# Novice help needed please - heating/lighting



## StephandSkye (Aug 2, 2016)

My 9 year old daughter and I have recently acquired our first snakes. The more I read, search for products, talk to people, the more confused/unsure I become. The snakes are both 5-6 months old. My daughter has a Bredli, I have a Jungle Python. They are housed together in a reptile enclosure approx. 3ft long, with a small heat mat. I am confused at what uv lighting or basking lights to put in there. I need to be a little careful at this stage with how much money I spend (or waste) on the right or wrong stuff especially because I assume I will need to eventually upgrade to something bigger? What type of lights should I get? What wattage? Are light cages absolutely necessary (they are quite expensive for me)? 
ps. I now properly understand about having a heat gradient from reading a post on here


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## Prof_Moreliarty (Aug 2, 2016)

Uv is not required do u know what sex they are? Wouldn't recommend housing them together either. Unless you want a burnt snake I would recommend a light cage, not trying to have a go and you will find plenty of experienced ppl on here to help but you really should have got the correct info before getting the snakes to fit everything into your budget.


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## pythoninfinite (Aug 2, 2016)

DO: Firstly, an absolute priority should be to separate the animals. Both of these young snakes will have a strong feeding response and you'll eventually have a disaster either through feeding or simply because they will be stressed. This should be regarded as urgent.

DO: Snakes do not need UV light, in fact you don't need any light if you don't want spend the money, but a small wattage globe will suffice or a small LED light fitting such as you can get from Bunnings. The LED will likely sit fairly flat under the cage top, and they are cool, so you won't need a light cage.

DO: As far as heating is concerned, a 25W heat cord is probably the best option, you can set it up in a zig-zag under the floor of both enclosures (about a third of the floor area for each) and place your thermostat probe with the cord to maintain a temp of around 30-32C.

DON'T: Be conned into expensive & unnecessary enclosures or light/heat fittings by pet-shop staff, most of which are not needed. As a start, a couple of plastic tubs, a heat cord & a thermostat, a couple of water bowls and a few small cardboard boxes for hides will set you up quite nicely. May not look too flash, but snakes don't judge themselves by how flashy their accommodation is, and you can upgrade as money becomes available.

Jamie


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## StephandSkye (Aug 2, 2016)

Thank you both for replies. The Bredli is a male, the Jungle is Female. 

Prof: I thought I had got the correct info from a fellow who has owned snakes for many years (and has 3 beautiful healthy snakes)but the more I researched and read - the more conflicting information I got. I do have money to spend, but I don't have money for purchasing items that are not needed eg uv light or other expensive unnecessary fittings that sound great in advertisements. 

Jamie: Thank you. The snakes are fed separately and they actually seem to like each other, often found curled up next to each other, even though they have a choice of a cple of small cardboard box hides. I have a small globe in the cage top that gives virtually no heat, I can easily hold it with my fingers after it has been on for hours. Over the last day or so I have often found my Jungle hanging next to the globe. ?? So I assumed that it wanted a basking light? It has a heat mat. Tonight I put a normal downlight in the fitting, just for a little while to see what she would do. I found her stretched "standing" up next to the light about 10cm away.


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## SKYWLKR (Aug 2, 2016)

I can have a lion cub in the same cot as a puppy and they'll snuggle up together no worries. But that doesn't mean it's a wise thing to do. Your pythons need to be separated regardless of how affectionate they are or how adorable they look.

Not even a zoo would keep those species together. Please heed our assistance and use logic in understanding why. Not having a go at you but you did ask for advice and keeping them separated is damn good advice.


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## Iguana (Aug 2, 2016)

to add on to the separation, the Bredli will likely grow at a faster rate than the jungle, and end up much larger. Young snakes are prone to stress easily enough anyway. I understand you aren't keen on shelling out a lot of money on un-needed things, but a couple of plastic tubs and heat cords won't cost you too much, and they will benefit in the long run. alternatively, keep the Bredli or jungle in the enclosure and take the other out ect.
As a general rule, snakes don't "like" they tolerate, and tolerance can only go so far, please separate them.


