First BP question

[Codyross22]

I am new to the BP world. My setup has a high temperature of 90F and a cool area of 70F. This is the temperature on top of the substrate. My BP stays in the cool area hide and rarely goes to the warm area. My humidity is 55% and over all temperature is 80 towards the top. Should I worry about him staying in the lower temperature area. I get the readings on top up the substrate with a temperature gun.

any advice or piece of mind would be helpful.
thanks,
Cody

[Craiga 01453]

Hello, just a few things to point out...

1) that low side temp needs to come up. You want to shoot for 80ish, with 75 as an absolute low. Anything below 75 could lead to Respiratory Infection (RI).

2) you should be checking the ACTUAL SURFACE TEMP, not the substrate. Snakes can and will burrow and push substrate around.

[Sunnieskys]

^^^this^^^^

[Craiga 01453]

Another thing I just thought of...

Are your two hides the same? If they're different your snake may be choosing the hide over temp, which would explain favoring the cool side despite it being too cool.

[Codyross22]

The hides are different. The warm side is a plastic hide and the cool side is a simple plant like bush that came with my setup (zoomed premium snake kit). It seems to like the bush alot but it just seams cold to me. I do have a temperature controller on the UHC with the probe below the substrate on the hot side to make sure the temperature doesn't get above 92F. The thermometer i have placed in the center up high in the cage shows 80F some times 75F. But when i shoot the "cool" side on top of the substrate next to the snake it reads 71F. I do have a light on a dimmer for the "Warm" side to make sure the temperature stays 80ish throughout the cage. Now at night i turn the light off and the Temp drops. How do i maintain temperature at night above 75F? Should i use a heat emitter? I feel like i have a new born baby. I did alot a research before purchasing but actually maintaining temperature has me a nervous wreck. I don't want my BP to become ill.

[Sunnieskys]

The probe for the UTH needs to be on the outside of the tank sandwiched between the UTH and the glass. If it is inside the tank the snake can poop or pee on it, move it around then making the thermostat useless.

Get two of the same hides so the beep doesn't choose comfort over proper temperature regulation.

the temperature needs to be at snake level to make sure ambient (overall air temp) is 80 degrees. Having it high in the tank is not where your snake is.

also if you have tape holding the probe against the glass.....NOTHING sticky ever goes inside the tank.

[Sunnieskys]

You need a heat source (heat lamp, Che) that stays on all the time. The fluctuation of turning off your light can cause huge fluctuations in temp which can lead to a RI.

[artgecko]

Instead of a light, you can use a CHE (ceramic heat emitter). This screws in the same as a heat lamp and can be dimmed just like a heat lamp, but emits no light so that it can be used 24/7.

I would consider looking into some other sort of hide that your BP might find appealing and secure. They like very tight fitting hides..Mine will even prefer to be in a hide too small (with their tail sticiking out) vs a larger hide.

A good example of hides that might work would be the RBI hides sold by reptile basics. You can also take cardboard boxes and cut the bottom out and cut out a "door" opening to see if your snake prefers them.

You may want to swoosh some substrate around on the warm side and get to the bottom of the tank and test the temp with your IR gun there to see what it is reading. Although temps too warm could cause the snake to hide on the "cool" side, you could also be looking at either issues with not liking the hide or humidity... CHEs and heat lamps tend to suck humidity out of the tank so I would be wary of this. I you are using a stick-on type humidity gauge, it may be innacurate. To help with this, you can move the water bowl to the warm side and it will evaporate more and increase overall humidity in the enclosure.

[Codyross22]

Thanks for the input, I will move it outside. I have the hide pushing it down to hold it into place and i check it to see if it moved, i didn't consider the snake peeing on it.
I will also move the thermometer lower into the snakes area.

Thanks again for the advice.

[Codyross22]

Oh I'm going to order new hides to match and get the heat emitter. With the UHC alone my tank doesn't get above 70. My house stays at 70ish. My water bowl is large area and is close to the over head light source. The humidity reads 55% most of the time. I will get a better gauge to measure humidity too. Thank you