Hello, i am planning to buy a baby ball in September and ive already started building my terrarium slowly slowly.
I've got a nice 80x35x40cm terrarium, which shouldn't be too big for the python to freak out and ive started decorating and setting it up.
I got 2 pieces of artificial grass (brown colour) for a substrate cause i found on youtube that its actually a good choice and im going to replace the dirty one with the clean one each time.
Im building an Ancient Greek decor inside with a Spartan Helmet and an other pot for hides in each side of the tank (1 at the warm and 1 at the cooler side).
I already have a 50w Red heat lamp hanging in one side of the tank, the watts should be sufficient for the size of my tank and the red colour will not scare the python or mess his day/time perception.
I know that the heat is dangerous for him so i made a custom heat guard, from a pencil case i had , so that the snake doesn't go and burn itself on it. My worry is, though, that the guard still gets quite hot, and i dont know if it will damage the python if it goes and touches it...so now im thinking of removing the lamp altogether and replacing the heat source with a heat mat.
The problem is that the substrate i have is quite thick cause its plastic underneath and then there is an inch or so of artificial grass on it, so im wondering if a heat mat will do the job. You can imagine there will be quite a distance from the heat mat to the snake. I dont have an idea of how strong heat a mat can produce and i understand i can buy different voltage mats, so this is my question...Do you think the python is still going to mess himself up, even though i put a guard on the heat lamp? And if yes and im gonna have to buy heat mats, what voltage mats should i get in order for the heat to pass through the plastic base of the substrate and the length of the artificial grass to reach the tank? (keep in mind the size of the tank which is 110 litres i believe, so i dont think i need a super strong mat)
I appreciate your time and i am looking forward to reading your advice. Thanks.
Reply With Quote