Hi all, I’m a new snake mama & I was wondering what is the best source of heat for my Ball python? The reptile store said I needed a bulb & then when I went back for more supplies they said I need a mat and not a bulb… I’m very confused and I’m not finding a solid answer online. Please help. If I need a bulb what wattage? Should I do both bulb and mat? Thank you.
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The belly heat for ball pythons helps them digest best in my experience. You can still use the bulbs to reach the proper temps in the enclosure though. Or just offer them different experiences and enrichment that way.
Ball pythons by nature are pretty shy and tend to live in burrows. They typically creep out whole the sun is low to get the warmth they need from a spot that had heated up from the sun earlier. So they don’t typically bask like say a cornsnake might.
But when keeping them in out captive environments, that can change. Some do like to bask, but if your little guy seems to only get more active at night they would definitely benefit more from the heat pad because they can keep warm while hidden away all day.
But a heat pad will absolutely REQUIRE a thermostat. If left unregulated they can reach temps as high as 140f and can seriously injure your snake. Even if they don’t burn themselves on it, it can change the ambient air temps to something much too hot for them. So make sure to have a good thermostat probe placement between the pad and enclosure.
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Definitely incandescent bulbs imo. Heat-mats don’t heat very effectively, and won’t do anything to create a proper gradient. It also goes against their nature, as most reptiles like to dig to get away from heat. Mats only emit the longer length of infrared (irc) which don’t heat the body very effecitively, whereas incendescent bulbs emit shorter lengths (ira) on top of the longer lengths, which penetrates deeper into the body, heating them more effectively. Many incadescent bulbs also emit some level of UVA which helps stimulate certain behaviours, and can help with appetite. The change i saw in my boy when i changed from a CHE (also only irc) to a basking bulb was wild, he became much more active, and he went from only wanting pied rats of a specific size from a specific breeder, to eating anything i offered as long as he wasn’t deep in blue. He will also cryptic bask from time to time, which basically means that he’ll expose a small part of his body to the light and thus benefitting from the ira. Some BPs will full on bask, especially if also given UVB.
This video explains why incandescent bulbs are great in a way i really like!
Reptile HEAT BULB VS HEAT MAT. Simple explanation.
And these articles from zen-habitats are useful as well
Myths and Misconceptions About Heating for Reptiles – Zen Habitats
Understanding UV Light and Infrared in Reptile Husbandry | UVA/UVB/UVC – Zen Habitats
Would also recommend the facebook group Reptile Lighting if you’re interested in learning more! That’s where i get most of my heating/lighting info from.
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I have never liked using bulbs for a heat source, only light. Heat mats have been used for the entire 58 years I’ve been keeping reptiles. Many claim they can’t be used on enclosures that have a 1/2" PVC bottom and this is just false. If you get a quality heat mat, I prefer Ultratherm, they heat through the PVC just fine, but obviously much of the heat is lost going through this type of material. What I began doing years ago is placing the mat inside the enclosure on the bottom and then apply an 1/8" piece of acrylic over the heat mat. This type of install allows far more heat to be felt in the enclosure. Of course a thermostat should be used on all types of heat sources. The dial on the power cord is not a thermostat, it will not turn the heat off when it reaches a set level. If I must use a heat mat with one of these I remove it and plug the mat directly into a real thermostat. The heat mat provides that heat on the body that helps in digesting the rodent. If additional heat is required I highly recommend using a radiant heat panel mounted on the top of the enclosure. A ceramic heating element can also be used and both of these require them to be plugged into a real thermostat that will turn off all heat when temps reach a set level. I don’t like using any type of light source for heat, it doesn’t matter what color it is. Snakes, like most animals, do best with a day/night period. Night meaning no light of any kind. If you must use a light as a heat source be sure to use a thermostat and make sure the animal cannot get any part of it’s body to come in contact with the bulb. I have seen to many snakes burnt very bad because the owners didn’t install a barrier between the bulb and the animal. If you surround the bulb with a cage that you made, if you can’t place your hand on that barrier and leave it there for 2 to 3 minutes you need to move that barrier farther away from that bulb. Thanks for your time.
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Yup me too. 
Ultratherm heat mats are great!
The best heating element(s) is going to depend a lot on the conditions inside your home. If you keep your home in the 70s, a heat mat alone should be fine. If you keep your home cooler, you’ll likely need some sort of overhead heat as well.
I’m personally not a fan of heating elements that produce light, mainly because you still need to heat the enclosure at night, and reptiles need a day/night cycle. So if your only heat source produces light and you have to turn the light off at night, then you have no heat at night. Plus light bulbs are going to require more expensive thermostats to regulate, and need to be replaced. Not an issue for everyone, but if you’re on a budget, it’s definitely something to take into consideration.
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Unless you keep your home super cold, they don’t actually need heating at night! I have a basking bulb that is on during the day, and a CHE that kicks in during the night if the temp gets super low, but it’s almost never on
My home was running 62 a couple weeks ago. But I’m not in a drafty or snowy place that can drop severely
But my biggest reasons to avoid lamps so far have been cats and earthquakes.
The only time a quake knocked my CHE over was thankfully when I was home. I don’t want that to happen when I’m away.
The cats though… Unpredictable. At all times.
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I definitely need to heat my snakes at night. I hate the heat and keep my home cool, so my house often drops down into the low 60s or 50s, especially at night, which is far too cold for the species I keep (and my “snake room” is also my bedroom). I use various “dark” heating elements to keep them at the right temperatures.
I really wish the conditions in one’s home was something that was brought up more often in the discussions around the “best” heating elements to use. I remember being so frustrated when I first got my sand boa and couldn’t figure out why the UTH that was her only source of heat was not getting her enclosure warm enough, even though the 5 care guides I’d read said that was all I needed. Eventually I found some more nuanced information on heating elements and learned that UTHs don’t help much with ambient temperature and are one of the least effective heating elements to use in a cool home/room. I got a CHE and suddenly all my problems were solved, because CHEs actually warm the air in the enclosure. And I know I’m not the only person who has experienced these frustrations, being told that one particular heating element is “the best” to use, when in fact that heating element is actually not appropriate at all for their circumstances.
So yeah, plenty of people do need to heat their reptiles at night, and will need a heat source that does not produce light to do so.
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