Which heat lamp(?) is best?

[Brixxart]

So, I kinda sorta impulse bought a bp this weekend, whoops.

I had already been looking into their care so I bought all the supplies I need..

But... my 20g tank doesn't seem to be keeping heat. at all.

I have an UTH which is on a light dimmer, with a temp probe against the glass above the mat which reads 90 degrees after hours of running it to establish the stability.

But I have a hide over that area... so outside the hide is all... 72-75 degrees as is ambient in my home.

So I was looking into maybe getting a heat lamp as well? Ceramic heat emitter best? Which brand? Which dome? How to mount it? Could anyone be so kind to provide me links on amazon to which would be the best for me to buy? Thank you so much if you could. Would I need a second "thermostat" or lightdimmer?

[JodanOrNoDan]

In my opinion there is no such thing as a good heat lamp for a ball python. If you have to do something along those lines I would use a CHE. You do need to get your heat mat on a thermostat. Bad things happen without a thermostat.

[Brixxart]

Working on getting a thermostat asap, will have one by the end of the week hopefully! I know the importance of them and am just using my dimmer in a bind!

[monks98]

I also am of the opinion that the best heat lamp is no heat lamp. If you need ambient temps raised I would suggest a space heater. We have a room dedicated to our snakes and use a combo heater/humidifier to keep the room what we need it at. As well as heat tape and thermostats.

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[Regius_049]

But... my 20g tank doesn't seem to be keeping heat. at all.

The thermal conductivity of glass is a fair bit higher than most commercial plastics (polypropylene, PVC, polyethylene, etc.) which means that it won't hold heat well by comparison. This is one of the reasons people tend to recommend plastic enclosures over aquariums. Also, glass makes a space feel much more open compared to an enclosure which is opaque on 5/6 sides or overall semi-opaque like a tub. In regards to your ambient temps in your house, while not optimal, a ball python is unlikely to suffer any major issues from a 72-75 F ambient as long as you have an 88-93 F hot spot that allows it to raise its body temperature to the required levels for thermoregulation (high 80s) in the short term.

People usually don't recommend heat bulbs for two reasons: (1) they can be bright and without good hiding places, can cause unnecessary stress, and (2) they can substantially reduce humidity. You'll find most people use either (a) UTH heaters such as flexwatt or ultratherm, or (b) radiant heat panels. These heating methods tend to preserve humidity and do not give off unnecessary light. If I were you, I would do the following:

1. As others have noted, get a good thermostat, you will need it for pretty much any heating source you will use.

2. I would move the snake from your 20g to an appropriately sized polypropylene tub. Thicker plastic is better, but you won't have much control over this parameter in a commercially offered tub. Almost any local store (walmart, home depot, lowes, etc.) should have some. Theres several threads that can show you how to set this up.

3. Once you have your tub set up, you have an enclosure that will work for the time being. After you have your snake situated you can decide if you want to stick with tubs or move to a plastic enclosure designed for reptiles. With plastic enclosures (see animal plastics, constrictors NW, boaphile, etc. for examples) or larger tubs you can use radiant heat panels. These operate similar to the suns radiant heat. The heat downward and heat up objects which give off heat to the environment. The effectiveness of these in heating a cage depends on a few variables such as the thickness and insulative properties of the enclosure walls (read: thick plastic is your friend here) and also the thermal mass of objects in the enclosure. Alternatively, you can heat the room via space heater per monks98 suggestion and provide the appropriate hot spot with UTH.

[Brixxart]

The thermal conductivity of glass is a fair bit higher than most commercial plastics (polypropylene, PVC, polyethylene, etc.) which means that it won't hold heat well by comparison. This is one of the reasons people tend to recommend plastic enclosures over aquariums. Also, glass makes a space feel much more open compared to an enclosure which is opaque on 5/6 sides or overall semi-opaque like a tub. In regards to your ambient temps in your house, while not optimal, a ball python is unlikely to suffer any major issues from a 72-75 F ambient as long as you have an 88-93 F hot spot that allows it to raise its body temperature to the required levels for thermoregulation (high 80s) in the short term.

People usually don't recommend heat bulbs for two reasons: (1) they can be bright and without good hiding places, can cause unnecessary stress, and (2) they can substantially reduce humidity. You'll find most people use either (a) UTH heaters such as flexwatt or ultratherm, or (b) radiant heat panels. These heating methods tend to preserve humidity and do not give off unnecessary light. If I were you, I would do the following:

1. As others have noted, get a good thermostat, you will need it for pretty much any heating source you will use.

2. I would move the snake from your 20g to an appropriately sized polypropylene tub. Thicker plastic is better, but you won't have much control over this parameter in a commercially offered tub. Almost any local store (walmart, home depot, lowes, etc.) should have some. Theres several threads that can show you how to set this up.

3. Once you have your tub set up, you have an enclosure that will work for the time being. After you have your snake situated you can decide if you want to stick with tubs or move to a plastic enclosure designed for reptiles. With plastic enclosures (see animal plastics, constrictors NW, boaphile, etc. for examples) or larger tubs you can use radiant heat panels. These operate similar to the suns radiant heat. The heat downward and heat up objects which give off heat to the environment. The effectiveness of these in heating a cage depends on a few variables such as the thickness and insulative properties of the enclosure walls (read: thick plastic is your friend here) and also the thermal mass of objects in the enclosure. Alternatively, you can heat the room via space heater per monks98 suggestion and provide the appropriate hot spot with UTH.

Hey there, I have my boa in a pvc cage with a RHP and a thermostat, and I'll be working on getting another enclosure for him as I know glass isn't optimal I just happened to see a 20g for $15 on craigslist and thought it would indeed work for a temporary fix, ultimate goal will be a pvc with a heat panel like my boa has, but I was looking for a short term solution.

I'll be stopping by Michaels tomorrow and pick up some foam-core which I will be enclosing three sides and the lid of the enclosure in (with a few open places in the lid for ventilation), so he'll be better insulated for the time being, I knew actual "lit" lights were not recommended all I made this thread for originally was looking for someone to tell me which ceramic heat emitter would be best and which dome to buy with it

But I'm just going to go with the foam-core until I can get a pvc set up. (And the UTH will be on a therm by the end of the week. but right now it's maintaining a steady 88 and I'm closely manually monitoring it until my thermostat arrives.)