cool side/ RI question

[ds1091]

Got my first pastel baby last week. He is very active at late afternoon/night, healthy, feeding on f/t without a problem. But all day he stays on his cool side hide. The temp there from my acurite is 78-80 degrees. The warm side probe on the glass above the UTH is 95, with a red light on top to warm the air since my house is cool in the winter. Do you notice your ball pythons spend more time on the cool side then the warm? He has 2 identical hides. Also when he comes out to explore he does one "yawn" then explores his cage like normal for a few hours or lays on his hide under the lamp. I took him out and examined him with no mucus, breathing noises, or bubbles. But spending most of the time on the cool side, the yawning i see once everyday is making me nervous Humidity was about 55-60% for a week, but now its going into 45-50% from the lamp drying the cypress so i mist the cage daily to keep it up. Can misting the cage daily or him spending all his time on the cool side cause a RI? I know I'm being paranoid but being my first BP I'm still trying to get it all right. Thanks

[Daybreaker]

Sounds like his hot side may be too hot and that's why he's not over there. I keep my BPs hotside at ~92 (rack setup), and with your hot spot being 95 with an added heat bulb right over it it may be way too hot for his liking over there.

[ds1091]

The probe on the glass is 95 degrees. The substrate or above the hide never goes over 90-92. Its a 40 watt red viewing bulb really does not throw off alot of heat. If i shut it off the cool side goes to 70 and the substrate is about 82. So the heat lamp just adds a little extra heat for the air temp.

[kitedemon]

I keep sub adults at 88/78/80 (warm/cool/ambient) my adults the warm side I run warmer around 90º. I simply don't trust any digital thermometer to be accurate. Check the specs on yours and plan for the worst possibility. For example if it is stated +/-2ºF plan it is 2ºF over for the hot and 2ºF under on the cool so if your warm reads 95º assume it is 97º or vise versa if the cool reads 78 assume it is 76ºF it is the only safe way. Some accurite models are +/-2ºF (+/-1ºC) some are +/- 4ºF (+/-2ºC) you should check the specs carefully.

[snakesRkewl]

I find that when they aren't digesting a big meal they will spend quite a bit of time on the cool end.