heat pad and hide

[mrbuff91]

i have my heat lamp and hide underneath the heat lamp is this correct? i just heard today that the lamp and the heat pad should be on two separate sides?

[deadsmiley]

you should have 2 hides. one on the cold side, one on the warm side that are identical so the snake doesnt have to sacrifice warmth for comfort or vise versa.

[BPelizabeth]

Hi and welcome to the BP world!! First take time to look at the care sheet we have on our site. This will help you out a lot!! Secondly..what are you using to control your heating device? This is very important as any type of heating devices can spike in temperatures. You can use a thermostat or a dimme control....I highly suggest a thermostat as that is very reliable. You can find those at Reptilebasics.com or spyderrobotics.com. You also should measure your heat in the enclosure. Best bet to do this is with an acurite thermometer. You can find those at Walmart for about $12. They tend to be right on and will also gauge your humidity for you. You should have one on each side of the enclosure. As for the heat lamp...you may find you do not need it. Especially in the summer months. You should get your thermometers and then you will know where you need heat and where you do not. Remember BP's use belly heat to digest. Hope this helps

[mrbuff91]

but which side does the heat pad have to be? on the cold side or warm side of the tank?

[deadsmiley]

heat pad goes under the end of the enclosure that you want to be the warm side. you want your heat source to cover about 1/3 of the bottom of your enclosure, 1/2 at the very most. you should also get a thermostat or at very least, a rheostat. if you chose a rheostat, make sure to check temps every now and then for a few days till you get it set just right.

[mrbuff91]

heat pad goes under the end of the enclosure that you want to be the warm side

and the hid goes over that with the lamp on top of the hid as well?

[deadsmiley]

and the hid goes over that with the lamp on top of the hid as well?

yes one of the hides will go over top of the heat source, the other will be on the other end of the enclosure so he can move back and forth between them and thermo-regulate his temperature without having to sacrifice the comfort of his hide. the lamp may not be needed. if you have low temps then maybe it is.

[ChuckSM]

roughly the heat pad covers 1/3 of the enclosure at the far end. but a hide at that end and the cool end.

The heat lamp you may not need at all if the enclosure stays around 85. Balls dont need artificial light as long as they can have roughly 12 hours each of day and night lighting.

heat pad
thermostat
hides
substrat

Thats all you need

and the hid goes over that with the lamp on top of the hid as well?

[glk832]

Go on youtube and look up ralphdavis reptiles basic ball pythons set it shows you everything you will need to do...... Hope this helps. I only have 1 snake at the time and I use a tub it is very easy to maintain heat and humidity....