Water bowl and heat question.

[Bogertophis]

My wife is getting me my first ball python for my birthday next week. I ordered one of Mike Wilbanks' AP Cages to start her out in until she's a little bigger and I can put her in a 4'x2'x2' without her being overwhelmed by the size of her enclosure. It has the 3" heat strip all along the back of the enclosure, but I wasn't sure if that would be a big enough heat pad for her so I also got her a 6"x8" heat pad for belly heat to cover a 9"x8" spot in the corner and I plan on getting her a Pro Heat radiant heat panel as soon as possible for that side of the enclosure. My question is––do you guys put the water bowl on the warm side or the cool side? And since the entire back has a heat strip would you recommend not using the 3" heat strip at all so that she can have a truly dedicated warm side and cool side or is it okay to put the water bowl on top of the heat strip just as long as it's not under the radiant heat panel?

I highly recommend that you set up & fully TEST your enclosure for at least a few days & preferably a week before you move a snake in- because it's no fun trying to make adjustments when it's occupied, & it also stresses the occupant. You might need to add or subtract things to get the right temps.- and it's pretty hard for anyone to say exactly what you need since the ambient room/house temperatures make a difference too. Some of us use way more A/C or heat in winter than others do. Also, enclosures can be insulated or not.

BTW- it takes time for heat from UTH to build up- and your enclosure can end up being too hot if you try to adjust things too quickly- and unfortunately you cannot just set thermostats to the temp. you want- you have to actually verify what's being achieved inside the enclosure where the snake will be.

If you need to raise the humidity, putting the water bowl over the UTH will help some- but mostly the humidity depends on minimizing the air circulation. Water bowls also grow a lot more "germs" when the water is kept warm, so they're better off on the cool side.