I got my ball python and I'm so worried about his heat. My room is cold and I have an under the tank heater and I have a thermostat with it. What temp should I set the under the tank heater to? I also have a heat lamp that is set to a thermostat to keep the air temp warm other wise it's freezing. If i have my heat lamp set to 90 and it makes the cage 99 could that affect the temp for my under the tank and make that lower cause the lamp made the tank 90 degreess? If i put my hand on the floor of the tank ever the heater is it doesn't feel very hot
First, if you don't have one already you need to get a temp gun for measuring that hot spot temp. You can get one on amazon for pretty cheap. It is the most accurate way to measure as opposed to sticking your hand on the spot. Heat feels very different to your warm blooded hands compared to a cold blooded snake. You are going to have to play around with it to get the right temp. You want to measure the temp on the hot spot down to the glass, not just on top of the substrate. When I had my first thermostat, I think my setting was for 99 or 100 to get the hot spot temp to where it should be. You should aim for a temp of 88-92 for the hot spot.
The heat lamp set to 90 making the cage 99 is a little too warm for an ambient temp. Ambient temp gradient should be on the lower end of 80 degrees. For now, I would suggest unplugging the UTH since you have a heat lamp. Once you get a temp gun and can accurately record the temperature the UTH is creating, then you can adjust it accordingly. Just keep the lamp on and try to keep the tank around the mid 80s. There are sticky threads for how to set up a glass tank https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-With-Pictures!. Also, if you have not done so, take a look at the caresheet https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...thon-CARESHEET
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