I would completely disagree that they are better than heat mats. Belly heat is what BPs need. They aren’t baskers. As your breeder told you when you first got the snake.
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UTH are better for ball pythons, since BPs don’t bask and need belly heat. There are plenty of people that will tell you that heat bulbs are dangerous and not good to use at all. Using one got your snake burned. If you had only used a UTH your snake wouldn’t be in this condition.
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I think you’ve done very well in treatment but…I definitely think it could have been avoided and I see the bulb thing from time to time with folks and it confuses me
His injuries are entirely my fault, I should have fixed his cage with more secure wood screws (and checked it more frequently).
I have heard however that some ceramic bulbs do explode when they’re new due to cracks while in transit. Which is why they recommend leaving the bulb on to test without there being a reptile in the viv yet.
Also @thecrawdfather my breeder didn’t say anything about the bulb, and approved it when I showed him my setup…
Anyways his current RUB uses a UTH, as its just a temporary setup. I’ll use it instead of the bulb as soon as he’s well enough to go back into his naturalistic enclosure.
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I’m gonna have to chime in again and say that this all could have been avoided had a bulb not been used. @thecrawdfather said that you wanted to add a bulb despite what the breeder said. If a bulb is so much better than why do I have snakes and leopard geckos that are 12 plus years old when no bulb was introduced and only a heat mat was used? Food for thought. And hey I’ve only been keeping for 12 years so what do I know? And I mean none of this to make you feel bad so dont take it that way. i just want to re educate you on the whole bulb vs heat mat debate.
I’m really not too sure where @thecrawdfather got that from, seeing as my only post (I think) mentioning a heat mat is where I’m unsure if I should begin using one (due to mixed advice from many people).
Note that this post came after the breeder had approved my “current” setup.
^^^
This is the original post I was referring to I may have misinterpreted?
Like I said I don’t know anything about bulbs. It seems like the vast majority of info on here and by doing a google search on BP husbandry would recommend UTH, you of course are responsible for your own animal and make your own decisions…it seems like from the info available you should consider making a switch. That’s all I’m saying, I don’t want this to turn into anyone attacking you or being rude.
That’s another thing though. You always have to take a pet stores care with a grain of salt. They usually get a couple of things off when it comes to care. Many say use aspin for bp’s which is a bad idea and some also say use sand for leopard geckos which is a whole other topic for another time but you get my point. They aren’t reliable
Well considering I’ve now had access to a community of seasoned keepers, I do see that heat mats may be the best way to go. But you can understand my confusion in your statement here
When I hadn’t said anything about my breeder’s approval up until this point.
Yes heat mats would be the best way to go. To prevent something like this from happening again I highly recommend a thermostat with a heat control. It will shut off the mat if it gets above a pre set temp and will turn it back on once its cooler. Pretty ingenious device if u ask me
I assumed the breeder you mentioned in that post above that said UVB wasn’t necessary was the one you bought the snake from. My bad.
but I guess the point was you got that advice before you even got the snake. If you got mixed advice I can see what you’re saying though different people saying different things could be confusing.
I’m sorry if this is coming off as attacking I don’t want it to. I was waiting for a few weeks for someone else to mention the bulb and no one did so I wanted to at least have a discussion to see if most people would agree that a different method would be safer.
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I had entirely been going off of the RSPCA’s care sheet, the care sheet provided by my reptile insurance (exoticsdirect), multiple other care sheets from many online sources and blogs. My confusion also primarily stemmed from the fact that quite a few care sheets listed both heat mats and bulbs as acceptable heating methods. If I hadn’t been confident in my setup I certainly wouldn’t have let my snake live in it.
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I hadn’t gotten him from them, but that post was also only regarding a UVB/A😅
Ok fair enough. That’s my bad.
Also not that you would be able to know this before the fact but The RSPCA probably knows jack about reptiles compared to some of the folks on here lol.
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This is gonna be a long thread for sure lol. Well you definitely have my help/support if ever necessary and like @thecrawdfather said please dont take this as a attack. I just wanna see your little dude get better and go on to continue doing snake things!
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Same here .
I will add my 2 cents it’s not about how you provide heat but it is about providing proper temps and do so in a safe manner we all do it in different ways (I for example only offer a hot spot with heat tape 4 months out of the year, the rest of the time I only use the ambient temp in my snake room)
BP do not need belly heat, belly heat is not better either (it’s just more efficient when providing a hot spot) , what matter is to provide temperatures that facilitate digestion and that are within healthy range and that can be accomplished several different ways.
Now pro of belly heat is that it is more efficient (heat travels up) and and it does not dry out the enclosure…
RHP are also an option and if light or che are used they should be kept OUTSIDE the enclosure as a snake will find a way to get near the bulb even if a bulb cage is present.
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Yeah it’ll definitely be a long one lol, it’ll be back to near daily updates when I’m home too.
I just want the best for this little guy.
Considering what’s currently available to me, I’ll be moving over to using a heat mat. Seeing as I don’t have any other options readily available. And I won’t be able to move the lamp outside of the viv since it’s wooden.
What does RHP stand for @stewart_reptiles ?
In other news my Brazilian rainbow boa has been using a CHE for a year now with no issues, but is there anything different that would benefit her more?
If it’s more efficient…and doesn’t dry up the enclosure…and their bodies naturally absorb heat that way…
Seems better?
Agree temps CAN be provided several different ways.
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