Night time ambient temp

[Tim Christian]

Hi all. I’m a new BP owner (almost 3 weeks) and still trying to get everything right. He (or she) is in a 40 gallon terrarium with two Zoo Med UTH’s controlled by Hydro-Farm thermostats, two AcuRite thermometers (I wanted to know the temp of both hot and cold UTH’s at a glance) and aspen bedding. I added plexiglass to the screen top which brought my humidity up to 70%. I think I have the temps pretty good during the day with the hot side UTH at 91, cool side UTH at 80 and ambient temp of 80-82.

My question is about temps at night. The UTH temps stay constant thanks to the thermostats, but the ambient temp drops to 68-70. Is this ok, since he has good belly heat to go to, or should I be concerned? I have a red heating bulb over the tank that stays on all the time, but it doesn’t seem to keep up at night. I just want to make sure I’m providing a healthy environment for him.

[David802]

Hi all. I’m a new BP owner (almost 3 weeks) and still trying to get everything right. He (or she) is in a 40 gallon terrarium with two Zoo Med UTH’s controlled by Hydro-Farm thermostats, two AcuRite thermometers (I wanted to know the temp of both hot and cold UTH’s at a glance) and aspen bedding. I added plexiglass to the screen top which brought my humidity up to 70%. I think I have the temps pretty good during the day with the hot side UTH at 91, cool side UTH at 80 and ambient temp of 80-82.

My question is about temps at night. The UTH temps stay constant thanks to the thermostats, but the ambient temp drops to 68-70. Is this ok, since he has good belly heat to go to, or should I be concerned? I have a red heating bulb over the tank that stays on all the time, but it doesn’t seem to keep up at night. I just want to make sure I’m providing a healthy environment for him.

I don't think thats ok... I was always told that any temp under 75 can cause health issues for BP's. I'd be curious to know what someone with more experiance has to say about that though.

I have one of these in my room to keep ambient temps up at night. My house temp drops down to about 50 degrees at night and it keeps my 12' x 12' room at 68 degrees on the low setting.

Seems like 50 bucks would solve your problem either way.

[JLC]

That sort of drop in temps at night is definitely not going to work long term. Wide temperature swings can put them off their food...as well as the low temps put them at risk of developing respiratory infections if continuously exposed.

There are a few different options you could consider and try...

1. Get a small space heater to keep the room warmer at night (or at least that area of the room if it's a big room)

2. Get a red heat lamp for over the cage (the red colored light won't bother them at night) and switch it on at night.

3. Insulate at least three walls of the glass tank with foam-board. (This will help with security issues as well, as some ball pythons don't care for the open exposed feeling that glass walls provide)

4. Wrap the tank in a blanket at night.

The blanket and/or insulation may or may not work and you may have to tweak different ideas to come up with an optimal solution for your particular circumstances.

[Tim Christian]

I was afraid that might be the case. I already have 3 sides insulated with foam board, and a red heat lamp over the tank. The heat lamp was keeping the temps fine at night, until I had to raise it higher when I added the Plexiglas top. I think it's just too far away now. I may have to cut a hole in the plexiglass so I can lower it back down, but that may put me low on humidity again.

Unfortunately, I have the tank in an area off the living room, which is all open from kitchen, through living room and on through a hallway. Not sure a space heater is going to make much difference on such an open area, but I'll experiment. The blanket idea might get me through the colder nights though. I'll try that tonight and see how much it helps.

Thanks so much for the suggestions. I've been learning a lot reading this forum. So many helpful people here with so much great info! I appreciate you both taking the time to help!