Quote Originally Posted by Bogertophis View Post
It also depends on how cool you keep your house (or the room where the snake will be). The cooler it is (whether in a cold winter, or if using air conditioning in a hot summer) the harder it is to keep a snake's home warm enough for a ball python. Heat naturally rises up & out of any enclosure, & remember that's true for the room as well, so don't have the enclosure near the floor where it's colder- higher up is best (but obviously near the ceiling wouldn't be practical for you, lol).

It sounds like you should plan on using 2 heat sources in the winter (& just leave one off until it's needed), but as homebody said, we cannot tell you for sure- testing is required, because everyone's situation is different- we have NO way to know how cool your home is or will be.

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Let me caution you about your choice of enclosure- I wouldn't advise buying or using anything made of MFC wood for all these reasons:

1. It's NOT moisture resistant- & BPs need fairly high humidity. Moisture will make MFC fall apart & become expensive trash. This is why it's also not recommended for use in kitchens & bathrooms. In time any moisture will make it sag from it's own weight.

2. MFC is very heavy (awkward for you), & but also easily damaged- like just from drilling into it for installation of heat sources- it chips easily & won't retain repairs.

3. It's vulnerable to heat- it's made of wax & resins holding it together that could also be flammable as the enclosure is heated all the time; MFC "dries out" & becomes more of a fire hazard. You mentioned the probability of needing to add heat on the "cool side"- using UTH could be unsafe, sooner or later, w/ MFC.

4. Some of it is now made that's formaldehyde-free, but not all of it is- and you don't want your snake breathing such chemicals that off-gas for years- it's bad for you too, incidentally. I'd avoid buying anything made from this stuff, honestly. (But that's me.)
Thanks so much for the info, I wasn’t aware of this regarding MFC! I’ll definitely consider these points and perhaps lean more towards a PVC enclosure. The MFC tank I was looking at apparently is made with “very low formaldehyde content” , so not completely free of it.

I’ll test, test and test with regards to the heat sources and see what works best!