Next on the list are items dealing with temperature and safety!
Heat
Ball pythons are not basking animals. In the wild, you wouldn't find one out on a rock soaking up sun. To summarize all the research I've done, ball pythons prefer belly heat.
So, I went out and got a Zoo Med Reptitherm Under Tank Heater. Since my enclosure is a 20 gallon long, I initially went to go buy the U.T.H. for a 10-20 gallon tank. But when I compared the size of the mat to my tank, it just seemed too small.
I ended up buying the one for 30-40 gallon tanks at the suggestion of some people online that have more experience than I do. The 30-40 gallon one covers about 1/4 of the bottom of the tank. I also read that the 10-20 gallon U.T.H. doesn't have great heating for a 20 gallon long like I have.
***DISCLAIMER***
These U.T.H.s have a reputation for getting unreasonably hot (up to 106℉!) So always use a thermostat and a thermometer for the snake's safety and your safety too!
Thermostat
As these U.T.H.s are notorious for getting super hot, I bought Hydrofarm's Jump Start Digital Controller Thermostat. This was recommended to me because of its built in safety feature. The heat mat is plugged into this which is plugged into the wall.
You can set the temperature you want the heat mat to be, lets say 88℉ for the hot side, on the thermostat and it will slowly raise the temperature. If the heat mat starts to go higher than the set temperature, it will shut off the heat mat until it is back down to a reasonable temperature.
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