Tank Setup and tempatures in cool room

[hsvfd798]

The problems is my snake want eat and that research here has determined it may be from temperature, so here is the current setup.

I have a Ball Python in a 20 gall long tank. He is about 30" long. I am concerned about the temperature in the tank. I have an UTH on a Hydrofarm Thermostat. Our house stays on the cool side (68 deg at night). As the cooler weather approaches the temperature has been dropping a little further down. I have noticed the drop in temperature so I have added a heat lamp above the tank. The ambient temperature under the light runs 75 deg. The temp on the hide holds about 90-92.

My ball will only eat about every 2-3 weeks and I feel that he should be eating more. I understand that the lights are not the best options because of humidity. I felt that I needed to add the heat until I could find other options. What other options do I have to property add heat to my tank other than raising the house thermostat? Is the any other information that my be beneficial to you guys?

Thanks for all of your assistance and I have learned so much from this site.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

For one animal the simplest most efficient way is to have 2 t-stats and 2 heat pads or 2 heat pads and one t-stat capable of controlling temps independently on each side.

[Ash]

A lot of balls go off the feed during the winter. If this is a recent problem, it could entirely be due to the time of year. I had one particularly finicky female who'd refuse to eat for as many as 6 months running some years.

You might try insulating the tank with one of those metallic emergency blankets from walmart. You can cut them up and tape them around the bottom & sides of the tank. I once bought some velcro and set it up so I could stick the insulation on at night and take it off again during the day. That could be enough to bring the ambient temperature up.

What are you feeding it? Frozen thawed? Rats or mice? Is it male or female, how old? How long hasn't it been eating properly?

[hsvfd798]

I think he is about 9 months old and he is our first (the age is only a guess). We have had him for about 3 months and the time frame between feedings have gotten more and more. We feed him live mice, we have tried to switch to f/t with no success. He has very good size to him, I just purchased a scale so I will weigh him this weekend. He has eaten a small rat with no problem before. If he is going to eat he will do in within 5 mins of dropping it in the cage.

[TheSnakeGuy]

If this is your only snake and you have it set up 'display cage' style then I would recommend bumping up to a 40 gal breeder tank or an ANIMAL PLASTICS T8/Boaphile cage. They're very nice to look at and hold heat/humidity well.

[Aztec4mia]

I think your temps are fine if they hold at 75 and 90, 75 is not as horrible as people think as long as it has that 90 spot to thermo-regulate itself, plus he is still eating semi-regularly and not stopping all together. my concern is what your humidity is like since it sounds like that would be the variable right now that I can see being all over the place due to your heat set up and the time of year.

If your goal is to have him get more food, I would stick to rats instead of mice if he continues to go a couple weeks between feedings. like it was mentioned above, most slow down their eating in the winter months but as long as there is drastic change in weight this is fine. Very nice looking BP, I like the white that creeps up on the brown spots like a calico.

[arialmt]

For one animal the simplest most efficient way is to have 2 t-stats and 2 heat pads or 2 heat pads and one t-stat capable of controlling temps independently on each side.

I use a dual zone system with a single (dual zone) thermostat to control each side independently to compensate for room temperatures. I also have a CHE on a thermostat. This works very well through the winter here in this 140 y/o house in NW Ohio.