(If you have a baby Burm which you purchased in a petstore, it may have come with a "hot rock." Do yourself a favor and throw that piece of snake-killing garbage out into the nether darkness where it belongs. Hot rocks are notorious for burning snakes: they get hot spots which can cause horrible sores and burns on your pet's belly. When dealing with adult Burms this is not a problem: nobody makes a hot rock large enough for a full-grown Burm. Those who own small snakes need to be careful).

When it comes to heat, you don't want to skimp at the expense of quality. A failed thermostat or dead heating element can cause a seriously overheated or unheated cage: this could lead to a dead or a sick snake. While Burms are pretty hardy snakes, inadequate heat will almost certainly lead to respiratory infections and ill health down the line... and you really don't want to be carting 100+ pounds of snake to your local vet (assuming you even have a local vet who handles reptiles) if you can avoid it!