New owner first post light wattage question

[Nworkie]

Hello I recently became a new owner of a 2.5 month old female Bel (even though her eyes are black not sure if they become blue as she gets older?) From xyz. She got very comfortable with her setup after a day or so. We fed her a live small/medium mouse in a Rubbermaid 3 nights after receiving her. I am so happy that she is doing so well. She does spend ALOT of time in her warm side hide. She comes out at night for about a minute or two to stick her head in the water dish to "drink". My only concern is that I have two digital thermometers that r very inaccurate and read low 70s and are placed about 2 in. Above substrate. However tho my zilla analog therm/hyrgo read about 80 and 50ish hum. My temp gun roughly is about the same for the sub. Just over 80ish on the warm side. I do have a pad hooked up to a thermostat and that reads between 85 and 90.

My question

My light is a mini halogen by zilla with a 25 watt day (day) and a 25 watt red (night) with the way that Temps seem to b in the high 70 to low 80 if barely even over 80 I never have seen it hit 85 (zilla analog gauge the digitals are garbage I think. Should I upgrade my main day bulb to a 50 watt halogen so I can have higher ambient air temp. Or should I just leave it the way it is since my BP is acting normal?

Thanks guys

[CALM Pythons]

However tho my zilla analog therm/hyrgo read about 80 and 50ish hum. My temp gun roughly is about the same for the sub. Just over 80ish on the warm side. I do have a pad hooked up to a thermostat and that reads between 85 and 90.

My question
My light is a mini halogen by zilla with a 25 watt day (day) and a 25 watt red (night) with the way that Temps seem to b in the high 70 to low 80 if barely even over 80 I never have seen it hit 85 (zilla analog gauge the digitals are garbage I think. Should I upgrade my main day bulb to a 50 watt halogen so I can have higher ambient air temp. Or should I just leave it the way it is since my BP is acting normal?

Thanks guys[/QUOTE]
------------------------------------
Sounds like your temp gun and your Zilla are on the same page.
If you have UTH mat that is runing then your BP has his Hot Spot... As far as ambiant temps if you want to bring that up id think either a higher watt like you said or seal off air loss...what is the enclosure? Is it a screened lid Glass Aquarium? If so they loose a lot of heat. I have several and ive had to DR them up using Plexiglass over the top screen and Large Beach towels drapped over at night when my room temps go down to 65. If you do these things really monitor it though, covering things up could suddenly have him to hot.
Find a Acurite Probe Thermometer, amazon.com, i still see some online but they pulled them off the shelf in my area. Also save for a expensive proportional Tstat like Herpstat 2. Your Tstats are turning on and off and it makes a drastic fluctuation in temps.... Proportional Tstats make your Heat mat/ Lamp/RHP run at lower or higher watts without completely shutting off... Smooth transitions. The Herpstat 2 has 2 controls verses the Herpstat 1 so you can control your Mat temp and another heat sorce. Its costs $195 but its worth it if this is your new Hobby. The Herpstat 1 is 1/2 as much as the Herp2 but you can only control 1 heat source.
I used Hot Rocks in the 80's & Heat Mats alone for probably 15 years, after that started using lights with the mats and never had a problem in 30 years. Simple if done properly can work just fine.

[Nworkie]

Sounds like your temp gun and your Zilla are on the same page.
If you have UTH mat that is runing then your BP has his Hot Spot... As far as ambiant temps if you want to bring that up id think either a higher watt like you said or seal off air loss...what is the enclosure? Is it a screened lid Glass Aquarium? If so they loose a lot of heat. I have several and ive had to DR them up using Plexiglass over the top screen and Large Beach towels drapped over at night when my room temps go down to 65. If you do these things really monitor it though, covering things up could suddenly have him to hot.
Find a Acurite Probe Thermometer, amazon.com, i still see some online but they pulled them off the shelf in my area. Also save for a expensive proportional Tstat like Herpstat 2. Your Tstats are turning on and off and it makes a drastic fluctuation in temps.... Proportional Tstats make your Heat mat/ Lamp/RHP run at lower or higher watts without completely shutting off... Smooth transitions. The Herpstat 2 has 2 controls verses the Herpstat 1 so you can control your Mat temp and another heat sorce. Its costs $195 but its worth it if this is your new Hobby. The Herpstat 1 is 1/2 as much as the Herp2 but you can only control 1 heat source.
I used Hot Rocks in the 80's & Heat Mats alone for probably 15 years, after that started using lights with the mats and never had a problem in 30 years. Simple if done properly can work just fine.[/QUOTE]

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Just a 10 gal. Glass tank. I have a 65 gal. Acrylic waiting for when she is older. That will b when I will upgrade to one of those herp2 u had mentioned. I think I will just buy a 50 watt bulb for the zilla mini. That should make a huge difference.

