Critique Please

[RockyTop]

I am reposting this in the proper forum. I had it as an addon on my Intro thread in the OT area... not much traffic there lol. I'd really like some advice, because I want to be able to responsibly take care of an animal.


As of right now, I have the following:

15g 24x12x12 critter cage.
1 1/4 inch or so of Aspen substrate
2 Acurite indoor/outdoor thermometer w/ Hygrometer
8x8 UTH

First thing I did was do the duct tape / aluminum foil project to the locking screen top:



and then I applied the backing, substrate, applied velcro to the 2 accurites, with each probe going under the substrate where the hides will go. I bundled the extra cable and stuck it to the top of the tank with velcro as well. I did use a couple small pieces of duct tape to the bottom of the tank to hold the probe cables down. Is this okay?

I also applied the 8x8 UTH under the right side of the tank, under where the vent is on the top.

I also applied backgrounds to sides and back to "shrink the cage".



Now after letting it settle over night with the water dish in, I was getting the following readings:

Warm side ambient: 72F
Warm side probe under substrate: 111F
Warm side humidity: 78%
Cold side ambient: 68F
Cold side probe: 66F
Cold side humidity: 78%

Now obviously, these numbers are not good at all. I have a Reptitemp 500R on the way that I will use to control the UTH, to regulate the temp on the hot spot.

And since my house stays cool, I am going to buy a CHE/socket lamp clamp etc to bring up the ambient temps in the enclosure. I assume 100w would be enough? I am also going to buy some kind of foam/cork board to apply to the sides and back to help insulation.

Is too much humidity bad? I live in SE United States, so it is pretty humid here. I thought about making the vent a little bit bigger to let some humidity out and allow more heat from the CHE in.

Another quick question: I plan on purchasing a hatchling BP. Is 24x12x12 big enough? I assume it is. How long would it take to outgrow it?

Thanks for the info guys. Sorry for the bad pics- stupid cell phone camera ha.

[steveboos]

No leave it like it is, the humidity will lower probably once you get everything going, but if it doesn't, you can just take a little of foil off. It would probably take a year for your ball python to outgrow that tank. Try 75 watt first since the cage is so small, a 100w warmed my 55 gallon to 85 so a 75 should do the job for you.

[Jenn]

The question is not, is it big enough. The question is, is it small enough. Hatchlings do best in very small tubs (shoe box size). You can probably make it work but it will be an uphill battle.

[MitsuMike]

I don't see any air hole in the foil top. You don't need a big one but you do need like a 4x4" or 6x6" opening.

[dr del]

Hi,

If he adds a lamp holder for the ceramic then the hole he cuts for that in the foil will be plenty for the air exchange I think. You should really have a way of controling the ceramic lamp - even a dimmer switch is better than nothing. This would let you get a bulb you know can keep the temps up in the middle of winter but allows you to dial it down in the heat of summer.

Definately remove the duct tape - a couple of dabs from a glue gun work really well as a replacement.

The UTH should ideally be about a third of the floor space of the tank. Once you add the hides and the reptitemp you can dial that in taking the readings from various places.

On the paranoia patrol I would always assume they will manage to knock down the acurites.

So you want to make sure they can't get stuck in the little support for the main unit ( generally by cuting the bar across it out and leaving just the legs ) and that they cannot get badly tangled in the cable (use extra cable ties so there are no loops they can fit their head into ).

Anyone see anything I've forgotten?


dr del

[Vypyrz]

Looking good, but here is what I would recommend.
1) you really only need 1 AccuRite. The probe will give you the warm side temp and the unit will give you the cool side/ ambient temp and humidity. There is no harm in using both, I just found it nice to have a spare on hand.

2) Based on the size of your tank, I would suggest a bigger UTH. An 11" X 11" would cover more of the floor space and might eliminate the need for a CHE or bulb.

http://www.reptilebasics.com/ultrath...th-11-x11.html

3) As far as the top goes, instead of using one large piece of foil, I found it easier to cut panels out of cardboard or fiber board and wrap them in foil. You can add or remove individual panels as necessary to help get the results you want. Here is a link to an old thread where I posted some pics of how I did it. I think they start about half way down the page. Hope this helps...

http://www.repticzone.com/forums/Bal...s/2114311.html

[RockyTop]

Thanks for the link. Alot of good info there!

I went with the 8x8 UTH because I read somewhere that 1/3 of the floor space should be covered by the UTH, a third of 24 is 8 so.. figured that was good enough.

Should I just remove the 8x8 and apply an 11x11? That would be cheaper than getting a CHE/lamp/dimmer setup... but if it doesn't work because I keep my apt so cold (68-70F), I would still need to pick up the CHE/lamp/dimmer.

[Kaorte]

you could go with two UTHs and a dimmer. Get a bigger UTH for the other side of the tank and get a light dimmer from the home depot. When you get your reptitemp, plug the small UTH into the dimmer and then into the thermostat. Plug the big UTH directly into the thermostat and put the probe on that UTH. Then you can dim down the temperature of the cool side to around 80-82* while keeping the hot side at 90-92*

If that made any sense...lol

[RockyTop]

you could go with two UTHs and a dimmer. Get a bigger UTH for the other side of the tank and get a light dimmer from the home depot. When you get your reptitemp, plug the small UTH into the dimmer and then into the thermostat. Plug the big UTH directly into the thermostat and put the probe on that UTH. Then you can dim down the temperature of the cool side to around 80-82* while keeping the hot side at 90-92*

If that made any sense...lol

Actually, that did make sense ha!

So hook up both UTH's to the thermostat, the smaller channeled through the dimmer first. Place the stat prob over the larger UTH and get it set 90-92. Once that is maintained, adjust the smaller one with the dimmer to maintain the cooler side.

I just hope it is enough to keep the ambient temperature warm enough. My apartment is half buried and it stays relatively cool. I like the cold by nature lol.

[Kaorte]

Exactly. Just make sure the t-stat probe is OUTSIDE the enclosure. If it is inside, the snake can move it causing a temp spike or drop.

Two UTHs should be enough to keep the snake warm. As long as the ambient temps aren't below 75* you should be fine. If needed, you could switch on a light for a few hours a day.