will the REAL temperature stand up?

[nspikito]

Here's my dilemma. I heat my BP cage in two ways, a sub-tank pad taped onto the glass bottom. The hide sits over it. I also have a 150-watt heat lamp above the hide. This lamp is controlled by a thermostat.
I have a good remote thermister. If I leave the heat lamp on continuously, this is what I measure. When I place the thermister directly onto the glass bottom under the hide, it reads 109F. However if I raise it up about an inch onto a wad of paper, it reads 95F. In both cases it sits under the hide. The only difference in position is its height off the glass bottom.
Which is the right temperature for my BP? Suppose, for example, that I didn't use a heat lamp at all. How would I know whether the heating pad was good enough?

[kavmon]

109 f is too hot. if your snake can come into contact with this temp. can you post a pic of the setup? always use a thermostat with any heat source.



vaughn

[nspikito]

I'll post a photo tomorrow. It's just a glass-bottomed aquarium with a mesh top.
Yes, my BP can contact the glass bottom where I put the thermistor.
My question is still the same. Which temp is important, air temp or surface temp??

[AzureN1ght]

The surface temp is what's important in that situation. The surface temp shouldn't be any higher than 95 degrees, as it could burn your snake's belly if he sits on the glass when it's that hot. The surface temps should ideally be 80-84 on the cool side and 90-94 on the warm side.

[Chase13]

So what are you using for substrate? Is your bp living on the glass of the tank? Some kind of substrate would really help in preventing burns.

[nspikito]

The substrate? I put herp-friendly wooden chips on the floor, but my BP spreads them around so she can plaster her belly smack against the glass.
Maybe I should put a couple layers of paper on top of the glass? That would stop her from doing that.

[AzureN1ght]

The substrate? I put herp-friendly wooden chips on the floor, but my BP spreads them around so she can plaster her belly smack against the glass.
Maybe I should put a couple layers of paper on top of the glass? That would stop her from doing that.

It might stop her...then again it might not My BP boy loves to figure out ways to get under the paper I use as substrate, so he can sit on the bottom of his tub when he wants to.

[casperca]

I'd put the under tank heat source on the thermostat and switch to a lower wattage bulb to raise the ambient temps to the correct levels.

[nspikito]

I think I found the right combination of improvements. I covered most of the screen mesh on the top of the cage with aluminum foil, moved the hide more towards the middle of the cage, between warmest and coolest extremes, put the 150w heat lamp on a thermostat and the undertank heater on a thermistor. Previously it was so hot under the hide that she spent most of her time at the high 70's cool end of the cage. Now she likes the hide. The hot side is in the mid 90's and the cool side is ~80F. The aluminum foil really helped maintain the humidity.
She's a happy camper now , thanks to all of your helpful advice. May you all go to BP heaven !

[Sadie]

Sounds like you have a happy snake! I would just add that it's a good idea to have 2 or 3 hides so that she can thermoregulate and feel safe. Some people will tell you that feeling secure can become more important to the BP than finding the right temp (I don't know how they know that, but hey.) It does seem true depending on the snake's personality, so if you have a shy one (this is my experience) it will hide and freeze rather than sit in the open in the warmth.