No Hotspot

[purple python]

I have successfully kept snakes by heating the room to 84-86F and did not provide hot spots I will be moving my collection of ball pythons into the same room and I am curious if I still need to provide a hot spot when ambient temperatures are this high.

Opinions?

[kiiarah]

I would be interested to know this as well. I am not in a position to keep any room in my house that hot, but it is a question I have never seen posed before. My understanding is that the belly heat specifically is needed for digestion. I suppose if the surface temps measured by an IR thermometer were reading 86 degrees it would be fine, maybe just a bit on the low side. Have you measured the surface temps to be sure that the ambient room temps are properly transferring to an equal ground temp? My biggest concern I think would be that typically it is recommended (at least for bps) to give them a thermal gradient to allow them to regulate their temperature. If you were able to achieve correct hot spot temps with just the ambient room temp that would probably cover digestion issues but you would essentially be making the entire tank a hot spot. With no way to get away from the hot area if needed the snake would be unable to cool down and it seems like this could lead to other issues. I have never tried this and like I said I haven't seen the question asked before, so none of this is advice, just thinking "out loud". I think that would be my biggest concern though, not having that recommended 10 or so degree difference through the tank. I just can't see any way to use room temp to achieve enough hot side heat without overheating the rest of the tank, and of course lowering the room temp to provide a cooler area would be giving up the needed heat. Personally I would follow the 80 degree ambient and 90 degree hot spot with a UTH guideline to be on the safe side. Otherwise it would be quite possible that the snake could be uncomfortable or have inner symptoms despite looking fine.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I actually have done it back when I was keeping Leopard Geckos a few years back.