What I have learned thus far reguarding Temp/Humidity

[Mr_BoaJangles]

Like any new BP owner I spend the better part of the first few weeks tweeking things and learning as much as I can from reading about all of the experiences of the members here.

I feel quite confident that I have my set up right where it needs to be minus adding a few more plants.

Here is the set up I ended up settling on for my little guy:

2 UTH's. a medium sized one on the hot side, and very small one on the cool side stuck under his cool side hide. Both on dimmer switches. I used a Digital Heat Gun to check the consistency and levels of the temps. My house stays right at 72 all year round for the most part so I haven't found that the house temp changed the tank temps much at all. The warm side stays at a solid 90, the cool at 83.

I ditched the heat lamp I had right around the time I switched up the UTH for a larger one due to it sucking all the humidity of the tank. I then had the Idea to place the small UTH under the hide location since his cool hide seemed to stay in the mid 70s. I also used metal tape to cover part of the top of the screen to help as well. My humidity went from 40 to 60 in a days time.

After reading about what wood chips were good for not promoting mold growth from the moisture I changed his wood chips from the thin shavings to the slightly thicker ones and it has worked well, I almost never have to mist the tank any more.

When I got my BP from the petshop he was about to start his shed. I knew little about what he needed to shed properly and most likely due to having low humidity and the stress of a new home he had a bad first shed. I had to use a bath in Tupperware with a damp wash cloth to help him finish it.

After all the tweaking I have done I left the day after Christmas to go to California for a week. The first time I had been away from my BP since getting him the day after thanksgiving.

I came back and he had shed all in one piece all by him self and left a nice large poo for me to clean up.

So for my 40 Gallon tank, I found that 2 UTH's on dimmers worked great with metal tape on the top and an inch to an inch and a quarter deep of wood chips in his tank. Oh, and I have moss beading in both his hides and live plants. This seems to be a winning combo for me.

I will post pics tonight of it and post em.

Thanks to all you snake lovers for keeping us noobies informed!

[thegoalie22]

Yes, all you said is correct, but your ambient temps are probably fairly low

[Mr_BoaJangles]

Yes, all you said is correct, but your ambient temps are probably fairly low

The 90 and low 80s temps I have it are what I get with my Temp Gun. The DigTherm probe buried under all the substrate gives a few degrees higher temp reading. Do I need to pump up the heat more then it is?

[m00kfu]

The 90 and low 80s temps I have it are what I get with my Temp Gun. The DigTherm probe buried under all the substrate gives a few degrees higher temp reading. Do I need to pump up the heat more then it is?

No, your temps are fine.