As u can see in the pics I have cardboard with tin foil wrapped around it. That really helps hold the humidity in. Hopefully this higher watt bulb won't dry things up to fast. I only have to mist water in there once a day and it holds steady at 50.




.

[Regius_049]

Hello I recently became a new owner of a 2.5 month old female Bel (even though her eyes are black not sure if they become blue as she gets older?)

There are both a black eyed lucy and a blue eyed lucy, it sounds like you have the black eyed morph.

Hello I recently became a new owner of a 2.5 month old female Bel (even though her eyes are black not sure if they become blue as she gets older?) However tho my zilla analog therm/hyrgo read about 80 and 50ish hum. My temp gun roughly is about the same for the sub. Just over 80ish on the warm side. I do have a pad hooked up to a thermostat and that reads between 85 and 90.

My light is a mini halogen by zilla with a 25 watt day (day) and a 25 watt red (night) with the way that Temps seem to b in the high 70 to low 80 if barely even over 80 I never have seen it hit 85 (zilla analog gauge the digitals are garbage I think. Should I upgrade my main day bulb to a 50 watt halogen so I can have higher ambient air temp. Or should I just leave it the way it is since my BP is acting normal?

I would leave the setup the way it is regarding the heat bulb, for two reasons: (1) Your ball python is acting normally and eating, always signs of acceptable husbandry for a snake. (2) Your ambient is high 70s to low 80s, just barely over 70, with a hotspot between 85 and 90. This is near an ideal setup per most recommendations - most quote 78-80 as ideal ambient, which you are essentially within. As long as you have a hot spot where the ball python can raise its internal temperature, you are pretty much good. The idea behind a heat gradient is that the snake has access to a range of temperatures and can heat or cool itself as needed, which your snake should have no problem doing in the shown setup.

The only modifications I might make are (1): move the heat lamp over a bit to one side as it appears that the most direct heat is over the water dish. It understand this may be neccesary to raise humidity, but moving it over to roughly 1/3 the distance on the left should give you a slightly warmer "warm hide", a larger gradient, and still keep heat over the water dish. (2) I would consider replacing those hides with something plastic and easily cleanable (for example, these). Those wooden hides cannot be very easily cleaned, are porous and hold bacteria more easily in humid environments, and also are made of an unknown wood type. Some woods are known to cause skin irritation.

[Nworkie]

There are both a black eyed lucy and a blue eyed lucy, it sounds like you have the black eyed morph.



I would leave the setup the way it is regarding the heat bulb, for two reasons: (1) Your ball python is acting normally and eating, always signs of acceptable husbandry for a snake. (2) Your ambient is high 70s to low 80s, just barely over 70, with a hotspot between 85 and 90. This is near an ideal setup per most recommendations - most quote 78-80 as ideal ambient, which you are essentially within. As long as you have a hot spot where the ball python can raise its internal temperature, you are pretty much good. The idea behind a heat gradient is that the snake has access to a range of temperatures and can heat or cool itself as needed, which your snake should have no problem doing in the shown setup.

The only modifications I might make are (1): move the heat lamp over a bit to one side as it appears that the most direct heat is over the water dish. It understand this may be neccesary to raise humidity, but moving it over to roughly 1/3 the distance on the left should give you a slightly warmer "warm hide", a larger gradient, and still keep heat over the water dish. (2) I would consider replacing those hides with something plastic and easily cleanable (for example, these). Those wooden hides cannot be very easily cleaned, are porous and hold bacteria more easily in humid environments, and also are made of an unknown wood type. Some woods are known to cause skin irritation.

Ok moving the heat lamp a bit to the left does sound like a good idea. I do have it in the center for humidity purpose but I'll see what happens. I just bought the wood hides and she seems to really like the warm side one. I have others and can try them but she seems very happy with the current setup.

I'm kinda shocked that xyz would send me the wrong eyed python considering the black eye leucistic is more expensive. Either way the snake is beautiful and I'm just happy she feels comfortable.

[Hlow87]

Ok moving the heat lamp a bit to the left does sound like a good idea. I do have it in the center for humidity purpose but I'll see what happens. I just bought the wood hides and she seems to really like the warm side one. I have others and can try them but she seems very happy with the current setup.

I'm kinda shocked that xyz would send me the wrong eyed python considering the black eye leucistic is more expensive. Either way the snake is beautiful and I'm just happy she feels comfortable.

