Heat pits (how hot is too hot?)

[Spirit]

I have to keep a bulb over the cool side to prevent ambient temps from dropping too low, but if I put it on the tank, the screen gets hot to the touch. It's not BAD, but I can't hold my hand on it for more than a second without having to pull it away. The good thing though is that it's not on the edge of the tank (closer to the middle) and the screen doesn't transfer the heat... it only gets hot right where the bulb is.

Since it's unlikely he'll push around the middle of the tank (they tend to push more on the edge and around corners), is this unsafe for burns? Will his heat pits tell him "this spot is bad to touch"?

Right now I have it raised, but the temps still get somewhat lowish (mid 70's)...

[mykee]

"It's not BAD, I can't hold my hand on it for more than a second without having to pull it away."
That's bad (and too hot!). If you can't hold your hand there for more than a second or two, it's well over 125 degrees for sure and certainly hot enough to cause serious injury to your ball if he touches it. I can't really think of an alternative that still involves your light, but for starters you might wan't to consider moving the tank to a room with higher ambient temps.

[Spirit]

If I had a warmer room to move him to, he would have been moved there already. The tanks and humidity in the tank are fine. Stable humidity (58-62%), 90-92 on the warm, 78-82 ambient temps on the cool.

As for the temps on the lid, They stay cool to the touch so long as I keep the bulb raised about 2" above it.

Thanks for telling me how I can take better care of him, but you didn't answer my question. Obviously it's too hot if I have to keep the bulb raised... I asked about heat pits.

Would he not sense that this area is hot, and know not to push there? Do they use them strictly for searching out food? It's a spot on the door that's MAYBE 2" in diameter (when the light is touching the lid)... Either way I'm not risking it, but I'm curious about the heat pits. I know very little about why these particular snakes have them.

If I can raise the temps on the cool side by 5 degrees, I would.. which is why I'm asking about this one hot spot.

And while I'm at it, I really do appreciate that you thought about an alternative to the light. I wish there was one, but I can't think of what it might be... at any rate, thank you for that. :)

[mykee]

The snakes heat pits allow the snake to tell where their food is through "thermal vision" (think Predator). The pits do not tell the snake what the temperature is, just that it is hot or warm. SO to answer your question; no, the snake would not know better than to approach and touch the hot area.

[Spirit]

Very strange.... I DID reply saying thanks... Maybe I hit the back button instead of submit. LOL

At any rate, I assumed they had to do with seeking out food, but I wasn't sure if they were useful as a warning to "this place is too hot" (I know they're a bit dumb when it comes to body burns, but wasn't sure about the nose).

Thanks again. :)