This is my first winter in vermont with my snake

[hermeticcharm]

Some times the temperatures can drop to -20 or lower here. What should I do to prepare?

I was thinking about moving his viv to the bedroom, which is the smallest room in the apartment, and getting a space heater with digital thermostat and keeping the room at somewhere around 76-80 (warm enough for his tank to properly heat itself and not so hot that I drown in my jammies). Oh gawd my electric bill is gonna rock my face.

[omnibus2]

Holy crap that is cold!

Well aside from a good uth with thermostat, you could get a good wattage heat lamp, maybe 75 watts.

They DO DESSICATE, which sucks, but if it gets cold you can turn it on for extra warmth.

There are also some insulating materials that I am not knowledge of, I'm sure others will chime in.

[hermeticcharm]

I do have uth, therm, and heat lamps for day and night cycle mostly (since my girlfriend likes to keep the curtains closed and lights off, freakin vampire i swear lol) in turn I get to battle humidity levels hehe. Some sort of insulation might be a good idea.

[hermeticcharm]

What about a CHE? Do those produce light or could I have one on all night?

[SlitherinSisters]

I live in Iowa and we often get below 0 as well. My snake room in the basement and in the winter time I keep a space heater in there to keep it around 73 degrees, higher if it's not so cold outside. I also keep hand warmers stocked just in case there is a power outage. We had a short power outage last year and I threw some hand warmers under the tubs and draped several blankets over the rack to help hold the heat in.

BTW you don't really have to worry about day light by using a heat lamp. Unless you need the heat lamp for heat I suggest not using it. Heat lamps cause all sorts of humidity issues and it's just easier not to use it if you have UTH. In my experience BPs don't need the sunlight. My basement is dark and this winter I'm covering the windows with insulation. There isn't much light that gets in from the windows currently, and the racks make it even harder for light to reach the BPs. I haven't had any issues with my BPs, but maybe that's why my snakes will eat any time of day! lol

[NorthernRegius]

What about a CHE? Do those produce light or could I have one on all night?

Should work great, just have it so the snake can't directly touch it. Also your room should stay at least 72F if you expect to keep the temps good for your snake.

[blackcrystal22]

I do have uth, therm, and heat lamps for day and night cycle mostly (since my girlfriend likes to keep the curtains closed and lights off, freakin vampire i swear lol) in turn I get to battle humidity levels hehe. Some sort of insulation might be a good idea.

Ball pythons don't need a day and light cycle unless you need the lamp for extra heat, in which, you don't need a night-time drop anyway so a constant red-bulb would be more efficient. If it's for display, then turn it off at night for a cycle, but otherwise, it is not a necessity.

I would get some sort of generator in case there's a bad storm and your house gets cold because the power or heat dies.
Space heaters will also be your friend.

[Valhalarising]

Keep in mind, depending of course where you are in vermont, that in deep winter the power can sometimes go off for a while. You might want to invest in a back-up power supply, with a fairly high wattage, just in case. Also if you have some decently rated sleeping bags you could use one of those around the tank, without burning it of course . Even if the power goes out the sleeping bags should help keep the temp in the cage at a fairly high constant. Just be wary if leaving doors open and other stuff as that could drain heat. Good luck mate Winter in Vermont rocks.

[seeya205]

What about a CHE? Do those produce light or could I have one on all night?

No, CHE do not produce light but you can use an ifrared bulb. Snakes can't see red light so it won't bother him! A 75 watt bulb should work, it does for me and it gets colder here in Canada.