Heating pads' question

[Vypyrz]

I purchased my first snake, a Normal BP yesterday. I have yet to setup the heating aspect (he's in a very warm room though) because I'm a little nervous of using a heating pad. My question is, are they safe? They won't overheat the substrate?

What depth should the substrate be over the heating pad?

You are going to find that most people on here do use heat pads (Under Tank Heaters) or a type of heat tape called Flexwatt. They are not dangerous as long as you use a controlling device for the heater. You can use a thermostat, which keeps the heater at a set temperature. There are also rheostats and lamp dimmer switches that you can get from home improvement places like Home Depot or Lowes. When using these you definitely need a temp gun or thermometer to measure the temp of the heater so you will know which way to adjust it. But you definitely need a controlling device for the heater. They have been known to reach temperatures that are way too high for ball pythons and burn them.

As far as the depth of the substrate. It really depends on the type of substrate you use. If you are using a wood substrate, such as Aspen or cypress, I would say for starting out try about 1/2 inch or around 2cm. You can add more or less as needed, but adding too much will affect your temp and humidity so try to be consistent with how much you put in.
If you are using paper towels or newspaper, I would say maybe 2-4 layers.

What size of tank are you using and what size is the UTH. It should cover between 1/3-1/2 of the floor of the tank, and aluminum tape works great for sticking it on. I recommend getting your UTH set up as soon as possible. Your BP will love you for it...