Temp Problems

[ddbjdealer]

Ok, this is getting really frustrating. I really don't know why I'm stressing about it either, because my BP is acting/looking/eating just fine... I'd just like to get a better range of temps for him.

The Problem:
Keeping the "warm side" up to 90-94 degrees around the clock.
Keeping the range at more than 5 or 6 degrees from warm side to cool side.

The setup:
I've got a 20g long all-glass viv covered by a locking screen top. Aspen substrate. A "half moon" tree trunk hide on his warm side, and a "ceramic" or some other hard material tree on his cool side that the branch is high enough for basking and he seems to enjoy climbing on it (mainly just to be closer to the exit of his enclosure I'm sure). He used to enjoy hiding underneath the tree, but I don't think he can fit under it anymore. (i.e.... I know, I know... I'm gonna get more hides that he can actually fit under soon). There's an UTH on the warm side (24hrs) and a combo hood that covers the entire top of the viv with a UV light that's on from 7am to 8pm. There's a 100watt white basking lamp on the "warm side" that's on the same time as the UV light, and a 100watt black heat emitting lamp on the "cool side" that's on at night. I live in Tucson, AZ so I'm in a very dry climate. The RH inside the house is around 20%, with the A/C on. In the viv, I see humidities settle at around 25 to 30% naturally, and with misting two to three times a day, can get them to around 48%.

Observations:
During the day while the UV and white heat lamp are on the warm side gets to about 91.4 degrees and the cool side is around 85. At night, when the black light is on, the warm and cool sides have sometimes been recorded to be the EXACT same temps. Sometimes, however, I get a 1 or 2 full degree spread from warm to cool side. He reacts right away to the lights being turned off and usually comes out of his hide to go exploring and trying to find a new way to escape. He's active for most of the night and when the light is turned back on in the morning, he settles back down and hides NEXT to his tree on the cool side hardly EVER using his warm side hide.

Wants/Needs:
I'd like to get the "optimal" 90-94 warm side, 80-84 cool side 24 hours a day, I'd like to get the humidity up to 50% 24/7 and I can mist regularly to help with shedding up to 65-70%... but with the basking lamps, the uth, and the dry climate I'm in, misting seems to only provide about an hour worth of moisture until it's completely dry in there again... it's like his viv is just being dry baked!

Thanks for reading my novel, and any suggesting on improving/changing his environment would be awesome!

[kavmon]

i'd cover most of the screen top like 90% of it to help keep in moisture. maybe put a small humidifier in the room. ditch the uv light it's not needed.
maybe try a ceramic heat emitter (che) instead of light bulbs. and get a good thermostat like helix,ranco,johnson controls,syder robotics they make keeping temps a breeze!


vaughn

[Adam_Wysocki]

For the Temps - The only way you are going to get consistent & controlled temps 24 hours a day is with a thermostat. Stats adjust the cage heating so that it is not effected by ambient rooms temps. Since you really can't use a t-stat with lighting, that means switching to belly heat (IMO flexwatt is best, not the pet store junk) which will also helps with your humidity.

For your humidity - The lights are killing you. They literally burn the moisture out of the air in your tank. If you were to switch to an all UTH solution (I prefer heat tape) the rising warm air will hold moisture much better. And since you won't have all of that junk on top of your screen, you can go to home depot (or DIY home improvement store of your choice) and get a piece of plexi glass cut to fit inside the ridge of your screen top. For ventilation, you can drill a bunch of holes in the plexi, or actually have it cut about an inch short of your screen on all sides and just fasten it to the center of your screen top.

Just some ideas if you decide to make changes.

Hope this helps.

-adam

[ddbjdealer]

... that means switching to belly heat (IMO flexwatt is best, not the pet store junk) which will also helps with your humidity.

I've seen flexwatt at several different places online, and just found out about a store here in Tucson that specializes just in reptiles. (With a name like Reptile Specialist, I hope they do)... so maybe they have some and some suggestions for use. For a 20 long viv, how much would I need? How would I attach it? Is it just "layed" under the viv? Would I just cover like 1/3 of the bottom with flexwatt?

The plexi idea is good, I can just get a piece cut to match the screen... but if I vent with holes, then won't that let a lot of the humidity out?
I've read your reply about reptiles/cold blooded animals not needing as much oxygen as we do, but if I were to just cover the top, as was your second idea, and just leave an inch or so uncovered, would that be enough vent/let too much humidity out? I'd like to get the housing conditions perfect before I start investing in more BP's. I know Jake's young... but I can already tell he craves one of your pretty girls for future companionship! I know that snakes can't hear and don't have voice boxes... but I coulda swore I heard him ACTUALLY SAY... "adam's got some pretty cute hotties! When you gonna get me one??"

[Coyotemoon]

I too live in Tucson. I had temp/humidity problems when I first started a few months back. It took just over a month but I got my temps/humidity just right. First off, I have a swamp cooler that I run most of the day. I live in a small one bedroom triplex so I had to find a spot to put the tank so that the flow of the cooler would affect it as little as possible. When the cooler is running it will drop my temps by up to 3 degrees. I have a 40gal glass tank with a dual sliding screen top. I have an under the tank heater and a 100w ceramic heat emitter in a reflector lamp. Both are attached to a Zoo Med Repti Temp 500R Thermostat. The CHE is hung about 1 inch from the screen top on the hot side. I have one regular light to simulate day/night set up on a timer. I figure since BP's are nocturnal they don't really need the UV. I have a towel folded in half over the majority of the top. I use the Zoo Med forrest bed (comes in brick form) for my substrate. I mist twice a day. My temps are 90-95 on the hot side and 82-85 on the cool side and my humidity ranges from 52-63%.
What you could do is get rid of all the lighting and just get a CHE to put over the hot side. They work great and can be run 24/7. If you don't want to do that then I would move the black heat light to the hot side instead. You really don't want anything over the cool side.
I tried many things before settling on what I have now. When I first started I had a simular setup that you have. My temps and humidity were all over the place. I bought the digital temp/humi gauge from walmart and love it. I tried the red basking heat bulb and it blew up after only a week of 24/7. You just kind of have to play with things to see what works. You might also think about moving the tank to an area with less airflow for the a/c or cooler.

[Coyotemoon]

I've heard many bad things about Reptile Specialist. According to one friend, the guy keeps his reptiles in really poor condition with little to no heat, no day/night cycle, etc. Buying other products from him is another story. I went in there once and was very upset at the way he treated his animals. Their cages were crowded and unkept. It was pretty sad.

[ddbjdealer]

I've heard many bad things about Reptile Specialist. According to one friend, the guy keeps his reptiles in really poor condition with little to no heat, no day/night cycle, etc. Buying other products from him is another story. I went in there once and was very upset at the way he treated his animals. Their cages were crowded and unkept. It was pretty sad.

Well, I just talked to them on the phone to find out hours, and he really didn't sound too knowledgeable. I'll probably wind up going in to check them out next week some time as he doesn't have anything other than med rats right now. Anyway... another subject for another thread.

Good to hear from someone else from Tucson though. Was beginning to wonder if keeping BP's in Tucson was possible with all the dry heat! Winter should be fun! Dry cold too!

[Coyotemoon]

I buy frozen rats (4 at a time) from Petco. It's fairly cheap an I buy enough to last me 4-5 weeks.