Tank Temperature

[Colin Manning]

I have just got my first BP. I am concered that the tank is not reaching the required temperature. It is currently 72f during the day and drops as low as 61f at night. I need another 10 degrees from somewhere but having already got a heat mat and light in place, how is best to do this?

[starmom]

Colin~ The warm side of your tank needs to be around 92F and the cool side needs to be about 85F with the ambient temps (air temps) of about 80F. You need a lot more heat!!!
Here is a care sheet speaking to the proper keeping of glass tanks: http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=56846

Here is another care sheet reminding us of the needs of the ball python: http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=59

Here is another care sheet speaking to husbandry issues: http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=30763

Please check these out and ask questions as you go along!! For now, your temps are dangerously low and your ball could become very ill, go off feed, even die from the cold temps. This is the weekend so lots of members are online and ready to help you!!! Thanks for asking!!!!

Edit: Colin, you might want to post further in the 'Husbandry' section~ you'll likely get more responses and it seems a more appropriate place for this...!

[Colin Manning]

That's what I'm afraid of. He has been living with his previous owner like that and even without the heat mat, for over 14months. He's in a wooden tank though, not a glass one

[starmom]

Hi Colin~ I have heard that wooden tanks hold heat really well, though I have not ever personally used one. Again, a UTH regulated by a thermostat ought to work. Can you share about the dimensions of the cage? Maybe it is really tall and so is losing a lot of the heat???? Do you have a thermostat and what type of UTH is it? Keep asking questions!! You rock!!

[Colin Manning]

It's 3ft long and 18inches high. I dont have UTH. I have it stuck on side of tank cause having it under subtrate wasnt working. I wonder if the bigger heat mat would work. I dont wanna waste money on one if its not going to make any difference.

[missi182]

Stamom has given you some great advice and reading those care sheets will help tonnes.
If the UTH is stuck right to the side of the tank, it is difficult to remove it without damaging it. I don't know what you mean by it wasn't working under the substrate. It almost sounds like your heat pad, (which is a UTH-Under Tank Heater) is not operational?

If you buy another one, which would be a good idea, remove the paper to reveal the sticky side, stick a couple sheets of aluminium foil on it (so you can move the heating pad if you need to instead of permanently sticking it to the tank) then tape it under the warm side with aluminium tape (aluminium tape won't melt like duct tape)

Not to insult you or anything but make sure the UTH (under tank heater) Is on the outside of the tank...(some people may not know that it doesn't go in the tank...)

The MOST important thing with any heating pad/UTH is that you need a control for it. You can purchase rheostat controls at some pet stores but they are rather pricey.

The best thing you can buy is a thermostat that will automatically regulate the temp for you such as a Ranco of Helix, but once again, these are pricey. At the very least you should purchase a lamp dimmer from the lighting section at lowes or home depot, plug this in to the UTH and position a probe from a digital Thermometer on it to check monitor the temps. The digital thermometers can be purchased at Wal-Mart for $10. I don't know if what you are using to measure temps, but the dial thermometers are very inaccurate.

My house is very cold so what I have done in my 25 gallon tank is position a smaller UTH set around 90 degrees under one hide, and positioned a larger UTH under the other side set around 84. Without the UTH on the cooler side, my temps easily drop to below 70 at night which is dangerous to your bp, as mentioned.

I hope this helps some and if any other members can add to what I have said please do.

[Colin Manning]

If i had the mat on the outside no heat would get in the tank whatsoever though. I just put it on side with celetape that can come off no problem. Th mat is warm but the tank is not warm enough

[starmom]

If i had the mat on the outside no heat would get in the tank whatsoever though. I just put it on side with celetape that can come off no problem. Th mat is warm but the tank is not warm enough

I've heard some people with wood tanks putting the UTH inside the tank and covering the tank floor with linoleum (vinyl) flooring. I guess you'd seal around the edges of it to keep liquids from getting underneath. Doing this, you could put a large UTH under there and be able to kick your heat up to proper temps which would then warm the entire tank. You need a thermostat for this. Have you done anything at this point? Do you feel that you might the suggestion in this post? If not, do you feel you might want to get a tub and put the snake in there until you've got the wooden cage figured out? Let me know if this helps!

[Colin Manning]

well i was thinking of getting a biggerhaet mat and sticking it across back wall of tank and covering it with scenery. Also, getting a infrared spot bulb, apparently they are warmer.

[missi182]

The infrared lights do produce alot of heat, so do ceramic heat emmiters. The problem with these is both will lower your humidity significantly. I do not have much experience with wooden enclosures (we had a tall wooden enclosure for a monitor about 7 years ago...) What are you using to measure temps and humidity? Starmom's thought on putting the UTH in the tank then covering the bottom could work well. You could cover the bottom with vinyl or plexiglass but as said above, sealing it to prevent water from reaching the UTH would be important.

If you are not super fond of the wood enclosure you could just buy a 32 quart tub from walmart, $10 and you can control heat/humidity very easily in these, this is just an option. Let us know what is going on so far , if you have changed anything and what your thinking of doing.