Heat lamp stress?

[kpla51]

So I've been looking every where and a lot of setups use heat lamps and some say the light stresses the ball python. My ambient temp is a steady 89-90 during the day and my uth is at 90. My humidity is a steady 56. I have a glass 20 long with black poster board on 3 sides and a screen top. Im using a 75 watt heat bulb. Does this light add stress to my ball its on from 8 am to 8 pm. From research my temps are all good and don't want to change anything but don't want to stress the snake.

[Eric Alan]

Balls show stress in different ways. Is your eating, pooping, behaving, etc normally? If so, and your husbandry is on point (temps, humidity, etc), I wouldn't worry about it.

[kpla51]

I haven't had him for more than 2 weeks. I fed him on saturday and he ate within 30 seconds. He hasn't pooped yet unless there poop is very small. I had a retail boa and remember her poops being rather large and the snakes are the same size. He's calm and great to handle.

For reference the poop or pee was white chunks with brown or yellow from what i remember when i cleaned it out.

[Rafikiballpython]

I haven't had him for more than 2 weeks. I fed him on saturday and he ate within 30 seconds. He hasn't pooped yet unless there poop is very small. I had a retail boa and remember her poops being rather large and the snakes are the same size. He's calm and great to handle.

For reference the poop or pee was white chunks with brown or yellow from what i remember when i cleaned it out.

I think the white with chunks of yellow is like pee maybe because they also poop and its Brown and looks just like a dog poo or cat poo but small


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[Eric Alan]

I think the white with chunks of yellow is like pee maybe because they also poop and its Brown and looks just like a dog poo or cat poo but small

Correct. What you're talking about is called "urates" - a chalk-like whiteish/yellowish excretion that comes out with the liquid urine. You'll definitely know the difference when you "get to" clean up a BP BM.

[SKO]

Use a blue or red bulb. They can't see it. I have a blue bulb in each of my tanks 24/7

[bondo]

You have an UTH so throw the light out. There is no need for it. Lights for heat are a horrible idea imo. Tanks are hard to hold humidity and the light just makes it worse.

[kitedemon]

Lamps heat the air better than almost everything. You have things well in hand I would not worry about it. The fact remains pythons all see heat. Every thing that is warm is a light of sorts. People will speak about CHE RHP not showing light, it is not true, our eyes work differently pythons all have the ability to see heat and track it, so any heat source is a light. It is mostly the keepers that are concerned. The snakes don't seem to be bothered by any lamp red or blue over head, or any over head heater either.

[Sonny1318]

Go with red bulbs, I use them in seven tanks. But hey if nothing's wrong count your blessings.

[MarkS]

My ambient temp is a steady 89-90 during the day and my uth is at 90. My humidity is a steady 56.

In my opinion ambient temps of 89-90 are way too high. How are you measuring your temperatures? I personally shoot for an ambient temp in the mid-70's to low 80's with a hot spot of about 86-88 degrees. If you are concerned about the light, you can alway use a Ceramic Heat Emitter (CHE for short) instead of a light bulb. With a 75 watt light bulb hanging over a 20 gallon aquarium I can't imagine that you are having any kind of luck maintaining a decent humidity level, what are you using to measure your humidity? Cheap hygrometers are notoriously inaccurate.