I have a ball python here (I think he is about 2 y/o). My teenage daughter just got him at the end of December from a rescue. I know this is a long post, but I'm hoping to help someone help me by giving the complete information at once. Thanks in advance to anyone kind enough to read through it and respond. Please have mercy on me. I'm an old lady who was given ZERO notice a ball python was moving in, so I couldn't research supplies and buy ahead of time. I don't have faith in the local retail reptile "experts". Some even have convictions for reptile related offenses When we called looking for a thermostat, the reptile specialty store told us over the phone we didn't NEED any thermostat on the UTH. Or the UTH at all for that matter. Just a rheosat and they had none in stock anyway. The other stores with huge reptile selections didn't stock ANY thermostat, just rheostats.

The snake is currently in a 30 gallon glass tank (36x 16x12) covered with screen top. We have no choice but to put it on a wall window so we put insulation over the window and covered the back and one side of the tank with metallic bubble wrap type insulation I have a loose piece of that metallic bubble wrap covering g 3/4 of the screen top, but can take it on & off to aid circulation or retain heat.

I think his tank is not warm enough and was hoping someone here could advise me. We have a new acu-rite thermometer inside the tank. I think it is accurate because it agrees with another brand digital thermometer. The thermometer unit is on the cool side of the tank. Right now it reads 73.4F. The wire sensor for the "outside" reading is on the hot side inside the hide under the thin layer of Eco earth substrate. That temp reads 81.9F, and I thought it should be quite a bit higher than that.

The substrate was damp when it was placed this weekend, and it is causing high humidity. We definitely won't repeat that mistake. The rescue sold it to my kid with the snake, and she likes the substrate, we just need to dry it out before placing it next time or switch to aspen or something. There is a very thin layer of the substrate in the hide, so I don't think that alone is keeping the temp too low.

I really would like to buy something that I could screw into the existing over the tank lamp fixture with metal hood which currently has a Repticare 150 watt ceramic infrared Heat Emitter (labelled for 50 to 100 gallon tanks). The reasoning is I'm freaked out about fire, the snake is in my kid's room, and I have other pets. This lamp set-up is easy to secure the metal housing to the top of the screen for safety purposes and keeps the cord off the heated lamp shade cover. However, that might actually be some of or my entire problem because the heat emitter bulb is held 1.5 to 2 inches ABOVE the screen, and the screen is 17 inches vertically from the bottom of the tank. I was hoping I could just buy a stronger wattage ceramic emitter or similar and hook it up to a rheostat to raise/lower the wattage as ambient conditions change. If my problem is that the current lamp holder keeps the emitter too high off the tank screen is my problem, of course I'll replace it. I'd like to replace it with a similar set up, though.

The only other heat source I am using is a 16w Zilla Medium UTH hooked up to a Zilla 1000w temperature controller thermostat. The sensor for the thermostat is on the OUTSIDE of the bottom of the tank between the glass & the uth. Is that right? It isn't what the manufacturer recommends for placement, but from my online research, I thought what I did was a better plan (and if I blindly adhere to every Zilla or Zoomed instruction, my snake won't live to see Christmas). The thermostat is set for 95 but light on the thermostat is RED right now which makes me think it has the UTH off? Also, when I crank the thermostat up all the way to 105, the light stays red. How can I tell if the thermostat is broke when all the UTHs feel off and useless to me by touch? I will buy a heat gun but don't have one in the house right now. I am planning on ordering a Herpstat but the Zilla 1000w was the only thermostat of any kind available locally and I wanted something until I order nd receive a Herpstat. BTW, Herpstat web site says new models are coming out in February. nHerpstat isn't answering my emails from yesterday either. I'm thinking I should I disconnect the thermostat and try the UTH on without it to see if it warms up per the acu-rite sensor above it?

The tank itself is on a wood dresser, but we have it held a bit above the actual wood surface by some furniture grippers. I *thought* that was preferable to placing the tank with the uth directly on the dresser for safety, circulation, and uth operation purposes. We did NOT use the adhesive on the uth to stick it to the bottom of the tank. The uth is taped to the bottom of the glass tank as tight as I can reasonably get it, but it isn't 100% in contact because I have the thermostat sensor under there.

The ambient room temperature outside the tank is about 70F. I live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, so the room temperature will swing throughout the year. In winter, we keep the house about 70F during the day and as low as 65F at night. However, I kept the heat on a constant 70 last night because I'm afraid the snake is cold enough already.