I'd recommend you skip a bulb and opt for an under tank heater with a thermostat since bulbs suck humidity out of the air and you'd need a bulb that doesn't generate white light, since a nocturnal animal like a ball python is not going to tolerate constant bright light.
i have a uth but it doesnt keep the tank temperatures constant i want to put one of those infared lights or a ceramic heat element maybee one of those blue infared lights i dont what. what do you think is best?
UTHs should be fine.. what kind do you have anyway? I use flexwatt. I don't have a bulb on anything (I've got 18 snakes on UTHs)
If you have the snake in a cool room, you may need two separate pieces of flexwatt, one for the cool side, one for the warm.. but I just got a space heater for my herp room so it isn't a problem.
its a zoo med i belive it came in a kit with the tank. i sleep in the same room with the cage so i cant have a space heater on all the time it would be to hot to sleep.
is it me or do some people go to extremes for the temperatures if i keep it in the upper 80s he will be fine right i am not trying to bread. i just want one to take care of. i work in a profesional level job and i am not always there to take care of more than one snake. i just want this one to nice and healthy for the next 30 years.
I also have problems keeping the tank's general temp high enough with a UTH. I'd take Shelby's advice and purchase a better UTH. If you put a infrared bulb on it you'll be swapping temps for humidity. I have never used the ceramic bulbs so I don't know how they will work.