# Ball python heating



## -kittie- (4 mo ago)

Hey, I recently got a six month old female ball python, my house is pretty cold at the minute as our heating is broken, in her tank I have a heat mat which usually stays around 33 degrees Celsius but it doesn’t seem to heat the rest of the tank up, the tanks four foot long. I’ve tried putting hand warmers in towels and hiding them in her bedding on the warm side (I don’t let her lie on them directly), and I’ve put a long hot water bottle in which she likes, that brings the overall temp up to 23, is this warm enough or does anyone have any advice to how I can warm the tank up more? Should I just get a bigger heat mat? Would getting a smaller tank for the winter be better as it would be easier to heat?


----------



## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

A mat will not warm the air, it's a contact heater. In a ideal world you need to replace the mat with a ceramic heater controlled by either a dimming or pulse thermostat
That said there is a thread on here ( Heat Mats )
where a member, Malc, has switched his royals from ceramics to mats with no adverse effects.


----------



## TheHouseofReptilez (Sep 26, 2021)

I keep both my royals in 50L tubs a year old and a 9 month old both are on mats connected to pulse stats set at 32c the cool side sits around 21 - 24c depending if the heating has been on plus as mentioned by Ian the costs to run ceramics is becoming much more expensive plus the only difference between a mat and ceramic is one heats from below and privides no change to the ambient air temp and the other privides heat from above and does increase the ambient temp,

Both produce Infared C but other than that they both do the same thing just one is cheaper to run than the other.


----------



## Malc (Oct 27, 2009)

ian14 said:


> A mat will not warm the air, it's a contact heater. In a ideal world you need to replace the mat with a ceramic heater controlled by either a dimming or pulse thermostat
> That said there is a thread on here ( Heat Mats )
> where a member, Malc, has switched his royals from ceramics to mats with no adverse effects.


Can't say I'm comfortable with the idea, but yes so far switching to mats doesn't seem to have adverse effect on their normal behaviour, even though the ambient air temperature in the small hours has dropped to 20c in the vivariums, which is a degree up from the room temperature at the time. Interestingly my BEL has always favoured the cool end irrespective of how the Viv was heated. If anything I have noticed more thermoregulation going on, probably as they can get warm inside their hides, where as the heat from an overhead ceramic is blocked by the hide itself ?

Naturally I'm keeping a closer eye on them than normal, but it's still early days as it's only been just over a week since making the switch. I have however used 17 x 11 20w and 23 x 11 30w mats. so a fully grown 1.3m 2.5kg royal can fit their whole body on the mat.

As Ian has said, and as stated in the instructions (assuming its a branded mat such as Ultratherm) these induce warmth in the animal from IR waves that don't heat the air. If the OP's room where the snake is kept is well insulated and retains the warmth then mats are fine, however if the house has poor heat retention then using mats may not be the way forward, and the tried and tested use of CHE's to warm the air is advisable


----------



## -kittie- (4 mo ago)

TheHouseofReptilez said:


> I keep both my royals in 50L tubs a year old and a 9 month old both are on mats connected to pulse stats set at 32c the cool side sits around 21 - 24c depending if the heating has been on plus as mentioned by Ian the costs to run ceramics is becoming much more expensive plus the only difference between a mat and ceramic is one heats from below and privides no change to the ambient air temp and the other privides heat from above and does increase the ambient temp,
> 
> Both produce Infared C but other than that they both do the same thing just one is cheaper to run than the other.


Hi thanks for replying, where would you recommend getting a ceramic heater and how would I control how high the temp goes, as most of the ones I’ve viewed go up to 65 degrees, would I be able to attach it to my thermostat?


----------



## Malc (Oct 27, 2009)

-kittie- said:


> Hi thanks for replying, where would you recommend getting a ceramic heater and how would I control how high the temp goes, as most of the ones I’ve viewed go up to 65 degrees, would I be able to attach it to my thermostat?


How are you housing the snake? - Ceramics are designed to fit inside a wooden vivaruim, using ceramic lamp holder and a powder coated metal cage to prevent the snake touching the heater. They are controlled by a pulse proportional or dimmer thermostat. There are two sticky threads at the top of this section that give guidelines for the more commonly kept snakes and one on heating. 

I have these  fitted in my main bank of enclosures, this to fit them, and this to protect them / the snake form contact. Other makes and models are available


----------



## Malc (Oct 27, 2009)

For thermostat look here


----------



## TheHouseofReptilez (Sep 26, 2021)

What Malc said if you are housing them in RUBS use heat mats, ceramics would just melt the plastic releasing toxic fumes and more so causing injury or death to the snake itself,

If you are stuck for money RUBS are a good option until you upgrade to a vivarium.


----------



## -kittie- (4 mo ago)

Malc said:


> How are you housing the snake? - Ceramics are designed to fit inside a wooden vivaruim, using ceramic lamp holder and a powder coated metal cage to prevent the snake touching the heater. They are controlled by a pulse proportional or dimmer thermostat. There are two sticky threads at the top of this section that give guidelines for the more commonly kept snakes and one on heating.
> 
> I have these  fitted in my main bank of enclosures, this to fit them, and this to protect them / the snake form contact. Other makes and models are available


I’m housing the snake in a wooden vivexotic tank, I’ve just ordered a ceramic heating bulb and metal cover, would this be okay? how would I attach the metal cover to the top of the tank ? Thanks sm for your help ))


----------



## Malc (Oct 27, 2009)

-kittie- said:


> I’m housing the snake in a wooden vivexotic tank, I’ve just ordered a ceramic heating bulb and metal cover, would this be okay? how would I attach the metal cover to the top of the tank ? Thanks sm for your help ))


Without links or pictures to what you have purchased how can we tell if is suitable ??

This is what you should be aiming for (image taken whilst constructing the unit before the cable has been secured)


----------

