Temperatures?

[SLB1989]

What temperature should Ball Pythons be kept at?
I've been doing some research online and have a few different results.
For the daytime I have answers between 77 - 90 F.
For the night time I have answers between 72 - 81 F.

 

[Barbel]

You want to have a warm and cool side. The cool side should be room temperature, mid 70s and the warm side should be 89-92. You can do a night drop to the mid 80s if you want, but you don't have to.

 

[SLB1989]

Barbel - Thanks

 

[ShaffersExoticHerps]

I keep my hot spot at about 89-90 and the cool side around 80. The night drop is really only needed during cycling for breeding between Oct.- Mar.

 

[SLB1989]

ShaffersExoticHerps - Thanks
I won't bother about the night drop then.

 

[SLB1989]

I have been playing around with the temperate and the cold side is around 80F, the middle is around 84F and the hot side is between 104 and 96F, the mat stat turns off when it gets to 104F and then it drops it down to 96F and then turns back on. I have the thermostat sensor on the back of the hot side off the floor abit, but I have added another thermometre and placed it on the floor on top of the heat mat and that is what I'm basing the temperates on originally it was reading 115F but I have turned the mat stat down and managed to get the temperature down as I said above, does it need to come down more? What should the temperature be when a thermometre is placed on top of the middle of the heat mat.

 

[Barbel]

That is way too hot! It should not get above 92/93 at the most inside the tank. If you want very accurate temps, buy a temp gun and check the temps inside the tank. We use flexwatt with a thermostat. The thermostat is set at 98 and the probe is on the outside of the tubs on the flexwatt. When we check the temps with the temp gun inside the tub, where the snakes hide it is actually only 91-92.

 

[WftRight]

I agree with the previous poster. You don't want any surface in the cage to be above about 92°F. You should move the thermostat probe to the spot on the floor directly on top of the UTH. The ball python can tolerate lower temperatures on the cool side if necessary, but you want to get that warm side temperature down.

 

[ShaffersExoticHerps]

It kind of sounds like your room temperature may be kind of low. I know it sucks but with certain thermostats, they will work too hard to try to maintain the proper temps. therefore you will get high readings where the heating element is, flexwatt, cable, mat, ect.... If you can raise your room temps it may help. Also you can use Aspen or another similar substrate in your tubs (if your using a rack) to help keep everything insulated better and keep the thermostat from constantly running. Are you heating a rack? Is your thermostat proportional?

 

[SLB1989]

I have a vivarium and I'm using Aspen already. I will lower the temperature on
the thermostat so it will bring down the mat temperature. Thanks for your help.

 

[Alliemac]

I use room temp (75-80) for the cool side with a natural drop in the evening to 70-75 only because the living room gets a little cooler at night. Warm side between 88-90. My boy loves his warm hide but his clutchmate (owned by my sister) prefers the cool side with the exact same size tank and temps.

 

[BalloonzForU]

We keep our balls at 92 on the hot side, we also do not cool or cycle for breeding at all and have found that it's not really needed as long as there is natural light coming into the room. We live in the midwest so we have a natrual light cycle for the different seasons. Someone living down south may need to cool/cycle.

 

[ShaffersExoticHerps]

We keep our balls at 92 on the hot side, we also do not cool or cycle for breeding at all and have found that it's not really needed as long as there is natural light coming into the room. We live in the midwest so we have a natrual light cycle for the different seasons. Someone living down south may need to cool/cycle.

That's amazing! I have heard of breeders doing that but I am scared to death that it would not work for me and I would screw up the whole season, haha! I did however make a switch I was scared to do and it's working good for me. I am using the substrateless incubation method. I was scared to try it but now it just seems like a fool proof way to incubate! Sorry for crashing the thread!

 

[SLB1989]

I have now managed to reduce the temperature to between 82F and 90F.
If you goes above 90F then it turns off to cool down and if it goes below 82F it turns on to warm up.

 

[ShaffersExoticHerps]

I have now managed to reduce the temperature to between 82F and 90F.
If you goes above 90F then it turns off to cool down and if it goes below 82F it turns on to warm up.

That doesn't sound like the right thermostat you shoold be using! You need a proportional thermostat or 1 that you can adjust the high and low on. Even if it's an on off type you should be able to keep it between 1-2 degrees if the room temp is stable. What brand of thermostat are you using?

 

[SLB1989]

That doesn't sound like the right thermostat you shoold be using! You need a proportional thermostat or 1 that you can adjust the high and low on. Even if it's an on off type you should be able to keep it between 1-2 degrees if the room temp is stable. What brand of thermostat are you using?

It's what I was told to use, its a Habistat MatStat.
I'm only using a heatmat.

 

[BalloonzForU]

That's amazing! I have heard of breeders doing that but I am scared to death that it would not work for me and I would screw up the whole season, haha! I did however make a switch I was scared to do and it's working good for me. I am using the substrateless incubation method. I was scared to try it but now it just seems like a fool proof way to incubate! Sorry for crashing the thread!

Try it one year. I like it because it keeps their weights up since they won't eat while being cooled. I've not really noticed a difference in their willingness to breed at all. The first year we did it I had one male that had a favorite female and refused to lock with any other female so I had to have that female follow him around with all the other girls to make orgy tubs. :main_rolleyes:

We haven't tried the substrateless incubation yet, but I'm thinking about trying it out next year.

 

[BalloonzForU]

It's what I was told to use, its a Habistat MatStat.
I'm only using a heatmat.

You really should get something that doesn't flux that much. Balls can be a pain in the butt if things are not just right with their temps. Nothing like a ball going off feed.