The 20 all set up

[TheDude]

Well I got the 20 gallon out and all set up, I used that brick mulch for the first time so that was an adventure. I am having a hard tiem getting the tank to heat up and get temps right tho.

First off The Dude is NOT in the tank, just so everyone knows im not freezing him.

The hot side will barely get up to 80 and the cold side is hoving around 69-70.
I am running 2 6x8 uth's under the hot side, and none under the cold side. Temps are being taken by to probes poking up out of the substrate so the entire "sensor" is above the mulch. Oh I should also mention that under the 1/2 inch of mulch i have one of those reptipad thingies, basicly some astro turf. I put that in to prevent the posibilty of burrowing down to the uth and getting burned.

Humidity is way up there at 80% so I think the mulch just needs to dry out some.

I am useign a 55 watt on a dimmer switch light. I have no thermostat control at this point.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? I don't know what to do next except try to cook the mulch out some, but i cant beleive that is tanking the temps that much?????

Any help is much appreciated,
-Mikey thanks you,
-The Dude thanks you...

[Rapture]

How cold is it in your room? Looks like you are going to have to raise the overall temp. in the room the snake tank is located in to get the cage temps higher.

[BD1]

Good thing you have waited to put The Dude in the tank. I am assuming he is a Ball Python, and he will probably push the mulch out of the way at some point in his hides, so a good thermostat is crucial before putting him in. I'd Get rid of the reptipad astro turf thing, it is keeping the heat from warming the tank and tape the thermostat probe directly to the glass over the UTH, since that is where the snake will be. This will keep the temps from cooking him because the T-stat will cut off the heat. I'd say start with the T-stat and see how things go from there. The humidity will go down as it dries, give it time, as long as it isn't sopping wet I think you should be OK, maybe slide the plexiglass off a little more to let some more air in until the humidity gets where you want it.

Well I got the 20 gallon out and all set up, I used that brick mulch for the first time so that was an adventure. I am having a hard tiem getting the tank to heat up and get temps right tho.

First off The Dude is NOT in the tank, just so everyone knows im not freezing him.

The hot side will barely get up to 80 and the cold side is hoving around 69-70.
I am running 2 6x8 uth's under the hot side, and none under the cold side. Temps are being taken by to probes poking up out of the substrate so the entire "sensor" is above the mulch. Oh I should also mention that under the 1/2 inch of mulch i have one of those reptipad thingies, basicly some astro turf. I put that in to prevent the posibilty of burrowing down to the uth and getting burned.

Humidity is way up there at 80% so I think the mulch just needs to dry out some.

I am useign a 55 watt on a dimmer switch light. I have no thermostat control at this point.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? I don't know what to do next except try to cook the mulch out some, but i cant beleive that is tanking the temps that much?????

Any help is much appreciated,
-Mikey thanks you,
-The Dude thanks you...

[TheDude]

The room temps range from abotu 69-71 degrees. I go buy the thermostat today, so you dont think i need to go up in wattage? I was actually thinking of running UTH's on the cold side too, hooked up to a thermo, but was concerned that he might like a cooler belly temp on the cool side.

So if I tape the thermostat probe tot eh glass over the uth, do i put the temperature probes under or over teh mulch? the only thing keeping them in place right now would be that astro turf stuff.

Thanks for the suggestions so far!!!!!

Oh and yep The Dude is a BP, lol all that info and i forget to add the type of snake....

[Stewart_Reptiles]

The room temps range from abotu 69-71 degrees. I go buy the thermostat today, so you dont think i need to go up in wattage? I was actually thinking of running UTH's on the cold side too, hooked up to a thermo, but was concerned that he might like a cooler belly temp on the cool side.

First

With ambient temp that low you will have a hard time maintaining proper temp of on the cool side so here are some options

1/ Buy an oil filled heater to put in the room where you will keep your BP so the room stays warm.

2/ Have an additional heat source for the cool side such as a UTH and a second thermostat set to achieve proper temp of 80-84

[TheDude]

Ok I jsut bought a UTH to go on the cool side with a thermostat to control it. I went to a different brand UTH too not sure if i like it, its very thin. Its a "Kritters" Brand 8x8 on a on a zoo med 500r thermostat. Hopefully this works well. The other UTH's are zoo med.

I pulled the astro turf also. and right now I have the tank empty of all hides and deco till i get the temps and humidity right then i will add the stuff in and see if it stays stable. I still have The Dude over at my friends house in a 150 gal with his BP. Problem with that 150 is that you cant control anything about its environment. the humity is stable in it but you cant get it to go up or down. Same with temps really, probably why my guy had a bad shed.

This should fix him right up!

Thanks again everyone, hope this does it!

[AkivaSmith]

Actually, from exerience, I found that to really get the ambient temps good in a glass enclosure it is better to get a Ceramic heat emmiter on the top. I have a terrible range of temps in my appartment. But using a cheap Repti 500 thermostat and a Repti 100 watt CHE, I was able to keep a 18x18x18 glass vivarium at a toasty 82f all the time. I used UTH pads to warm up 1/4 of the bottom for a hot side.

Good luck.

[Rapture]

You still need to get thermometers to read the temps in the tank.

[TheDude]

Actually I'm running 3 digitals int he tank, on probe on the hot side and one on the cold side just above the substrate, plus the digital with humidity on the back wall.

It looks to be working...

current temp readings

Cold side 76
Hot side 91
Ambient 80
Humidity 75

So the humidity is still up there but that will drop as the substrate dries some more.

Cold side temps are still climbing to, up to 76.5 already, lol.

If you look in the pic i posted you can see the two readouts for the probe thermometers on the front lower corners of the tank, and the flukers on the back wall. hard to see I know, lol.

Thanks!!
-Mikey

[TheDude]

just an update to everyone,

the tank is doing great!

83/92
humidity is at 65 and still slowly dropping.
Ambient air temp is 82 degrees

"The Dude" is now checkin out his new pad as we speak. Seems to be happy, hes workin his way around and just got done checking all the hidey holes out to make sure there wernt any snacks in them. Now hes behind his plants with his head sticking out watching me.

Thanks to all for your help! This was quite a bit of fun getting setup properly! Its all smiles and hisses from here on out!
-Mikey