Temp drop at night?

[thegoalie22]

Why is it that it is recommended on here to not have temps drop at night. I can't imagine that they don't where they naturally live in Africa....

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Why is it that it is recommended on here to not have temps drop at night. I can't imagine that they don't where they naturally live in Africa....

You can but you don't have to, it's up to you.

Try things around and see what works best for you and your animals.

[rabernet]

Why is it that it is recommended on here to not have temps drop at night. I can't imagine that they don't where they naturally live in Africa....

They are found in equatorial Africa, where temps really don't fluctuate much. Plus temps measured inside of termite mounds and rodent burrows where they spend most of their time remain pretty constant without much change in temps.

[cinderbird]

Why is it that it is recommended on here to not have temps drop at night. I can't imagine that they don't where they naturally live in Africa....

temp drops at night trigger adult animals to go into breeding mode. If you ideally want your snake to keep eating through the winter (and some just stop anyway no matter what you do), then keeping the temps up is what you want.

Its your choice for what you want to do with your animals. personally recommend against temp changes for a newer keeper with a younger snake because if you let the temps get too low you're asking for an RI (even with an adult animal actually) and because it can be difficult to get right without the proper equipment, etc. but if you can make it work for you then go for it

[thegoalie22]

This is what my temps would be
80 in 2 of the hides
83-85 in another hide
86-89 basking
is this ok

[Kaorte]

You should have an overall ambient temperature of 80-85*F and a hot spot of 92-94*F.

You should have a hide over the hot spot, ball pythons don't "bask".

[thegoalie22]

I do have a hide on the hotspot during the day but during the night because a certain hide is high it creates A warmer basking spot during the night. Should I get Another bulb so that there is much less of a temp drop at night?

[cinderbird]

I do have a hide on the hotspot during the day but during the night because a certain hide is high it creates A warmer basking spot during the night. Should I get Another bulb so that there is much less of a temp drop at night?

can you take a picture of your set up and post it? That may help us give you advice.

[Kaorte]

Personally I would ditch the bulbs and go with a UTH.

[thegoalie22]

Ok here it is
http://www.flickr.com/photos/36764385@N06/3956247605/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/36764385@N06/3957024908/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/36764385@N06/3957021626/
The warm spot is the rock cave and the cool spot is the cardboard box.

And if I switch to a UTH, my tank is glass and it is sitting on a wood dresser, where would I put it?