Hello, I'm new to this forum so I apologize for any mistakes. Sorry for so much text but I gotta explain my situation. Please read it all if you're gonna respond!
So I got my first ball python about six days ago and I'm stressing out about maintaining the proper ambient temperature for him in my cold house.
He currently has one heat mat on a thermostat. The ambient temp in my room has been 78-80 F (only because of a space heater) and the hot spot has been reading 84-86 F. The problem is that I live in a place where the temperatures fluctuate a lot. It's been in the 40s all week. I'll go to bed sweating hot and wake up the next morning freezing cold. Our house is almost always in the mid 60s during the colder months and we run the air conditioner in the summer.
I've been running my space heater (with no thermostat currently) all night to make sure it doesn't get too cold and then I keep it off all day. (it stays 79-80 in my room throughout the day.) I'm worried about the space heater using up a lot of power and blowing up our electric bill. A lot of people say to just heat the room 24/7 but they're almost always replying to people who have multiple snakes or a rack system they need to keep warm. I only have ONE snake so heating my entire bedroom just for him isn't exactly ideal.
Would it be cheaper and safer to get a thermostat for the space heater and have it run 24/7 at like, 75 degrees? On a thermostat, the space heater will shut off when the set temperature is met, right? So it wouldn't run 24/7, only when it needs to like when it gets cold? I've never used one before so I don't know, sorry for the dumb question lol
Orr would the CHE lamp be a better and cheaper option? I'm really worried about the CHE because 1. fire hazard 2. I have a plastic tub so it'd have to be suspended with a stand so it doesn't melt anything and 3. My BP is only 4 months old and his tub is pretty small and I don't want it to get too hot because of how small it is. If I got a CHE lamp it would also be on a thermostat though.
What would be the best and most cost effective way to go about this?
Help is very much appreciated. Thank you!
Reply With Quote