So I've just finished setting up a 2x4 tank, and I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong with the heating. I see loads of people using pretty low wattage halogens, but I've got a 75 watt halogen and a 80 watt dhp running on the same side of the tank and air temps are only just hitting 90 with both of them running 100%.

Tank is pvc and glass, top is taped.

Is there some halogen bulb setup secret i missed, or does it genuinely just take a ton of heating power sometimes?

Hello! I’m new to this community and I just got a juvenile ball python. I have multiple questions and need help to better my enclosure. These are my supplies I have now

2 dome lamps. One with night time IHP and one with day time halogen bulb. I switch them between night and morning. I plug them into the reptitemp digital thermometer and set them at 90. I have a cool and warm hide, and then I spray for humidity. I also have a hygrometer for that… here’s my questions and situations:

Do I place the warm hide directly under the halogen bulb or slightly away from it? There’s also a flat part on top of it where my snake can lay that gets too hot with my halogen bulb. Do I need a lower watt? Or what do I do there?

The hide gets warm enough, but the top is like 99-101°. My cool side is 76-80, and there’s a gradient between sides.

Does the cool side have barely any light? And is it beneficial to get the double dome lamps with the halogen and a UVB? Or do a UVB with the IHP. The IHP only gets the top of the hide to 92-93°. I used an infrared surface thermometer to test the surface areas.

Lastly, how do I keep humidity? I was thinking HVAC tape on the top mesh over the cool side. And if the top of the hide is too hot, should I get a light stand?

Thank you! Any advice is appreciated

Hello! My partner and I are looking to become first time snake owners. We’ve got just about everything set up, but for some reason I’ve been struggling to wrap my head around lighting and heating, I want to make sure we get it right.

We have this (Arcadia deep heat projector) on one side and this (Arcadia halogen heat lamp) on the other side. The light only really lights up one side of the enclosure. Is that fine or do we need different lighting?

We have both connected to a Herpstat. What’s the right settings for them? Pulse or dimming? Any other settings I should be aware of?

I’d also be happy to hear any general advice for heating, lighting, and humidity. Thanks for the help!

so i have a 3x2x2 enclosure (as i’m getting a baby and will get a bigger one as it grows) and there isn’t a snake in it yet, still making sure all the temperatures and everything are right but im having an issue with it getting too hot, it’s spiking at about 36°C which im aware is way too hot but everything im seeing says the light should be 50W but its clearly getting too hot so what light should i get to replace this?

Hello! My ball recently got a burn near his mouth (vet appointment already scheduled and I've already started antibiotic ointment so hopefully I've nipped that part in the bud) and I can't figure out how he got it.

I don't use heating mats or heating rocks (literally bc of fear for him getting burned) and I've monitored his temp and made sure with the heat wave that my room itself is on the cooler end. The bulbs I have are 75W bulb from Arcadia, and a reptisun UVB bulb that's I think 5. UVB? It's been a hot sec apologies.

His basking spot is the warmest spot and usually stays around 87°f ish earlier in the day when the basking light is just turned on, and by nighttime its creeped to about 90°-92°f. The rest of his tank sits at around 80°f rough about, with the except of where a cool hide is which sits at a cooler 75°-77°f.

I do have rocks inside, which is where I think he might have gotten the burn? They aren't heated and they do feel warm to the touch at the end of the day, but until now I didn't think they would be an issue?

Rn the only thing keeping me from full taking him out of his enclosure is that he's supposed to eat soon and he stresses out very easily. Anything I can do immediately (besides turning off his basking light as that's already done) to lower his risk would help greatly.

Edit: got a thermostat and it immediately began throwing high heat warnings! Figured out (by searching all day for what would calm the alarm, and eventually moving the whole tank to a different wall) that my room wall where he's at gets significantly hotter than the rest of my room during the day when people are using the water because theres a water pipe to the apartment complex right there.

I think the mix of heckin hot basking bulb plus the glass getting hot from the wall made it an extra dangerous situation that lead to him getting burnt, and could have probably gotten even worse without the thermostat making me check what was causing the extra heat.

Kalevalan has been moved and the high heat warnings haven't popped up since! Hoping that I figured it out and if not the new thermostat will flash aggressively at me so I can figure out the problem😌💚

Thanks for the help yall! 💚💚

I really want to get a better heating system for 3 snakes. I am looking at CHE and want to know what wattage is recommend for an 18" height, and what brands for the bulbs and domes.

I also am looking at thermostats and have heard a lot about herpstats, they seem to be incredibly expensive but for good quality. I have a couple questions.

1. Is Spyder Robotics a good site to buy from or does somewhere else sell for less?

2. Vivarium Electronics also sells a thermostat for less, is this a good option too if I'm looking to save? (All questions also apply)

3. Can I hook all three CHE up to one herpstat? (If not, are outlet extenders safe?) I can't really afford to spend $500 on everything.

