Newbie needs heating help!

[baskingbaby]

Hi everyone! I'm a total newbie here....I'm a vet tech and owner of what I call a small zoo....3 dogs, 1 cat and 6 bearded dragons. I'm going to be the proud mom of a bumble bee BP soon! I'm so excited I could pop :-D He's a baby, I'm waiting on updates of his weight and everything. His name will be Severus.

Ok, so I have a bunch of 40 gallon breeder tanks, a 20 gal tank, and a custom made wood cage which was supposedly made for snakes. I'd love to use the custom wood cage because it's a perfect size and I think would be a good choice for him. It has a lock, opens to the front, has a screen top, etc. My tanks don't have locking lids and I would have some issues re-organizing the dragons.

I need some MAJOR help here on what to do for heating. I honestly have read so much about it, but don't really know where to begin. HELPPPP!
Ideally what I would like to do is use a ceramic heat emitter (on the screen top) for his heat source, maybe a low wattage bulb for lighting (?) and of course some type of thermostat for the CHE. It seems most people like using the under tank heaters...which I think may be an issue for me. First off, the cage is on my floor which is carpet. Second, the wood cage seems pretty thick, and the inside is lined with tile which is grouted in. So I can't really see the under tank heater even getting through those layers. I plan on covering the tile with bedding of some sort (carefresh paper stuff? or aspen....help there too please)

So any help will be greatly appreciated. I'm trying to get everything perfect before he comes so it's as stress-less as possible. I REALLY don't want to go with the tub/plastic bin route because I have a cat and I can't imagine him not trying to jump in and I don't like the look either. I had an "ex" friend that had 2 BPs and had a heat lamp for them...they were huge and healthy and just fine....so I guess the CHE could be done, but I want to do what's best! I'm including a few pics of the cage in question, pardon the cramped space as it's being split for 2 males at this time!

Thanks so much, I look forward to seeing your replies. I'll be back with tons and tons more questions, so it's nice to meet you all!
-Lauren

[OzarkPythons]

I would try to pick up a locking lid for one of the tanks and pick up an undertank heat pad+thermostat.
Ball pythons like to hide and light heat sources work, but they can stress them. Especially if its the only heat source and left on all the time. Theyre def. Nocturnal and prefer dark places.

As for bedding.. Newspaper, aspen, and cypress mulch are awesome choices.

[Ridinandreptiles]

With a screen top cypress is goods because it holds humidity, I think I see apr in that enclosure. If that is the one a snake will surely get stuck to it so that would need to be removes

[OzarkPythons]

On another note, welcome to the forums and congrats on your bee
You should know, ball pythons are like pringles. Once you pop, you cant stop

[MrBrute]

here did you get your cage?

Hi everyone! I'm a total newbie here....I'm a vet tech and owner of what I call a small zoo....3 dogs, 1 cat and 6 bearded dragons. I'm going to be the proud mom of a bumble bee BP soon! I'm so excited I could pop :-D He's a baby, I'm waiting on updates of his weight and everything. His name will be Severus.

Ok, so I have a bunch of 40 gallon breeder tanks, a 20 gal tank, and a custom made wood cage which was supposedly made for snakes. I'd love to use the custom wood cage because it's a perfect size and I think would be a good choice for him. It has a lock, opens to the front, has a screen top, etc. My tanks don't have locking lids and I would have some issues re-organizing the dragons.

I need some MAJOR help here on what to do for heating. I honestly have read so much about it, but don't really know where to begin. HELPPPP!
Ideally what I would like to do is use a ceramic heat emitter (on the screen top) for his heat source, maybe a low wattage bulb for lighting (?) and of course some type of thermostat for the CHE. It seems most people like using the under tank heaters...which I think may be an issue for me. First off, the cage is on my floor which is carpet. Second, the wood cage seems pretty thick, and the inside is lined with tile which is grouted in. So I can't really see the under tank heater even getting through those layers. I plan on covering the tile with bedding of some sort (carefresh paper stuff? or aspen....help there too please)

So any help will be greatly appreciated. I'm trying to get everything perfect before he comes so it's as stress-less as possible. I REALLY don't want to go with the tub/plastic bin route because I have a cat and I can't imagine him not trying to jump in and I don't like the look either. I had an "ex" friend that had 2 BPs and had a heat lamp for them...they were huge and healthy and just fine....so I guess the CHE could be done, but I want to do what's best! I'm including a few pics of the cage in question, pardon the cramped space as it's being split for 2 males at this time!

Thanks so much, I look forward to seeing your replies. I'll be back with tons and tons more questions, so it's nice to meet you all!
-Lauren

[I-KandyReptiles]

A lot of people like using UTHs because ball pythons use belly heat to digest food.

What you could do is rip up the tiles, place the UTH underneath and place the tiles back ontop. As long as you have a thermostat to regulate temps, it should be fine

[baskingbaby]

Thanks for the welcome, and the help everyone! I'm still really unsure of what I want to do though. I've talked to a lot of people locally who say Ceramic Heat Emitters work just fine (they do NOT produce any light)....but if the snake needs belly heat to digest food, then I can see that being a problem. I really didn't want to go the UTH route :-\ I'll see what I can do as far as getting the tile up.

Oh, and question...RidinandReptiles what do you mean by an "apr" in my cage? Sorry for my ignorance but I'm really new at the snake world!