Belysning och värma för kungspyton

Hejsan!

Förlåt på engelska, men jag kan inte prata mycket svenska :)

I own a 120x60x60 wooden enclosure, that I wish to keep my future (juvenile) ball python in & have a question concerning lighting & heating elements suitable specifically for a bioactive version. Since I need a fullspectrum light for plants to thrive, i have been considering purchasing a Arcadia Pro T5 Kit with 6% UVB (57cm length). Do you think this would be an appropriate choice for both reptile and plants? I know it is a bit controversial whether UVB actually benefits ball pythons, but I would like to include it nonetheless.

For heating, due to the bioactive setup, i have ruled out heating mats. Would a ceramic heat emitter, a halogenlamp or a heatlamp be a better fit for the snake? How much watt should it have? I would obviously purchase a guard alongside it, so the snake does not get burned accidentally.


So far, I have been purchasing most of the items for the terrarium on CyberZoo. If you could recommend other websites to buy enclosure items from, feel free to mention those!

Tack!

Hi!

LED strip/s should sufice as general lighting for a snake that usually spends alot of it's time hiding from both light and sight. Of course if you want to provide UVB, maybe get a shorter size Arcadia ShadeDweller and put it next to the heat source?

As for the heat source, a Basking bulb with a higher than necessary wattage in conjunction with a dimming thermostat will make it easy to reach desired temperatures in the terrarium. If you want a bigger zone that is heated then a heating panel is your only option left, since you don't want bottom heat. Which I agree is not optimal - nor natural.

The bioactive part is a nice touch, but beware that Ballpythons are notorious and heavy bodied 'investigators' of their surroundings. Your plants may not last very long.

Good luck!

Hello!

I have a wooden enclosure with the same size 120x60x60 for my ball python and it is also bioactive. For plants I have what we call in Sweden svärmorstunga and gullranka, they thrive and have not been crusht yet.

I chose Arcadia Jungle Dawn LED Bar (57cm) so the plants get as much light as possible. For heating I have a heatlamp with 50W and a Habistat heater guard (can be purchased at cyberzoo) around the lamp, then a smaller Arcadia ShadeDweller Pro T5 Kit 7% UVB (25cm) right next to the heat lamp.

Cyberzoo is really good, I also buy alot from them.

Hope it helps and good luck! :)  

My enclosure is bioactive and is heated by heatmat. Its been like that for 6 years now. Why did you rule that option out?

/M

Hi and welcome to the forum! 

As already stated you will need an LED light source for your plants to survive long term (depending on species of plats of course). Arcadia has a Jungle Dawn LED bar that should do the job nicely. It's quite powerful, which the plants will love. It also helps with overall brightness in the enclosure. 

As for heating you can absolutely use Halogen in conjunction with the previously recommended Shade dweller UVB.

Also, as mentioned by previous members, ball pythons are know for hiding, so create several hides on both the warm and cool side of the enclosure, and if possible even higher up. 

I doubt you will need any nighttime heat as long as the room keeps normal household temperatures. Heat mats have a niche but there are alternatives that do the same job.

Good Luck with your new snake

BR
Niklas

Thanks for all the helpful answers and tips! :)

So you guys think that the Arcadia Pro T5 Kit with 6% UVB would not provide enough light for plants in a bioactive terrarium? I was hoping it would be a good combination between LED/UVB benefits in one lampkit, if not i will probably end up purchasing the Arcadia Jungle Dawn LED bar + a Shade dweller UVB.

I ended up buying a heating lamp & guard, but am struggling to find a dimming thermostat that does not cost thousands of crowns. Would anyone know a more affordable brand or store i could get that from? I was wondering if the thermostat had to be reptile-brand specific?

Tack!

When I did my research, i read about multiple people having problems with the heat not properly penetrating their substrate layer. And, generally speaking i am just not a fan of heatmats as they tend to overheat and i have seen snakes that got burned by them pretty badly. I just want to be extra careful, and i think its not the best solution for the setup im going for. Im sure it can work for others though!

If heat is not penetrating the substrate the risk of burning the snake is minimal next to 0. That is like saying a radiator is making your room far to cold and far to hot at the same time. Heat is quite an easy concept to understand and it is easy to measure and control. Without controller you will need to measure and regulate/adjust manually much mote often no matter what heating device is used. 

I have my heat mat on the wall and regulated by temperature controller. I have no conserns about the setup after 6 years of use.

/M

Well, if the mat was (wrongly) placed (which it often is) in the enclosure and not under it, with enough substrate for the heat to net penetrate through, with a burrowing snake, say Hognose snake as an example - both instances are true Magnus. No heat through substrate and getting burned. High probability.
Having a mat on the back wall (outside) changes (possibly) the scenario somewhat.

TS personal view of heat mats and the issues the bring with them in some circumstances isn't unfounded. 

As for thermostats. I use a habistat digital dimming thermostat for my Antaresia and DHP at night. Can be found at Cyberzoo. This one if I'm not mistaken: www.cyberzoo.se/sv/articles/2.390.18823/habistat-digital-temperature-thermostat-dagnatt-600-w

The zuVB alone will not be enough light for plants. It lacks a lot both brightness and visible light wavelengths for plants to grow. The LED complement (I.e Jungle Dawn) will do both the plants and your animal good. The plants will get tons of light and the snake a proper circadian rhythm.

All plants need light, that is not species dependent at all. No plant needs LED light for survival.

/M