30 gallon enosure

[Matty88]

Hi everyone,

Question concerning UTH and Ceramic Heat Bulb.

My terra is 36x12.5x15.5 inches

Should I have my heat mat (on thermostat) on one side and my Ceramic Heat Bulb(on dimmer)in the other or both in same side or something completely different. (I have a bunch of thermometers with probes as well that will be going in the tank obviously lol).

Thanks in advance

[Bogertophis]

Hard to answer this without knowing the ambient temperatures in your home or room where the enclosure will be: For the most part, you want a warm side & a cool (unheated) side so a snake can choose the temperature they need. The exception would be something like a BP needing a fairly warm temperature range (78-80* cool side & 88-90* max warm side) IF by not heating one side, it will be too cold for the occupant (like if you keep the A/C to the extent that it ends up being 72* or something), then & only then you'd need some minimal heat source to keep the "cool side" at the proper range for your snake.

Otherwise, normally, the heat goes on one end, a second source if needed might be more to the middle, leaving an unheated part (about a third of the floor) for safety & needed thermoregulation for the snake- they need to be able to choose the right temperatures as needed. Make sense? So place the heat sources where they will get you the temps your snake needs- and fully test them for at least a few days before the snake moves in- you might need to move them around again.

[Matty88]

It is for a Butter Fire OD Ball Python.

Ambient temp in the room is between 69F and 72.5F

[Matty88]

Hard to answer this without knowing the ambient temperatures in your home or room where the enclosure will be: For the most part, you want a warm side & a cool (unheated) side so a snake can choose the temperature they need. The exception would be something like a BP needing a fairly warm temperature range (78-80* cool side & 88-90* max warm side) IF by not heating one side, it will be too cold for the occupant (like if you keep the A/C to the extent that it ends up being 72* or something), then & only then you'd need some minimal heat source to keep the "cool side" at the proper range for your snake.

Otherwise, normally, the heat goes on one end, a second source if needed might be more to the middle, leaving an unheated part (about a third of the floor) for safety & needed thermoregulation for the snake- they need to be able to choose the right temperatures as needed. Make sense? So place the heat sources where they will get you the temps your snake needs- and fully test them for at least a few days before the snake moves in- you might need to move them around again.

It is for a Butter Fire OD Ball Python.

Ambient temp in the room is between 69F and 72.5F

[Bogertophis]

It is for a Butter Fire OD Ball Python.

Ambient temp in the room is between 69F and 72.5F

If it was for something like a corn snake, you'd only need some heat at one end, or maybe just in one corner, because they're comfortable at 70-72* ambient in their enclosure for the most part. But BPs need more warmth...

[Matty88]

For sure I've done a lot of research just also a lot of mixed info out there....so here's what I was thinking of doing.

Heat pad on cold side to heat substrate to 80F (it will be in a thermostat)

And then

Ceramic Heat Bulb for hot side to get the ambient air up to 88-90F (either on dimmer or pulse proportion thermostat)

Any takes on this?

[Bogertophis]

For sure I've done a lot of research just also a lot of mixed info out there....so here's what I was thinking of doing.

Heat pad on cold side to heat substrate to 80F (it will be in a thermostat)

And then

Ceramic Heat Bulb for hot side to get the ambient air up to 88-90F (either on dimmer or pulse proportion thermostat)

Any takes on this?

I agree about the "cold side" but remember that heat rises, so using a heat bulb on the warm side might not be enough to adequately warm the floor (insulating the enclosure could help though). Also, BPs need about 55% humidity (more in shed) so keep in mind that heat bulbs tend to remove a lot of the humidity, according to those using them.

[Bogertophis]

So then obviously you're going to need some heat on both ends of this enclosure. No heat added at one end would be too chilly for a BP. Trial & error as to placement, try it & test it for a few days until you get it where it needs to be. (UTH heat tends to build up- you may not see the ultimate temperatures as quickly as would be convenient.)

[Matty88]

I live in Montreal Canada so we also have very cold winters lol

ok perfect thank you for the info.

[nikkubus]

I would put the heat mat on the hot end set to 90 or just above by placing the thermostat probe on the heat mat, and then checking what the temp is inside the enclosure under the substrate. You want it no more than 90 inside.

I would put the CHE near the center, but slightly towards the hot end, set to 84F ambient under it about an inch above substrate and see what temps you get ambient in the hot and cool side. Your ambient shouldn't be 88-90, that's too hot. If the cool side is still under 78, I would slowly move the CHE towards the cold side while turning it down a tad. If the cool side is above 82, I would just turn it down a bit. Any adjustments or movement of the CHE should be done after several hours, as it takes quite some time for everything to stabilize.

If the snake is already in this enclosure, I would start the CHE dimmed to just barely on and slowly turn it up after several hours as needed. Too hot will cause problems a lot faster than too cold.

CHE is not ideal, and if you have the money, RHP (radiant heat panel) is a better choice for ball pythons. It will dry the air a lot less, and won't cause heat spikes like a CHE that is too high wattage will. A dimmer is better than nothing, but as your house ambient changes, it will change how hot the CHE is actually making your enclosure, and is not ideal either. A pulse proportional thermostat is a better way to regulate a CHE that can adjust as needed when you house temp changes.