Ceramic heat lamp question

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SerpentWanderer

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I have had a 50-60 watt ceramic heat lammp with my diamond python for a while now. However I have noticed that the cage around it does get noticeably hot and I am concerned.

The diamond has never been burnt by the cage housing and will often rest on top of it as I have it horizontal instead of hanging down. Is there a lower wattage or is my current one just fine?

I have a uva/b light as well but its out of the cage on a lamp stand.
fe6a560822e32b7f686ac2248574024c.jpg


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should be just fine. has your Python got burns ?
Any way, diamonds like to bask on rocks in natural habitat,
Have you ever sat on hot concrete while the sun is blazing ,? would be similar i think.


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Putting the argument of whether CHE's are good or bad aside (it may come up), does it pass the touch test? In other words, can you hold your hand on the cage for about a minute and withstand the heat? That can be a good indicator. If it feels unbearably hot then it is probably too much.
 
I can hold my hand there for about a minute but sometimes I find that it can get a little too hot. The diamond has gone to its hide since its winter and I will be rehousing it into a more vertical enclosure where it can't wrap itself around the lamp.

Thank you everyone for your help.

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Are snakes silly enough to sit on something that’s burning hot?
 
Yes, they “feel” heat differently, as long as they’re getting heat they don’t even realise they’re burning
 
Yes, they “feel” heat differently, as long as they’re getting heat they don’t even realise they’re burning

Treat this myth with due scepticism. Snakes have the opportunity to literally cook themselves to death in the wild, but obviously they don't have a propensity to do so. It's a common story but in reality we almost never see this issue. Snakes are ectotherms which are expert thermoregulators. Dealing with temperature in the best possible way is one of their greatest talents.

The only issue is when the cage is cold, forcing the snake to seek heat, and the heat source has a very (*very*) small intensely hot spot. A snake won't just burn itself by sitting on a large object which is going to overheat its whole body. If there's an intensely hot, very small heat source, sometimes they will attempt to heat up by using it. Imagine being freezing cold on a cold day and trying to heat your body using a candle flame. Some people might be desperate enough to burn themselves. But you would only be desperate enough to try that if it was extremely cold and you had no other option. Same with snakes, you need to have an extremely bad setup to give even a remote chance of convincing a snake to burn itself. If a snake is sitting on a large, even heat source when it has other options, it is doing so because it wants to. All Australian snakes, even those in the coldest parts of Australia, in the wild have the opportunity to heat their bodies to temperatures which would kill them. Almost literally all, including literally all of the ones in the coldest parts of Australia, have the option to heat their bodies to over 70 degrees celcius, enough to seriously burn human skin. The only exceptions are in places such as the wet, dense tropical forests in north QLD. Even in Tasmania you'll find places where rocks get above 80 degrees. The snakes can avoid them.

Diamonds live in a climate where they spend most of their lives fighting for every bit of warmth they can get, and they'll actively take advantage of hot basking spots, unlike tropical Carpets which naturally don't need to bother working for their heat, and are much more nocturnal.
 
Treat this myth with due scepticism. Snakes have the opportunity to literally cook themselves to death in the wild, but obviously they don't have a propensity to do so. It's a common story but in reality we almost never see this issue. Snakes are ectotherms which are expert thermoregulators. Dealing with temperature in the best possible way is one of their greatest talents.

The only issue is when the cage is cold, forcing the snake to seek heat, and the heat source has a very (*very*) small intensely hot spot. A snake won't just burn itself by sitting on a large object which is going to overheat its whole body. If there's an intensely hot, very small heat source, sometimes they will attempt to heat up by using it. Imagine being freezing cold on a cold day and trying to heat your body using a candle flame. Some people might be desperate enough to burn themselves. But you would only be desperate enough to try that if it was extremely cold and you had no other option. Same with snakes, you need to have an extremely bad setup to give even a remote chance of convincing a snake to burn itself. If a snake is sitting on a large, even heat source when it has other options, it is doing so because it wants to. All Australian snakes, even those in the coldest parts of Australia, in the wild have the opportunity to heat their bodies to temperatures which would kill them. Almost literally all, including literally all of the ones in the coldest parts of Australia, have the option to heat their bodies to over 70 degrees celcius, enough to seriously burn human skin. The only exceptions are in places such as the wet, dense tropical forests in north QLD. Even in Tasmania you'll find places where rocks get above 80 degrees. The snakes can avoid them.

Diamonds live in a climate where they spend most of their lives fighting for every bit of warmth they can get, and they'll actively take advantage of hot basking spots, unlike tropical Carpets which naturally don't need to bother working for their heat, and are much more nocturnal.
Thank you! I will try and change the enclosure a bit so that it can't keep baskinhg where it is.

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Thank you! I will try and change the enclosure a bit so that it can't keep baskinhg where it is.

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I wasn't actually saying there was a problem with your situation! :)

It's certainly not how I'd set it up, and I'd never use a CHE, but I don't see any particular problem here.
 
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