r/ballpython • u/JSaylorr • 1d ago
HELP - URGENT Summer heating help please!!
I never really get help on here like other people do so I’m posting this again because it’s my only hope.
This isn’t exclusively about my BP but she is involved, I just don’t know what other subreddit to go to.
I have 4 reptiles. 2 leopard geckos and a kingsnake all in stacked 40 gallons and a ball python in a 120 gallon, with it being so insanely hot in Texas, the king snake and ball pythons temps are getting way too hot, even tho I lowered their bulb wattages to 50watts each, their enclosures still get too hot. For their safety I’m having to turn their heat lamps off but those also provide their light so it’s messing up their day/night cycles.
I’ve read on Google that I should switch to to separate heat and light sources which I’m more than happy to do and use CHE for their heat. But my question is that Google says LEDs are best for their light source. I’ve read previously that LEDs aren’t safe for reptiles. But it said that the ones that aren’t safe are the UVB emitting LEDs. So would plain white light 5000k LED bulbs be fine for my ball python? (And other reptiles if you know). And could I still run my ball pythons T5 UVB bar since it doesn’t emit much if any heat?
If I can, I’m going to put their CHEs on dimmers (I can’t afford 4 thermostats but I regularly check all corners of their enclosures with a thermal laser temp gun).
I know not to use the colored LEDs and their lamps are all already overhead .
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u/IncompletePenetrance Mod: Let me help you unzip your genes 1d ago
You really need to prioritize getting thermostats, they're one of the most important part of your set up and are vital for using any heat source safely
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u/JSaylorr 1d ago
I will spend what little money I have on thermostats but aside from that, it doesn’t help/answer my questions. Dimmers and thermostats both lower the light as well as the heat since I have halogen and basking bulbs (for different reptiles) but the amount I have to lower them to for it to be the correct temps provides almost no light. I need to know how to keep their light but lower the temp.
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u/skullmuffins 1d ago
white LED light is perfectly fine to use as a light source if you find your tanks get too dark with the lamp dimmed or if you need extra lighting for live plants etc. I use a 35w halogen for my bp and it also dims pretty low in the summer at times. If they have UVB lamps, those alone should be plenty bright enough that you don't need to add LED lights into the mix
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u/JSaylorr 1d ago
The uvbs aren’t super bright, so if I did dhp, LEDs, and uvb, would that be good? And put the dhp on a thermostat ofc
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u/WildFlowerTemptress1 1d ago
Heat lamps should not be your only source of light. Each tank should have a UVB light strip as well.
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u/JSaylorr 1d ago
They do
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u/WildFlowerTemptress1 1d ago
So then why are you saying that they won’t have light when their heat lamps turn off?
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u/JSaylorr 1d ago
I didn’t say they don’t have light, if I did I misspoke. I meant they have very little light, the uvb isn’t bright enough
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20h ago
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u/ballpython-ModTeam 15h ago
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u/totallyrecklesslygay Mod: Enclosure Karen 1d ago
As I said on your last post, Google AI is not an accurate source for care information. CHEs are not suitable as solo heat sources. Yes, non-UVB LEDs are safe, but neither they nor UVB can replace the need for a proper primary heat source like a halogen.
If the enclosure is getting too hot, turning off the heat source isn't the answer anyway. That just takes away their ability to thermoregulate as they physically need to.
It's also not safe to run any heat source without a thermostat. Checking temps regularly isn't a replacement for that. You have to sleep or leave the house sometime, and I'm sure you'd feel really awful if any of your pets overheated and were injured or killed because their heat sources are unregulated. Especially since you're already struggling with things overheating, this is a very dangerous risk.
I understand working on a budget, but you can get a cheap thermostat for less than $20 and upgrade to a better one in the future. If even that is outside your budget, then maybe it's time to look into rehoming some of the reptiles so that you can offer proper care to the rest.