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## pythoninfinite (Aug 3, 2016)

The snake is far more likely to be seeking heat than light, and a small wattage heat cord in the bottom of the enclosure will serve the purpose far more efficiently. Baby pythons are very vulnerable to predation, so they are almost totally nocturnal, "basking" is not normal for them until they are a lot bigger.

With regard to keeping them together, they are cued to strike by both scent and movement, and also expectation. Any or all or these can work separately or in tandem to set off a chain of events which will lead to catastrophe if you continue to keep them together. Young animals are almost always hungry, and while they are not commonly cannibalistic, the triggers that will cause one to strike at the other are almost impossible to avoid. Even though you feed them separately, there will be a lingering scent of food on each of the animals when you put them together again, and if they are still a bit hungry or cued to strike at movement, you will have learned a hard lesson. They are primarily solitary animals, and at best tolerate the presence of another - "liking" each other doesn't come into it. Separating them should be a priority. If they do tangle with each other, the more the "victim" struggles, the tighter the other will constrict. Similarly if you try to separate them, the same thing will happen.

Jamie


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## StephandSkye (Aug 3, 2016)

Thank you all for replies, much appreciated. They have been separated. 
I was interested in getting heat cords, but at the moment there is a heat mat in the bottom of enclosure that she doesn't seem to take advantage of?. . Are heat cords better for any specific reason? Do heat cords/heat mats go under the actual enclosure or under whatever flooring i am using?

- - - Updated - - -

Thanks Jamie, thank you for taking the time to explain.


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## pythoninfinite (Aug 3, 2016)

It's generally easier to place the heat cord or heat mat under the enclosure, rather than try and accommodate cords & things inside it. With a heat mat you'll need to ensure that there is a bit of ventilation to prevent overheating. They usually come with 4 rubber feet to hold the enclosure a few mm above the mat. In my experience heat cords are more forgiving, & therefore a lot safer. You can drill a hole in the side of the enclosure just big enough to allow the thermostat probe to pass through, and place it above the area where the mat/cord is (NEVER use tape to hold it in place however - sticky tape is death to snakes, especially small ones!). If both your enclosures are the same size, and you are using a separate mat/cord of the same wattage for each, you can run both heating devices from the one thermostat and probe by plugging the heating devices into a double adaptor/powerboard, and plugging this into your thermostat. It will then switch both devices off when they come up to temperature, or maintain the temps very stable if you are using a digital device.

It may be that the heat mat is too hot (should make the floor/substrate about 30-32C), but sometimes they choose to spend time in cooler parts of the enclosure. The important thing is choice.

Jamie


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## meako (Aug 3, 2016)

StephandSkye said:


> Thank you all for replies, much appreciated. They have been separated.
> I was interested in getting heat cords, but at the moment there is a heat mat in the bottom of enclosure that she doesn't seem to take advantage of?. . Are heat cords better for any specific reason? Do heat cords/heat mats go under the actual enclosure or under whatever flooring i am using?
> 
> - - - Updated - - -
> ...



Hi mate.
re heat cords -I have two enclosures with heat cords . One is on a wooden table with the cord running under the glass base of the enclosure. The other goes through a hole in the side and under a ceramic tile. Neither cord can be moved by the snakes.
I'll second the use of a LED strip over that bare energy saver bulb you have -it's cheaper to run and won't injure the snake when it tries to climb on it for warmth. The energy saver looks like an accident waiting to happen IMO -sorry to be blunt. You can also buy galvanised wire mesh at Bnnings and construct a cage which might be cheaper than a "reptobrand" cage -anything with "repto"or the like written on it seems to command a hefty price increase.
As has been said they don't need light but an hour out in the sun every couple of days won't hurt either. Under strict supervision of course or they will abscond. This will also make their lives a bit more interesting with the smells and sensory stimulation of different terrain.
Hope that helps.


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## StephandSkye (Aug 3, 2016)

Awesome thank you meako


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