My fiance and I bought a ball python last night and placed it in a 20 gallon tank with a heating pad underneath and a heat lamp. Does the heat lamp need to be on at all times? I read somewhere that ball pythons should be exposed to both light and dark because they are nocturnal.
Unknown....
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That will depend on how warm it is in your home. If your home is in the 70's most of the time, then you would be just fine to shut off the light at night and leave just the UTH on.
Here's a good article to read through on them
http://www.kingsnake.com/ballpythonguide/
ferrisulf
There are "day" lights and "night" lights that can be used. I have a "night" bulb--these are very dim, often dark blue or red--that's several watts less than the "day" bulb; this makes it cooler--temperature-wise XD --in the cage, but still keeps it warm enough. It depends on how large the heat pad is, because it might not be adequate enough on its own. And one of the last things you want is a cold snake! (sooo many health issues can come about from that) Of course, you don't want an overheated snake either, so whatever you do, make sure the temp is dropped a little at night.
That Atheist chick
Ball pythons dont HAVE to have light. People have different views on this but, I never have used a lamp for my snakes. The under tank heater is fine. They are nocternol so, they enjoy having it dark.
If you do choose to use the lamp turn it off at night for them.
?
I don't know what a ceramic heat emitter is but if it's anything like a hot rock or some other hot thing that the snake comes into contact with, do not use it. They're dangerous. Snakes are stupid and will lay on the hot thing until it's burnt through their skin. I would go for either a heat mat, put under half of the tank (not inside it), or the heat lamp with a wire shield around it so that the snake can't go and burn himself on it.
jay
My personal preference on my snakes is no lights. Just natural daylight. As soon as the sun sets, my Ball Python is out and about, pretty much every night.
I use a UTH and keep the substrate at 92, which is about 88 or so where he lays in his hide. When it is cooler than normal, I use a ceramic heat emitter to keep the warm side at 90. Ceramic heat emitters are great, they last for a long time, and only put out heat, no light... I use mine on the same thermostat as the UTH to regulate the heat output.