No Hot Spot

[OsirisRa32]

Yea but back heat only warms the air. Since the tubs are so small, it really doesn't give them a huge gradient imo. If you kept the room at a constant 85deg i bet that balls would be fine. There'd be a bit of risk involved just bc thats not the norm, but id like to see how it turns out.

I keep my bps a bit cooler than a lot of people and they do fine. My hotspot averages 87 (between 86-88) and the cool side is usually mid 70s. I know a lot of people keep the hot sides at 90 and above though.

My room temps are 74-78 ambient due to being in the basement and my hot spots are 88-90...I check all snakes once a day and everyone is doing great except the male lesser who is in a funky seasonal food slump....

[Mike41793]

I can get that room into the upper 80s no problem.

My thoughts were to move the colubrids down into the snake room. Use that room for the babies and just not use the heat tape.

I keep the "colubrid room" at 82* with no hot spots. So I could bump the room up and move them. Anything above 82* and they soak to cool off. They can get heat tape in the main snake room because its kept at 77*

Sorry just thinking out loud.

Anyone else with advice?
Thanks for the thoughts so far.

I see no problem with that as long as it doesn't bother the colubrids too much to be kept warmer

[3skulls]

They'll be going into cooler ambient temps with a hot spot.
My rambling might not be clear :p

[Mike41793]

Oh. Nm i read that wrong lol

[satomi325]

I have hot spots for all my snakes.
However I do know a few people who just heat up the room without a hotspot. 85 seems to be the common consensus and their snakes are thriving.

I was under the impression and believe that belly heat is essential for proper digestion and general health of a ball python. Am I wrong?

Any type of heat will work for digestion, whether it be air or belly heat.
Heat and warmth increase metabolic rate aka the foundation of digestion.

[Rickys_Reptiles]

I have been experimenting with this a bit.

I built a separate room, much like a large incubator for several Ball Pythons ranging from hatchling up to adult female. The "room" is set to be 89 during the day and 85 at night. It's dark in the 24/7, so I think the night temp drops help to achieve a natural day/night cycle.

They eat consistantly, shed properly and pass waste normally.

I have not bred them in this environment just yet, but when the time comes I planned to increase the humidity in the afternoons when I get home from work. Really pump it up for an hour or so, then let it drop back down to normal. And thats it. No temp changes. I noticed that in the tropics, it rains in the winter months in the afternoons a lot.

Not sure if this will work, but I'm going to try.

What methods have you heard of for breeding without hot spots? Perhaps thre is already a tried and tested method I can adopt without trying to reinvent the wheel!

[3skulls]

So far all my babies seem to be doing good. Some of the Carpets are being picky eaters but I have only offered F/T and will be trying live next weekend. Others have ate every time.
The Rat snakes and Cal Kings are doing great. Never refuse and are putting on size.

Once I get my new baby racks in, I'm not sure if ill go to a hot spot or just keep the room temps up.

[FireStorm]

We heat our room to 85F with no hotspots. We don't change anything for breeding, but the light cycle changes naturally because the room has a window. We also maternally incubate. We have 12 clutches laid so far, and are expecting at least 22 more so it seems to be working. I suspect that if you try to breed with the temps at 89 and no gradient you may have some trouble...I believe that 89 is too high for a constant temp.

[John1982]

We heat our room to 85F with no hotspots. We don't change anything for breeding, but the light cycle changes naturally because the room has a window. We also maternally incubate. We have 12 clutches laid so far, and are expecting at least 22 more so it seems to be working. I suspect that if you try to breed with the temps at 89 and no gradient you may have some trouble...I believe that 89 is too high for a constant temp.

What's your average incubation length and hatchling weight incubating at 85F if you don't mind me asking?

[FireStorm]

Our hatchling weights ranged from 70 to 98g with most hatchlings being between 80 and 90g. This was bigger than what we had seen with higher incubation temps, but last year was the first year for maternal incubation. Previously we used an incubator at 87.5F. For hatch times, we saw from 63 days to 79 days if I remember correctly. Last year we just had the dates the females laid on their cage cards, so I don't have a consolidated record... We are keeping more detailed records this year, as it seems like we have had a lot of people ask.