I just bought a baby ball python and a small rock hide and a small bark hide. The heat pad wasnt enough heat in the later times of day so i bought a red night light for her and want to know if i should have the heat light over the rock? or will that just turn into an oven and cook her? or should i just put it over the flat bark hide? or if these are both too hot how should i set it up? should i have the rock on the hot side or cool side? or does it even matter? just wanted to make things perfect for her :)

Place one hide on the cool side and one the warm side. If the cool side hide is too cool, you can add additional heat to that side with a red light. If this makes the things too hot, go to a smaller wattage bulb or, get a rheostat and connect it to the lamp to reduce the heat output of the red bulb. A rheostat is like a dimmer switch with 3 settings (high, medium and low). The high setting runs the bulb at it's full wattage output. Both of your hides absorb heat. The rock hide will become warmer than the bark hide. A bark hide usually has an opening on both ends. This allows for air to pass through it better than a closed single opening rock shelter. Place your bark hide on the warmer side and place the rock hide on the cool end. You can place the lamp slightly over the rock hide as long as the red bulb helps maintains a cool side temperature in the low 80's for days to 78 degrees for nights. Placing a rock hide on the 90 degree hotside directly over a hotside heat pad or, directly underneath the hotside heat lamp can turn the rock shelter it into an oven. The rock on the cool end has a shedding benefit too. A closed single opening shelter will hold and trap humidity inside of it better than a shelter that is open on both ends. If the cage temperatures are being met correctly, your snake will choose the cool side hide to ride out his shed time.

Ball python owner

You should have to identical hides this way your snake does not have to pick safety over the right temperatures.Ball pythons can get picky with hides,it is best you get another rock hide being those log ones do not provide enough of a secure feeling for them with the double access points unlike the rock hid which only has one access point and has a much more natural feel of a burrow.Please watch this video on ball python heating

pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wALihN62…

you will find out that a heating bulb is not the best way to go with a ball python being the heat from the bulb rises staright out of the enclosure,the best way to go about heating is using a under tank heater,watch the video it explains every thing in more detail.

Experience and the awsome care advice over at Ricky's Reptile Enclosures

I would probably do the bark on the day time hot side with the day light heat over it and the rock on the night time side with the red light.
Also putting a plant in or a climbing branch on the cool side with a UV light

U should have a rock on the cooler side another rock in the middle and somewhere for the snake to bask under the heat lamp so they can choose where they want to go
Hope this helps :) x