Ball pythons needing belly heat

[Dillymann]

Hello im new here and i have some questions about belly heat n heat pads. How come overhead lighting is said to be bad for ball pythons but the sun is overhead?..... There aren't heat pads in the wild.....

[Lankyrob]

Personally i prefer overheadheat as it replicates the sun better and also warms the air better than heatpads

I believe it is a preference thing a lot like whether to feed f/t or live.

[formica]

its not bad for them, but it does dry the air more than under tank heaters

that said, personally I think it is better to offer belly heat for nocturnal species (except arboreal), rather than heat lamps, because it is my opinion that natural cycles should be maintained, ie day/night, light/dark, for the health and well being of the animal

Nocturnal species do infact utilize 'belly heat', they will find places to hide and sleep, which have been heated by the sun, under logs and rocks for eg, they do not bask in sunlight. At night, the heat they get comes from the ground, warm rocks, warm soil, etc, not from the sky, ie belly heat

[Aaron_S]

Hello im new here and i have some questions about belly heat n heat pads. How come overhead lighting is said to be bad for ball pythons but the sun is overhead?..... There aren't heat pads in the wild.....

Overhead lighting dries out the enclosure.

Also the snake is terrestrial. Heating the underside of the enclosure allows the snake to get the heat much easier.

Lastly, there's lots of things not in captivity that they have in the wild so it's a silly argument to make about the sun or whatever.