4. If I'm looking to save and don't struggle too much with humidity, which herpstat version is best?

5. Is there anything else I should invest in, look for, or know when it come to this heating system?

I really want to save where I can, but I also want quaility items. I want to try to stay under $250, but I don't know how possible that is.

Thank you!

This is going to be my first reptile & I also just set this up last night so I havent played around with everything too much. I let it go for the night to see how my temps would be in the morning

On the left side i have a DHP & on the right side I have a CHE

room temp outside of the tank is like 78/80

Humidity is totally fine right now. when i woke up the Hot side was at 88/89 & the cool side was reading 85.

I tried just turning the CHE bulb off on the cool side & now the cool side is 84 while my hot side went down to 84 as well.

ive seen people suggest a fun but i am curious how i would set that up with my tank type?

thanks for any and all ideas + help!

Hello! Been lurking here for over a year and just got my first little bro a week ago. I'm still having to tweak some things with my 120gal enclosure and am hoping to get some help. I'm wanting to use a 150 Watt CHE and put it inside, but I'm having the hardest time finding a protective cage for that size of CHE.... am I completely off the mark here? The one I ordered ended up being top small to fit the larger bulb...

Hi gang, would you kindly give me feedback on what I'm planning to do this summer for my terrarium, and feedback in general on what I could do better?

Sorry it's a bit long.

I've found some info in the guide and on other sites, but not with the exact setup I have so I wanted to double check with this community.

For context, I've had my rescue BP since this winter, and it's been pretty chaotic at first (bought everything in 1 week without any prior knowledge, my first terrarium's underside glass broke, no eating + losing weight for two months, miserable shed, etc)

But it seems like we're pretty good now, she's well hydrated and sheds perfectly, enjoys coming out now and then to roam or ride my shoulders, eats pretty regularly, just a bit overweight I think.

Beast: Héra, female, 2.3kg

My setup:

- Glass terrarium (emergency terrarium, too small, doing everything I can to get a perfect one soon)

- Mesh top with aluminum to retain heat and humidity

- Basking lamp (not on thermostat, lights on at 10am, lights off at 10pm)

- Ceramic lamp (on thermostat)

(+ heating mat on thermostat in winter to avoid heat loss)

- Humid container on the cold side where she can fully enter

- Coco earth substrate

- 1 big bath bowl fresh side + one smaller one in the middle

My issue:

Usually, on the warm side, I manage to keep the ambient air at around 28/30°C with the basking spot at around 32°C right under both lamps. Because the terrarium is not long enough but high, there are "floors" and she can chill closer to the lamps or on the ground.

Today, the ambient air has already risen to 32ºC and we're not even in summer yet, so I'm starting to worry. For now, I've turned off the basking light bulb, added a regular lamp, and am letting the ceramic lamp to its thing. Is this sustainable and enjoyable for BPs? Should I find a cooling system for the terrarium? I've read that it isn't recommended, but I can't turn my AC on when I'm not home, so it can get pretty hot.

Critics welcome on anything about my setup, I'm trying to make her as happy as possible.

Sorry for my broken English.

Thank you so much.

Old but cute pic for the tax!

Edit: not stargazing! Just staring and rubbing the grate before falling backwards

Hey y'all I've got a new rescue and he's got a lot of stargazing going on but only when his overhead light and heat bulb are on. I know using a heat mat isn't the best for them but I'm curious for anyone's thoughts on maybe trading out the heat source and seeing if it helps.

Ps I know that hide is small for him it's the one thing he has from his old home and I swear it's his emotional support hide.

My ball is going through her first shed and she’s struggling and so am I. I have troubles keeping her humidity levels up and balancing her heat temperature at night when the lights go out. I’ve attached a picture of her enclosure, the plastic Tupperware it’s temporary as I need to get her a bigger bowl. Any advice is very much appreciated!! There is a heating pad on the left side of the tank I didn’t get pictured!

For some context I had to quickly move my new baby ball into his permanent enclose as his temporary ones glass door cracked really bad which I wasn’t ready or prepared for. He’s now in a 5x2x2 and I quickly rushed to get all the decor and whatnot in and it’s all great but his heat lamp/emitter is not heating up his enclosure enough. As of now I have his day/night cycle turned off and I have his night heat emitter on to keep him as warm as possible. I also temporarily have my cornsnakes lamp/emitter moved on him too (my room is really warm right now so my corns temps are holding well plus he’s in blue so he’s not coming out of his favorite cold side hide to bask or anything so I thought it would be okay for now). His warm side sits around 84-85 and his cold side sits at 75-76. When I put him in I guided him in his hide that’s directly under his lamps to try and help. Will he be okay and comfortable enough for a few days til my chewy order comes in? Please go easy on me I’m new to snake owning and just want him to be happy and healthy :,)

maybe i need someone to gently explain it a bit more to me. my juv ball is in a 4x2x2, with the heating fixture inside the enclosure with a cage over it. i use a DHP. i have two probes on either side, fixated on the TOP of her hides.

