Heating pads' question

[UncleFester]

I purchased my first snake, a Normal BP yesterday. I have yet to setup the heating aspect (he's in a very warm room though) because I'm a little nervous of using a heating pad. My question is, are they safe? They won't overheat the substrate?

What depth should the substrate be over the heating pad?

[Vypyrz]

I purchased my first snake, a Normal BP yesterday. I have yet to setup the heating aspect (he's in a very warm room though) because I'm a little nervous of using a heating pad. My question is, are they safe? They won't overheat the substrate?

What depth should the substrate be over the heating pad?

You are going to find that most people on here do use heat pads (Under Tank Heaters) or a type of heat tape called Flexwatt. They are not dangerous as long as you use a controlling device for the heater. You can use a thermostat, which keeps the heater at a set temperature. There are also rheostats and lamp dimmer switches that you can get from home improvement places like Home Depot or Lowes. When using these you definitely need a temp gun or thermometer to measure the temp of the heater so you will know which way to adjust it. But you definitely need a controlling device for the heater. They have been known to reach temperatures that are way too high for ball pythons and burn them.

As far as the depth of the substrate. It really depends on the type of substrate you use. If you are using a wood substrate, such as Aspen or cypress, I would say for starting out try about 1/2 inch or around 2cm. You can add more or less as needed, but adding too much will affect your temp and humidity so try to be consistent with how much you put in.
If you are using paper towels or newspaper, I would say maybe 2-4 layers.

What size of tank are you using and what size is the UTH. It should cover between 1/3-1/2 of the floor of the tank, and aluminum tape works great for sticking it on. I recommend getting your UTH set up as soon as possible. Your BP will love you for it...

[trott]

Lol. Just make sure you put the UTH outside the glass. I just helped someone and the UTH was stuck on the floor on the inside of the enclosure.

Make sure you can control the heat source. If you use a basic heat mat pick up a dimmer from home depot (i believe Lutron makes them) or a thermostat. If your room temps stay steady you wont have to fiddle with it too much. Once you get it dialed in dont mess with it too much (til the seasons change) because the snake will nestle down into the substrate to get the comfortable temp they desire. So if they dug down in the substrate and they're content, if you jack up the temps again they have to adjust again. ot too much of a big deal though.

Make sure you place the warm side hide over the uth.

[UncleFester]

Thanks for the information!

I have one of the thermostats that are small and round and you stick to the side of the tank - will that work? Also, I'm using coconut fiber as a substrate.

He's in a 20 gallon tank at the moment and the UTH would be about 1/3 the size of the tank.

[jaybird0399]

do you have a picture of the thermostat or a name

[UncleFester]

I had a newbie moment, I only have a thermometer, so I have to get a thermostat.

Are there any good brands that are better than others?

If I put the UTH in now would it be okay until I can get something to regulate the temp or should I wait?

[UncleFester]

Forgot to add... How does the taping the UTH work? I just leave the paper on it and use tape to tape it to the bottom?

[jaybird0399]

I would not put it in until you get something to regulate it they get really hot and will burn the snake. There are alot of different thermostats you can get it depends how much you want to spend. zoomed reptitherm 500r is about 25-30 bucks cheap but it works same with the rheostat cheap but works. Or you can get a ranco or johnson they are a bit more but are good quality. then there is the helix and herpstats which are proportional thermostats and cost the most but are well worth it i would say herpstat is the best. But only having one snake you will be ok with a ranco or johnson go

[jaybird0399]

go to www.reptilebasics.com and you can see some and the prices

[trott]

Since you just have one bp for now i would pick up a digital thermometer and that dimmer switch form Home Depot/Lowes. If you can find an accurite temp unit( about 10 bucks) at Home depot/lowes that would be best as it provides humidity and two temp readings at the same time. You can place it at one end and run the probe to the warm side.

If your bp is still young a 20gal might be a little big so just fill it with alot of stuff to take up the space or you can make a cardboard divider til it grows into it.