Do all Balls like the same temps?

[racerjay]

I've been reading here for quite some time, but this is my first post. What a wealth of knowledge some of you have! Here's my question. I got a BP a few months ago, and generally it was warm in the house, so the cool side was around 78 to 80 degrees with the warm side 88 to 90 degrees. I have him in a 20 gallon long. He would sometimes lay in his warm hide, and sometimes not. I'm using coconut bark for a substrate. It's getting a little cooler in the house now (in Wisconsin) and I know I need some form of heat now for the cool side, but that's not my question at the moment. Gilbert (my 5 year old named him) will wipe away all of the coconut bark under his water dish and crawl under it laying flat on the glass which must be cool. He'll still do it even though this morning the cool side temp was 74 degrees. (yes, I'm going to get a light after work today). He's even cool to the touch when I pick him up from that spot. Is it odd for a BP to enjoy temps that cool?

[Smulkin]

74 is pretty low I would get that elevated ASAP. But first how are you measuring temps, and do you know the surface temp of the glass beneath the substrate? How about humidity - where's that at? Also do you have a screen lid?

[justcage]

Not necessarly odd for a ball to like it cooler.. All herps I have kept have a different "comfort" zone. Need to bump those temps up for sure even on the hot side...
85/95

[racerjay]

I'm measuring temps using the thermometer from Wal-Mart that I read about here. I have the probe basically lying on the substrate to get the temperature "on the floor" but no, I don't know the temp of the glass on the bottom. I have the rest of the unit on the cool side. Humidity hovers between 50% and 60% right now, but with the onset of winter and the furnace being on I'll need to find a way to keep that up as well. I do have a screen lid on it, yes.

[Adam_Wysocki]

"Laying cool" can be anything from just your snakes preference, to a sign of illness, to an instinct to prepare for the breeding season.

What I do know for sure is that as soon as your start allowing access to temps below 80 degrees, you increase the risk of your animal refusing food and the risk for a respiratory infection. Ball pythons sometimes aren't the smartest little guys in the world and will often choose temps that aren't "in their best interest". (Kind of like when my 4 year old son eats chocolate chip cookies until his belly hurts).

To greatly reduce the chance for a respiratory infection and to keep your ball python from fasting, I would suggest that you get those temps up! ... 82-84 on one side, 92-94 on the other.

-adam

[racerjay]

I will bump up those temps pronto! Being a noob, I figured as long as he was happy on the cool side, the warm side was warm enough. Nice analogy about the cookies though. That brings it into perspective. Thanks for the help everybody.