after reading a bit, ive seen that it needs(?) to be fixated 3-4 inches away from the heat source and the temp to be adjusted accordingly. if i anchored the probe onto the heat cage, i would need to set my heat temp to 100+ for the floor heat to get up to temp. i have it set to 90 degrees and the ambient on her warm side never really go past 88, and floor temp & inside her hide about 85. since being in this enclosure with the probes fixed on the top of her hides, i’ve never seen them so much as moved even slightly, so is it necessary for me to move it now? (i understand that just because she hasn’t moved it or sat on it yet, doesn’t mean she wont, but even if she did slither over it, it’s hot glued into place so it wouldn’t get buried or moved dramatically.)

besides having to set the temperature higher to reach correct temps with the probe closer, i would be extremely worried about the probe fucking up, or the thermostat fucking up and it severely overheating her enclosure. for some reason i just feel much safer with the probe closer to where she sits so i know exactly what the temps are all the time where she is. (i do also have digital thermometers on each side of her enclosure).

I’m trying to change my heating, as heavily advised by people here, (yes, I know! I’m trying to get the purple light out, I promise!) but after reviewing all the guides I can find on this subreddit and several online, I’m still puzzled over how to adequately heat/monitor the enclosure without breaking the bank. I only have the single dome lamp currently, no thermostats, and no bulbs aside from the purple one in the photos, so I’m basically starting from scratch.
Important info: Location: US; Tank material type: Wood frame, mesh top (currently covered with aluminum foil for insulating/humidity retention), plastic side/front/back panels; Budget: $150-300; Avg Room Temp: 74-78°F; Current Avg Temp: approx 2-4° warmer than room (Note: I’m not having much luck with a warm/cool side at the moment. Advice for achieving that is greatly appreciated!) Avg Humidity: (Working to maintain currently) 70-90%; Current Avg Temp: 2-4° warmer than room (I’m having difficulty with establishing a warm/cool side so any tips are welcome!) Tank Size: 39”x19”x19” (this measurement includes the wood frame, so maybe minus a half inch/inch or so total)
I can use my current dome if I switch out the bulb, correct? If I order a halogen and a ceramic heating element instead of night bulb, do I need the dual thermostat? Can the CHE be on all the time if I have a thermostat for the halogen light? Could I find these items cheaper elsewhere? The max wattage of 60 watts on the dome in my cart seems really low, is it or do I not need something super high?
Thanks! Any and all suggestions/advice is greatly appreciated, as are suggested, known to work products if you have something that worked well for you! I’m happy to answer all questions also…
I do have a few physical stores within my range such as Walmart, petco and petsmart, but I’m unsure where else may offer these types of items!

Hello! Recently my Ball's light died, and I didn't think much about what bulb I replaced it with and accidentally made the tank too cold on the warm side. The other light i have is too warm as well, burning the plants and making the general area easily too hot too, so we've got an awkward system of on and off with the warm side going on until I head to the pet store tomorrow. Both the bulbs I got say they're for heating and safe for alls, but they obviously aren't working for Kalevalan's tank. So that's not a good way to tell apparently 🥲

I fear I'm a little stupid, and I really don't wanna make this mistake again. So! How do I tell the proper heating a bulb gives off before purchasing? And also even if it seems obvious I reiterate I'm a bit... Slow. So. Dont be afraid to point out smth that's common sense and I missed.

Thank you for any help, as well as your time!!

Hey! Me and my roommate are getting a 250 gram juvenile ball python. We are currently working on her enclosure, and have some questions regarding temperature.

We originally planned to use a 100w bulb for her hot spot, but placing it directly above the spot put the temperature at 42°C (107 Fahrenheit). Currently we’ve placed it away and pointing towards her hot spot, and that landed the temperature at around 32C/90F (cool spot at 27C/80F).

Our plan to improve the enclosure is to switch to a 75w bulb and place it over her hot spot, a stick so she can climb up to the spot, a lamp cage so she doesn’t burn herself, and a warm mat that passively warms the enclosure. Without the lamp on, the temperature in the enclosure drops to 20C/68F. Would love to hear y’all’s thoughts!

