way in advance!!

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Sounds good! Yeah, definitely good to start setting up early in advance to make sure everything works, goes together, and is dialed in. Definitely prevents a lot of stress. Is this your first ball python? I got my first a few weeks ago.


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Yes. Thanks for the help!