Hi all,
I am a total noob in need of help. I am a 6th grade math and science teacher and I will be welcoming a new snake (my first) into my class in 3 weeks. I have done a lot of research but am running into some questions which I must answer before I can confidently take on the responsibility of a ball python.
Here is my problem-
I currently do not know how cold my room gets at night when the the heating is shut off in the school. I will be having students keep a temperature log (I will as well) of the room temperature throughout the day. I will also record the temperature in the room early in the morning, and once or twice at night. We will do this for two weeks, but I am left with the questions:
What temperature range must the room outside of the enclosure stay such that it is possible to keep the needed temperature gradient inside of the enclosure?
This question was raised when I visited a reptile specialist pet store today (a very reputable one out here in temperate climate San Francisco) and a women said that it is not enough to ensure that I have a high wattage heat lamp connected to an accurate thermostat. She said that while it will be able to heat the entire tank (I am open to wood, plastic, glass or melamine) even in a cold room, it would heat up so quickly that the thermostat will quickly shut it off and it will not be possible to maintain the correct temperature.
I will be buying and adult that I know to be very tame and used to handling. As such this will be for an enclosure that can comfortably accommodate a full grown adult of 3-5 feet.
As I mentioned, I have done quite a bit of research and understand that I will need to do a lot of work to responsibly care for this animal. I am willing to step up. However, the first step of course is to make sure that I actually can in my circumstances.
Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated!
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