Question about heating source for ball pythons?

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/

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.

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.

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.

Ball pythons do not need a light cycle. They are in their burrows and termite mounds during the day (so they're in the dark) and come to the mouth of the burrow/termite mound at night (dark) to wait for prey to wander by.

Additionally, even if they did need a light cycle, the light coming into your home provides it naturally.

Belly heat aids in digestion. Make sure that your UTH is on a dimmer or a quality thermostat, because un-regulated, they can and will burn your snake's belly.

The light on the cool side may be used as supplemental heating if needed to keep your cool side temps in the low 80's (warm side should be in the low 90's).

Keep in mind that lights will suck the humidity out of your enclosure so you will need to be misting as necessary to keep your humidity in the 50% range at all times.

For an excellent caresheet, use this: http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules.php?name=Secti...

Good luck with your new friend. They're addicting, I have 22 of them with many more to come if breeding goes well.

They do need to have a night day cycle like all animals. You should keep it on during the day and turn it off at night. You can buy timers that plug into the wall just about anywhere to have the light turn on automatically and turn off automatically. You should keep the heating pad on all the time though. You will also need to buy a larger tank after about a year.

I have a heating pad and a heating lamp. The heating lamp have a black light in it so I can turn off its other lamp(the one that makes the light) when I got to bed. The black light doesn't make to much of light so it doesn't bother me. The lamp can be a florecent light or any thing else. I use thoes bulbs that don't make to much power. Good Luck.

The Ball Python does not have to have a light. Here is a link to a care sheet.

http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/pythons/a/ballpytho...

Make sure that the Python has a warm and a cool side. I raise Ball Pythons and love them. Good luck.

the best thing to do is not to use a heating pad cause it might burn the snake you can use a heat lamp tho thats the best thing because it helps to digest there food and helps them shead and a coverd dish with about enough water for the snake to fully submerge is a great idea they love water and a nice dark place to rest a night i use a smal black flower pot with a hole cut out at the rim great choice for a snake thow and if the pads under the tank thats fine pluse a climbing stick is a nice idea did i forget to say they love the dark