Is there an alternative for a heater/CHE?

[Tonald Drump]

So my two BPs that I got about a few weeks ago have been kept in their enclosures and only taken out for daily handling and to keep then warm under the sun. Lately I've been thinking of getting a heater to help with their body heat as their skin feels quite chilly. But, my parents won't let me get one as it uses a lot of electricity. Is there any alternatives for heaters? Currently I'm just sunbathing them through my window while handling. I would really love to get any help or opinions from you guys, especially the veterans. Thanks!


First BP enclosure (BP hiding)


Second one (BP also hiding )

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[JodanOrNoDan]

Heat tape/UTH and thermostat. Do you have a heat source at all? What is your ambient temp?

BTW... Political stuff may not go over well here. There are people from all over the the world lurking on this forum. This is a place for snake talk not politics.

[BallPythonWannaBe]

It sounds like you dont have a heat sorce at all(Besides taking them out to sunbath them by the window?) You need some sort of heat sorce that brings the tank to 90 on the hot side and 80-85 on the cold

[KevinK]

You NEED a source of regulated heat, I repeat you NEED a source of regulated heat or your animals will get respiratory infections and will not be able to digest food. There is no other alternative.


This is not an option. If you keep a ball python in a plain glass tank without any heat source they will be dead sooner than later...I'm assuming for right now your room isn't hitting the upper 80's every day like a few people on this forum from southern Florida.

At the very minimum you need a ceramic heat emitter (set to hit 90 degrees on the floor of the cage) on a rheostat/thermostat.


It is inhumane to keep ball pythons at common room temperatures without a heat source. Tell your parents your animal cannot survive without a heat source, show them my post.....it is the absolute truth.


....and off topic, I suggest you contact a mod and change your screen name. I'm not here for a political argument in any form.

[Tonald Drump]

Thanks to everyone that replied, seems that I need some sort of heat emitter

Offtopic, my nickname is slightly politically offensive, so I'll change it

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[JodanOrNoDan]

Please take a look at this https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ius)-Caresheet

[cchardwick]

Not sure where you live but I would at least monitor your ambient temps in your room. If you feed your ball python and your temps go below 80F it could kill your snake, this is especially true with colubrids, if you feed them a few weeks before hibernation they can't get rid of the food in their system and will die. Not sure what the minimum temps are for ball pythons but I would imagine it's around 80F, especially since you don't have a hotspot. Most snakes will eat and then sit on the hot spot (90F) to digest. You could get a heat tape and thermostat and plug them into a 'Kill a Watt' to monitor your electricity usage, I'm guessing it wouldn't be more than a couple bucks a month. Ambient temps should go no lower than the mid 70's. Ideally a room temp of 82 is perfect, but heating the room would be more expensive than a heat tape and thermostat. If your room is cold (mid 70s) it's probably OK since the snake will just hang out over the hot spot all day. If you can afford it I'd also get another heat lamp and a separate thermostat to keep your 'cold side' at 80F. If your room goes down into the 60s I'd say you have a serious problem. Or if you live in the tropics near the equator you may not have an issue LOL.

[Tonald Drump]

Not sure where you live but I would at least monitor your ambient temps in your room. If you feed your ball python and your temps go below 80F it could kill your snake, this is especially true with colubrids, if you feed them a few weeks before hibernation they can't get rid of the food in their system and will die. Not sure what the minimum temps are for ball pythons but I would imagine it's around 80F, especially since you don't have a hotspot. Most snakes will eat and then sit on the hot spot (90F) to digest. You could get a heat tape and thermostat and plug them into a 'Kill a Watt' to monitor your electricity usage, I'm guessing it wouldn't be more than a couple bucks a month. Ambient temps should go no lower than the mid 70's. Ideally a room temp of 82 is perfect, but heating the room would be more expensive than a heat tape and thermostat. If your room is cold (mid 70s) it's probably OK since the snake will just hang out over the hot spot all day. If you can afford it I'd also get another heat lamp and a separate thermostat to keep your 'cold side' at 80F. If your room goes down into the 60s I'd say you have a serious problem. Or if you live in the tropics near the equator you may not have an issue LOL.

I live in Indonesia, so maybe not too cold? But still, it's really chilly at night, and my parents won't allow anything above 50W, which is a serious problem as the smallest reptile heaters I can find are 50W.

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[Mr. Misha]

I think you need to have a talk with your parents and explain to them that your pets are cold blooded (cannot control their body temperature) and need a heating source to survive and be healthy.

What's the room's ambient temp? Also, you really should change to a different bedding. Glass gets cold so having your BPs on something like coconut husk, will also help.

[Tonald Drump]

I think you need to have a talk with your parents and explain to them that your pets are cold blooded (cannot control their body temperature) and needs heating source in order to survive and be healthy.

What's the room's ambient temp? Also, you really should change to a different bedding. Glass gets cold so having your BPs on something like coconut husk, will also help.

I have, my dad thinks because he had a snake once that he knows ALL about them. Oh, he basically knows nothing imo. He thinks I shouldn't take the time to warm up water for a bath, just use freezing cold water. "It's fine, he doesn't take baths in warm water in the wild, does he?" Itvs because of this behavior that I can't make a proper enclosure for my snake.

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