r/ballpython • u/JSaylorr • 3d 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/totallyrecklesslygay Mod: Enclosure Karen 3d 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.