Quote Originally Posted by kibakiba View Post
My friend had a rescued Python that was burnt all over it's body because of a heating pad. If they knew when to get off of the heat, it wouldn't have gotten burnt. It as supposedly at the temperature it was supposed to be for that snake, but it fell asleep and got burnt. Unfortunately for my friend the snake had died a couple months after she had rescued it. But I also don't have much knowledge of snakes. Especially non-garter snakes.
It's a common problem and well documented. No serious python keeper would consider a heatmat as a suitable source of heat for such a heavy bodied snake. Ceramics/heat bulbs are essential as tropical species such as those of the pythonidae are the ones that do rely on high air temps.
A heavy bodied snake will cause thermal blocking with a heatmat leading to burns. This is wellknown in the hobby. Unless any heatsource is statted/guarded appropriately then operator error will lead to unfortunate injuries.