My BP never goes in his hot side hide.

[Quinnster]

Hi guys i'm a new ball python owner and i'm just wondering why my snake never stays in his hot side hide.

Try reading this slowly and try to understand what i'm saying

I have a 40 gallon tank which is quite big for my baby ball python, but I have provided him with 3 hides in his tank and lots of plants and a twisted tree log type thing to climb on.

I have one hide on the cool side, one hide in the middle (along with the water bowl), and one hide on the hot side. On the hot side I have a daylight blue lightbulb for during the day, and a infrared red lightbulb for the night. (I swap out the lightbulb. I use the daylight blue bulb from 10:00 in the morning to 10:00 at night, and the infrared red bulb from 10:00 at night to 10:00 in the morning. That gives him 12 hours of day, and 12 hours of night. That's correct right?)

So anyways. My snake is never in the hot side hide, he always stays in the middle hide where the temperature is not as warm as it should be (usually about high 70's). On the hot side of the tank, air temps reach about 86-88 degrees, while the substrate under the hide (which has the under tank heater) reach to about 90-92 degrees (sometimes a little higher). I use the digital temp gun to measure temps under the hot side hide on the substrate. Is this too hot for him for under his hide? What temp should it be under his hide on the substrate?

I hope someone can understand and help me out here. Thanks! -Quinn

[Capray]

He really needs a heat pad. Buy a zomed, attatch it to a thermostat or rheosat.

What kind and how big are the hides? They will often choose the coziness of the hide over the warmth they get.

[Capray]

The lighting thing actually doesn't matter that much for ball pythons, as long as it's giving heat. People often want UV because it's not constant brightness, but it's fine with your light setup. Just not as important for a snake that naturally live in the dark.

[Quinnster]

Thanks for replying so quickly! Here's a pic of my terranium:



Sorry that it's upside down, idk what happened. Anyways, I moved the tree to cool side (so imagine that tree on the other side of the tank.) So those are the hides, I have a small half log on the cool side, that tiki kind of hide with a front and back entrance in the middle, and another small half log on the hot side. The hot side has the heat lamp, and a under tank heater under the hide on the hot side.

Ps, the tiki hide in the middle is on raised bedding for decoration. That tree bark flat is holding the bedding against the glass wall holding the hide on top. Just in case you're wondering.

[BPro927]

The ambient air temp is pretty high considering it is an open tank! You might want to double and triple check that! No mention of an under tank heater?

UTH > Bulb heat!!!

A BP wants to feel secure! If the BP can touch 3 sides of the hide, it is good! 3 sides and the roof of the hide, PERFECT!

Oh and I hate aquariums for snake enclosures!

[Quinnster]

The ambient air temp is pretty high considering it is an open tank! You might want to double and triple check that! No mention of an under tank heater?

UTH > Bulb heat!!!

A BP wants to feel secure! If the BP can touch 3 sides of the hide, it is good! 3 sides and the roof of the hide, PERFECT!

Oh and I hate aquariums for snake enclosures!

I mentioned an under tank heater in the starter post, and in a reply from another user. That's 2 mentions

I'm scared that using only the under tank heater will not heat my tank as it should, that's why I use the heat lamp and the under tank heater at the same time.


I meant the temp of the hot side is around 86-88 degrees. That's like right under the heat lamp. The temp of the bedding under the hide is like 90-92 using the temp gun. Is that too hot for the snake?

[Capray]

We mean a combination of the heat from the lamps, and heat from the UTH.

It's a bit hot but not horrible. The pic of the tank didn't work. I'm confused. How many lamps are there?

[Quinnster]

Sorry for the picture not working. Anyways, there is only 1 heat lamp. It is on the right side of the tank, along with the under tank heater on the right side of the tank. The temperature under the heat lamp is 86-88. The ground of the tank on the hot side is around 90-93. So what do you think I should do? I don't want to burn the tank. Is my snake not hiding on the hot side becase the ground is too hot?

[Capray]

The issue is the hides then. Get him three normal cave hides that have one entrance.

I'm guessing the heat's only part of the case then...Hm. Maybe try moving the lamp so it's kinda in a part where there are no hides? So there's no hide with too intense heat.

[kitedemon]

This is a small snake right? They don't need as hight temps as larger snakes. I keep my hot spots at 88 for little ones. They produce heat when digesting and that can add a few degrees. Add the error rate of most it guns (2 degrees) you could actually be quite a bit hotter than you expect. It is quite easy to try just drop the hot spot a bit and give it a week or so and see what he does. Typically the hot spot is only needed after a meal or if the temps drop.

Tanks are fine btw uth are ok as well but bulbs heat air and surface uth only surface so they are completely different heat types. If your room is cool the bulb is needed period.


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