Temperature / Humidity Problems

[JNieporte]

I'm having a problem with my temperature and humidity being way too low. I'm using a glass 10-gallon aquarium. Aspen bedding is the substrate, and it's about 3/4" deep. There's a hide in the warm side, and a water dish in the cool side. The top is a hinged wire type, and the heating lamp is located above the hide. Here we go...

Temperature: The thermometer is a stick-on analog type, and is located on the glass, centered, about 3" from the floor (to monitor air temperature). It usually reads anywhere from 70 to 80 degrees. This is with a 50-watt Tight Beam bulb. I also have a 75-watt Tight Beam bulb, and it gets the themperature about 5 degrees higher. I put an 8-watt underetank heat pad in the hot side, and when it's turned on with the 75-watt bulb, I can get the temperature up to about 77 to 81 degrees. Again, this temperature is in the middle of the cage. How do I improve this? Our apartment's ambient temperature is usually 65-70 degrees, and won't go above 75 without cutting off.
Night time, I use a 50-watt red IR bulb and the temperature stay within the 70-75 degree range.
Today my wife picked up a combination thermometer / hygrometer, but this isn't going to raise the temperature.

It seems like when the temperature gets around 75 or 80, the snake comes out of her hide and chills out on the cool side (which doesn't have a hide due to the small size of the aquarium and fear of cramping it). I'm not sure if she's trying to cool off or is just warming up enough to want to explore, but she doesn't go into her water dish much (so she's probably not cooling off).

Humidity: The humidity is also a stick-on analog type, and it's located above the water dish (a large Exo Terra) and about 3" from the top of the cage. It usually reads around 30 to 40 if I've not sprayed the bedding in a day or so. If I mist the bedding and cover half of the lid with a damp towel, the humidity will rise to around 50 or 60. The water in the dish is room temperature; the water in the spray bottle and towel is warm. Again, I've upgraded to a digital thermometer / hygrometer and will start using it tonight.

Any ideas for improvement?

[Lishdaddy]

Let me be the first of many to reply and try to help you. Welcome to the site, this is a great place to get some guidance.

Fist of all, Pictures are great to help see what your set up looks like. Your humidity problems are probably from the overhead light. Is the light your only heat source? I would strongly suggest getting an Under Tank Heater (heating pad made for reptiles), but make sure you use some sort of thermostat or light dimmer to control the temperature, as they can get very hot and burn your snake.

Second, you will need to throw away the analog thermometers, as they are garbage. Go to Walmart or Lowes and get a Acu-rite, indoor/outdoor thermometer. I just got another one from Walmart for $12. It has a probe on it so one end can be on the cool side and the probe under the warm side hide to better measure temperatures. The Acu-rite model is grey in color and has an outdoor indoor reading on it.

Humidity will suffer due to the screen top as well. Cover 3/4 of the screen with tinfoil, or plexiglass or something. Leave a whole (on the foil or plexiglass) for the light.

Other tips for keeping temperatures up is insulating the sides with Reflextix insulation (found at home depot or lowes) and or cork board or foam board from a craft store.

You want to aim for temperatures of 90 to 93 on the warm side on the substrate and 81-83 on the cool side. Ambient air (air in the cage) should not get much lower then 80 with optimal temp being around 82.

Don't worry about the cage being cramped. If your ball is a baby or fairly small, they love cramped area's. I actually put newspaper balled up with several hides and plants to clutter up my tank.

I've probably left some things out.... but I'm sure someone will fill in for me. Good luck.

[Argentra]

To keep up humidity in a tank with a screen top, you need to foil treat or get a sheet of fitted plexiglass. Those are the best working solutions. I can PM you a tutorial with pics I made on how to apply the foil treatment if you like.

But yes, ditch those stupid circle meters and get a good digital with probe. Acurite is the best, and they have the in/out/humidity unit for just $12-14. ExoTerra also sells probed digital thermo and hygro meters, but they're not as good. The best small individual units I know of are actually used in aquariums, called Coralife.

If you insulate the back and sides of the tank and foil treat the top, the temps and humidity will stabilize in 9 out of 10 cases.