I don’t like it warm, but ball pythons do. Optimal belly temps for warm side is around 92-3 degrees. I don’t like keeping the temps around 95, but it’s within the acceptable range, so to each their own.

I guess if the warm hide is right on top of the UTH the temps can get pretty high in there. I’ve never done that. Usually I put the hide off to the side a little. Same with the basking spot. I usually put that off to the side of the position of the UTH as well so I can get a gradient. It also encourages the snake to come out of the hide to bask occasionally.

From what I’ve read, in their native habitat they spend just about as much time in the trees as on the ground. I don’t remember precisely, but with my female Ball, I believe the hide next to the basking area kept a temperature of between about 86 to 89, while the basking area varied between 89 - 93 (average was about 90). The ambient air temperature fluctuated between 86 - 90 in the middle and on the cool side was between 85 and 88. The hide on the cool side was the coldest place in the tank and I remember it often read below 85. The tank was four feet long and had a screen top on it and the fluctuations were mainly due to the changes in air currents and temps in the room itself. I had heat tape on this tank and the red basking light was always on. She occasionally used the cool hide but spent most of her time in the warm hide, coming out occasionally for a bask. But in the morning and evenings when the house was quiet, she spent a lot of time in her "tree" in the middle of the tank, even though it was slightly cooler than her warm hide and basking area. I had her for 17 years.

The male, who I had for 10 years, never used his "tree" once, and after about 4 years I just stopped putting it back into the viv after I cleaned. His tank was a 30 gallon with a peg board top and I only used a basking light for heat. The basking area sat around 90-91 and the ambient temperature seemed to sit at 88 no matter how cold the room outside got. The few times I measured the temp in his hide,on the cold side, I’m pretty sure it was 86 or 87, at least I remember it was only one or two degrees cooler than the ambient. Goes to show how much variation there can be.

I used to keep records of shedding and feeding, as well as any time they were sick and what I did, but I now wish I had kept temperature records as well. I never really thought about it. Maybe I should start.