I have a black eyed lucy too,shes a super fire pastel..Lucille "lucy" Ball

However tho my zilla analog therm/hyrgo read about 80 and 50ish hum. My temp gun roughly is about the same for the sub. Just over 80ish on the warm side. I do have a pad hooked up to a thermostat and that reads between 85 and 90.

My question
My light is a mini halogen by zilla with a 25 watt day (day) and a 25 watt red (night) with the way that Temps seem to b in the high 70 to low 80 if barely even over 80 I never have seen it hit 85 (zilla analog gauge the digitals are garbage I think. Should I upgrade my main day bulb to a 50 watt halogen so I can have higher ambient air temp. Or should I just leave it the way it is since my BP is acting normal?

Thanks guys

------------------------------------
Sounds like your temp gun and your Zilla are on the same page.
If you have UTH mat that is runing then your BP has his Hot Spot... As far as ambiant temps if you want to bring that up id think either a higher watt like you said or seal off air loss...what is the enclosure? Is it a screened lid Glass Aquarium? If so they loose a lot of heat. I have several and ive had to DR them up using Plexiglass over the top screen and Large Beach towels drapped over at night when my room temps go down to 65. If you do these things really monitor it though, covering things up could suddenly have him to hot.
Find a Acurite Probe Thermometer, amazon.com, i still see some online but they pulled them off the shelf in my area. Also save for a expensive proportional Tstat like Herpstat 2. Your Tstats are turning on and off and it makes a drastic fluctuation in temps.... Proportional Tstats make your Heat mat/ Lamp/RHP run at lower or higher watts without completely shutting off... Smooth transitions. The Herpstat 2 has 2 controls verses the Herpstat 1 so you can control your Mat temp and another heat sorce. Its costs $195 but its worth it if this is your new Hobby. The Herpstat 1 is 1/2 as much as the Herp2 but you can only control 1 heat source.
I used Hot Rocks in the 80's & Heat Mats alone for probably 15 years, after that started using lights with the mats and never had a problem in 30 years. Simple if done properly can work just fine.[/QUOTE]

Hello I recently became a new owner of a 2.5 month old female Bel (even though her eyes are black not sure if they become blue as she gets older?) From xyz. She got very comfortable with her setup after a day or so. We fed her a live small/medium mouse in a Rubbermaid 3 nights after receiving her. I am so happy that she is doing so well. She does spend ALOT of time in her warm side hide. She comes out at night for about a minute or two to stick her head in the water dish to "drink". My only concern is that I have two digital thermometers that r very inaccurate and read low 70s and are placed about 2 in. Above substrate. However tho my zilla analog therm/hyrgo read about 80 and 50ish hum. My temp gun roughly is about the same for the sub. Just over 80ish on the warm side. I do have a pad hooked up to a thermostat and that reads between 85 and 90.

My question

My light is a mini halogen by zilla with a 25 watt day (day) and a 25 watt red (night) with the way that Temps seem to b in the high 70 to low 80 if barely even over 80 I never have seen it hit 85 (zilla analog gauge the digitals are garbage I think. Should I upgrade my main day bulb to a 50 watt halogen so I can have higher ambient air temp. Or should I just leave it the way it is since my BP is acting normal?

Thanks guys

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

[CALM Pythons]

There are both a black eyed lucy and a blue eyed lucy, it sounds like you have the black eyed morph.



I would leave the setup the way it is regarding the heat bulb, for two reasons: (1) Your ball python is acting normally and eating, always signs of acceptable husbandry for a snake. (2) Your ambient is high 70s to low 80s, just barely over 70, with a hotspot between 85 and 90. This is near an ideal setup per most recommendations - most quote 78-80 as ideal ambient, which you are essentially within. As long as you have a hot spot where the ball python can raise its internal temperature, you are pretty much good. The idea behind a heat gradient is that the snake has access to a range of temperatures and can heat or cool itself as needed, which your snake should have no problem doing in the shown setup.

The only modifications I might make are (1): move the heat lamp over a bit to one side as it appears that the most direct heat is over the water dish. It understand this may be neccesary to raise humidity, but moving it over to roughly 1/3 the distance on the left should give you a slightly warmer "warm hide", a larger gradient, and still keep heat over the water dish. (2) I would consider replacing those hides with something plastic and easily cleanable (for example, these). Those wooden hides cannot be very easily cleaned, are porous and hold bacteria more easily in humid environments, and also are made of an unknown wood type. Some woods are known to cause skin irritation.

x2 ^^^^^. Your doing good as far as im concerned 👍🏼