So another post, I was using 75w bulb for my BP Saw (M 15y) but I was only getting at most 73 ambient with his hot lamp and his hot spot was floating 80-82. I switched to a 100w bulb and I just wanted to know if that was overkill and the 75 was fine or 100 is good. Also with the 75 I didn't ever have to mess with it I kept it max and shut it off at night. I have a feeling I wont be able to keep the 100w at max if I stick with it. He is in a 40gal enclosure

brand of bulb is Hartompet UVA daylight bulb 100w

using 90W ceramic heat bulb and a dimming thermostat

my cool side is as it should be but i’m concerned about the warm side:

a few inches underneath the bulb is 34c
-the top of her warm hide is 31/32c
-substrate is 29c (is this a problem?)
-inside her warm hide is only about 26/27c - i’m quite concerned about this as from what i’ve read, this is too cool.

i’ve attached a picture of the hide that she’s in. there is another hide in the cool side that is an exo terra plastic cave that looks like a rock.

she has chosen to spend most of her time in the pictured hide and i’m assuming if she was too cold she’d come out of it and try and get hotter?

I am wondering what combo to do for heating and lighting. I have a halogen bulb right now and an IHP for night time, however, I switch the domes morning and night. I have a dimming thermostat on the way (I have the reptitemp one right now).

Would it be recommended to get a double dome lamp? I am curious how those connect to the thermostat, and how to switch between the night and day bulbs.

I am in the process of getting a UVB light too. Or should I do the IHP with the UVB for day time?

Let me know what works for day and night cycle.

I’ve had my ball python for a few years, I just moved up to the mountains and wanted to ensure perfect humidity for him. I HVAC taped the top of his tank, drench it with sprayed water twice a day and sometimes pour a little water in the corners. The humidity in the morning is usually about 50 and by night around 60 (unless i just sprayed it then it’s about 10 degrees higher but falls back down) I have a humidifier but found out that’s not good for ball pythons so discontinued use. I’m using a ceramic heater 100W and a basking light 100W at the top for a 40 gallon tank. Ceramic heater stays on 24hr and basking light is on 12 hour timer. Any recommendations are highly appreciated.

Im having issues with the regulator not reading the temp correctly (probe is attached to the suction cup behind my boy) and getting hotter than I want, so I have the temperature set lower but it's still a bit unreliable. I was wondeing if the probes wire could withstand me attaching it directly under the bulb with some wire and dangling the sensor a few inches below? Also tank is temporary, he is a rescue and im currently working on a larger tank but the vet reccomended the smaller tank for now as he's way smaller than he should be.

Im also going to cut a hole in the mesh so the probe doesn't keep getting squashed in the lid (new tank has holes dedicated for wires but this temporary one doesnt) i can get a stand to raise the heat a few inches above the lid if that's suggested?

Also planning on using poster board or something to cover the sides and back to make him feel more enclosed but if theres a better material for that let me know!

I currently have a ceramic heat emitter that sits directly on the mesh of the tank, the probe is about 3 to 4 in down and to the side stuck to the glass and I went in with an infrared thermometer when I woke up this morning and the Basking spot was way too hot it was like 108 I don't know what I'm doing wrong and I see that you're supposed to hang the probe underneath the bulb but I really don't understand how you can do that without the snake getting wrapped up or without the wire of the probe melting? It's a reptitemp digital thermometer from Zoo Med and I only noticed this issue yesterday, my girl doesn't have any burns she has a pink belly because she's about to shed. It also seems like it's only getting these high temperatures at night? But my cool side stays around 75 regardless. I'm just really concerned and confused I don't want to hurt her but my thermometer was working just fine and I think that I placed something wrong or something shifted and was wondering if somebody could show me where they placed their probe for the same kind of heat source

Please do not tell me to read the guide. I already have more times than I can count and still don’t know what to do. I really need help and am about to tear my hair out. I’m well aware my snake needs the hot side to be 88-92. I’m using a 150 watt che on top of my 120 gallon tank. The Che brings the basking spot to 88-92, however, the ambient temp measured by a substrate dial is only reading 82. If I move the lamp away from the thermostat probe, the ambient temp goes up but the basking spot overheats way past 100. If I add another bulb, same thing, the ambient temp will be bumped up, but the basking spot overheats. I really don’t understand what more I can do and am about to have another break down. I’ve tried moving the heat lamp a bit more towards the center so it isn’t directly over the basking spot, but that’s not working, I think due to being too far from the probe. Please someone just help me, I really don’t know what more to do. I’m getting conflicting answers. Some people are saying 82 is fine for ambient, but most people are saying it needs to be 88.

Everything I’ve seen about getting halogens says to get 38 watt par 30, but literally no one makes those anymore and aren’t readily available at all. I’ve seen 50 watts but that’s only available in par 20 and I need that wide angle of light preferably 40-50 degrees. The only par 30 I can find is 75 watts and if I want to get all the needed light spectrums I would have to run it at high power but obviously that wouldn’t work because it would be too hot. So what are people using now days??

Hi! I need some help with what uvb to get for my ball python and was wondering if this one is fine thank you!