Heating

[Rosy_Boa]

In my tank the heat goes up to 95 in the basking area. is this okay? i plan to have a High Gold Ball Python soon, like today or tomarow, and i wanted to know if i needed to make adjustmens on it.

[RPlank]

95 is ok. Don't let it go any higher, though.

[Rosy_Boa]

yea, thanx for the help. good to know.

[Rosy_Boa]

okay. that temperature was my day time basking. i just looked at my nightime readings and they are 78 in the heat area and 70 in the cool. is that good or bad? what is the average night temp?

[emroul]

There doesn't need to be a nighttime drop. But if there is, I would say 85-90 on the warm side, and 76-80 on the cool side. Don't let it drop below 75. Temperatures that are too cold for the bp will cause a respiratory infection.

Someone else might be able to give exact temps if they have a night time drop. Those are just estimate temps.

[Tigergenesis]

I agree - there should still be a gradient, but don't go lower than 75 on the cool side. A night drop is not required. How are you heating your cage? What are you using to measure temps? And where are you measuring?

[Rosy_Boa]

Im heating my cage during the day with a basking clear heat lamp 100 watts, made by T-Rex. At night i use a 100 watt Zoo Med nocturnal Infared Heat Lamp. the cage is in my room and that nocturnal isnt hard to sleep when its on.

[Rosy_Boa]

im using snake thermomoter's. two of them. one at the cold side and one at the hot side.

[Tigergenesis]

Hmmm...that's an awful big drop in temperature - especially if you're using the same wattage at night as in the day. What's your room temp? Does it drop like that too?

I'm wondering how accurate your thermometers are. Where in your cage have you placed them - top, middle bottom, etc? Sounds like you have the analog kind. Many people say they're junk. I'd recommend a digital thermometer with probes. They're more accurate and that way you can actually measure the ground as you need to know the belly temp - ambient temps are secondary.

[Rosy_Boa]

im not sure what a analog thermoter is but they are close to the ground. I would get a digi but i cant find one around where i live.