Ball Python Heating Setup! 

So excited for this series. Thank you so much for all the science based content you put out for free. Helps me so much. :)

Found your channel just searching right temps ..this is the best vid on this subject I’ve watched thanks man ..good vid ✌🏻

You made this so easy to understand, this is a fantastic guide. Thank you for all that you're doing for Ball Pythons. ❤ This information is so important.

I got my first python this week and your vid is by far the best helpful I've seen. Thank you!

I just recently upgraded our Royal boy Delta into a much larger plastic HDX storage tote with the locking lid style and his newer accommodations is just under a 4x2x2 in size...with my two boys and I living in Alaska and being currently in our winter season till the end of this month when all our snow starts melting and spring starts to spring once again the room his enclosure and him are kept in my bedroom during winter its colder in the room then durning our summer months with the room staying right around 73ish degrees Fahrenheit so on the cooler end of his enclosure I have been keeping a CHE bulb going at night as well and the over all temperature with in his enclosure at night stays around 77-79 and then of course on his warm side of the enclosure I have a belly heating pad by Zoo med with his hide sitting on top...when upgrading his home i also upgraded his water dish on account of there being more floor space than his 1st tub setup and it's just a cheap plastic dog dish that's hollow underneath if you will from being made in a mold I guess...sence placing the new dish in his house hes mostly always curled up underneath his water dish however I do catch his tho through out the day moving between his warm and cooler side hides but always goes back to under the water dish. My question I guess is this okay or should I be concerned because I did upgrade his hides as well and I'm thinking maybe I went on the to big side of things on the hides and he doesnt like the size of the new hides I actually tonight moved down in size of his hides to see if that makes any difference in hin always being under his water bowl..

Good points. My ball python is in a long 50 gallon with a small basking light on one end, water bowl on the other end, hides found on each end and the middle and several branches for whatever she wants to do during her evening exploration. My room temps hover around 24C due to the various heatlamps from my enclosures, evenings cool down about 2 degrees. The small basking light adds a bit and that end of the enclosure hovers around 29C give or take. Humidity is my particular challenge as there are tropical enclosures in the room that raises the humidity around the 60 - 70%.

Great to watch videos made by a Brit for a change - good work. Our girl spends probably 90% of her time in her hide at the cool end at around 25-26º and only really goes into her hide at the hot end after she's eaten and sometimes after I've turned the thermostat down for a bit to fluctuate the temperature 👍

Which particular halogen bulbs would you recommend for, say, a 4x2x2 enclosure?

Amazing video! I have a couple of questions if that's alright. In terms of temperatures on the warm side - I need to be maintaining a 35°C basking spot with a hide temperature ranging from 28-32°C? For the cool side - I want to be aiming for a hide temperature between 24-27°C. What should the ambient temps around the enclosure be during the day, there is so much advice I can never get a straight answer? I've consistently implemented a night drop. However, during the cooler months, my room temperature can dip below 20°C. What would you recommend to supplement ambient temperatures? Thanks for all the fantastic videos!

Great info, this is going to sound silly, but where do you find slate? Can you get that at a hardware store?

I'm a little concerned about a drop to 23/24 at night but man, your research is spot on all the time. Im heating to 29/30 during day with warm spots around 32/33 and at night it's like 27 ambient to 29 warm end. Everything fine so far but im kind of unsure if i should drop it a little...

Hey, I'm a new ball python owner and have deep concerns about the care of my snakes so I ask a favor to take the time to read and give your advice. I have six juveniles, and I've had them for six months and shorter. They are all in glass enclosures with a hide on both sides. I don't have a basking bulb, but instead, a reptizoo under the tank heat mat hooked up to a thermostat set to 90 degrees fahrenheit on their hot sides. I try to keep the ambient air temp in the room and enclosures at 80 degrees, but sometimes they drop down to 75. Not sure if this constant temperature throughout their enclosures is problematic due to a lack of an actual gradient. I've seen so much conflicting info about humidity, but so far I've tried to kept it at 60... Unfortunately I've had a shortcoming in this part of their care because they have been living in an average humidity of 54. But now I'm gonna try to keep it closer to 70 by spraying water on their fake leaves as necessary. Substrate is paper towels because it's cleaner and easy to switch out as necessary. They get fresh water every two days, and all eat a rat pup once a week. They don't seem dehydrated to me, and lately I've seen two of them soaking every day. My concern is in the fact that I've read they should shed around once a month, but all but one haven't shed in months... I'm wondering if my setup and husbandry is sufficient enough for the care of them. I'm worried about the lack of shedding and if this can result in sickness and the death of them. Not to mention some of them have two or three small yellowish orange spots where a scale is that look like potential scale rot (the snakes with this are all white) and they've had them since their last shed. Please be as critical as you can and tell me if this is OK and if I can do better.

what do you think is better for heating, a mat or an overhead source? i use mats for my ball pythons but i use overhead for my carpet. i have several extra heat domes im debating switching my ball pythons to heat projectors with, but im not sure if the mat is better. both of my bp's tend to spend a few days at a time heating up (they come out a night) and then theyll spend a few days on the cold side. as much as im sure both do the same thing, what it really comes down to is do you think the heat is better on their belly's or radiating down through the top of the hide onto their backs?

very helpful

Do you have any recommendations for heat lamps for a 4x2x2 enclosure? Preferably a sleeker look.

I've got my hot side at 88F cold side 78F and basking spot 94F. Is that OK?

Im looking at switching to a Halogen flood lamp from arcadia... Will this be okay? I wasnt sure what Wattage to use.. ive got my boi in a 4x2x2. There are so many options for light emitting heat sources... I cant wrap my brain round any of them 😣

Please avoid ceramic bulbs and use the DHP with carbon filament bulbs as if you look at the wave lengths of the IR, ceramic puts out almost exclusively IR-C which doesn’t penetrate past the skin very well at all but the deep heat is a good mix of IR-A,B, & C

So i should change? At day iam between 29-31C At night iam between 27-29C At basking spot its maximum 34 at day My girl is chaning spots, sometimes at the warm side with 32C in the house and sometimes on the 28C house (on the other side of the enclosure)

The thing is i dont really see my ball python come out during the day. She switches from her cool hide to her warm hide. But she doesnt just hang out to say bask. So how do is a basking bulb better? Now ive had lizards like bearded dragons and of course they are basking reptiles.

What do you recommend for raising ambient? We keep our house pretty cold during the winter months, i am likely switching to a PVC enclosure soon so the insulative values may make it a none issue. But right now i have the heat mat set correct but the air especially on the cool side is too cold. I feel like everything is very localized in terms of heating. I was thinking about a radiant heat panel in the center of the enclosure but from what i understand they more warm the surfaces under it vs the air. Thoughts?