my noobie setup- need some feedback

this is my setup for a bp im pickin up at a show in 2 weeks. after a month of studying i decided to start settin up to get everything right before i get him.
i spent a decent amount of money buying different things to see what will work. right now i have an 11x11 uth (1 inch over 1/3 of tank) on the left side(on rheostat). 75 watt light on a dimmer. digital thermo/hygrometer. for belly temps i use an infrared temp gun, i use them at work so i know they are very accurate. ive got it hooked up and heatin right now been about an hour and air temp isnt getting there, i also have a 100 watt setup with day and night bulb thats in the mail, in case the 75 wont do it. does this look decent for starting? what should i add/take out/change? lemme know!

http://i45.tinypic.com/jk7qm0.jpg

Tank might be alittle big depending on the size of the BP. Also if you do get away with keeping it in the tank you need to cover all sides except the front with something. Cork board is the best to keep the heat in. Also tin foil the lid except the place where u have the light to keep humidity up. Might need a bigger water bowl or 2 to keep humidity up as well.
Also might need to add some foilage to make him seem more safe. Once you do those things I think you should be set.

Add:

2 Accurites in the tank. Probs go in the hides and the units will measure the humidity and temps on the sides. Also a cheap thermostat would work sooo much better than what you have and it's only 30 bucks. Look into the ReptiTemp 500R. Good for just a single tank setup. I use it for my rack system and love it.

thanks for th advice i just went and bought black duct tape for the foil for the top, black paperboard for the glass.

i dont see the point in putting thermostats on such a small cage. if i set my rheostats to the right temp and check it daily which i will, there shouldnt be a problem. if i ever get real serious and get a rack setup then of course ill rock it all. i just think keeping things simple prevents other problems. just my thought- correct me if im crazy!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ls1goat04

thanks for th advice i just went and bought black duct tape for the foil for the top, black paperboard for the glass.

i dont see the point in putting thermostats on such a small cage. if i set my rheostats to the right temp and check it daily which i will, there shouldnt be a problem. if i ever get real serious and get a rack setup then of course ill rock it all. i just think keeping things simple prevents other problems. just my thought- correct me if im crazy!

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That's good.
Ppl here are all gonna say Thermostat. The 500R doesn't but the Ranco's, Helix and what nots have a fail safe on them to not over heat devices their heating. As long as you check the temps youll be fine. Thermostats just keeps my mind at ease knowing if I'm gone awhile it won't get to cold or hot. I had my Spider in quarantine with a dimmer on the UTH so you should really be fine. All that really matters is that it's controlled seeing they reach temps around 132 my accurite read one time when testing the UTH.
As long as you ball eats, poops and pees and you meet the normal husbandry temps and humidity requirements then you all good.

BTW side note:
Im guessing you own a 2004 5.7L GTO?

thanks bud- my humidity is up from 18% to 50% by foiling the top and cardboarding the sides and back(temporary). air temp is 85, inside cool hide is 82 and i am still setting the hotside. its at 100 right now, turned it down tryin to fine tune to around 92 or so.

i use to have an 04 gto, had the ls1(5.7l) with a lunati g5x3 cam, fuddle 3600 stall, kooks lt headers into slp catback with catless mids, custom built cai. dyno tuned at 391rwhp 356rwtq and put down 12.46 at 108 in the 1/4 mile. miss the car a bunch but at the time couldnt handle 6-8mpg! now drivin an 06 titan 4x4. still shoppin for an 05-06 with the ls2, had one of those as well and loooovvvveddd it!

The problem I have with rheostats is that they can still spike, even when dimmed down. A thermostat will prevent heat spikes and keep the UTH at a constant heat regardless of room temperature.

I used to use a rheostat but I was constantly adjusting it and it would often reach dangerously high temps.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ls1goat04

thanks bud- my humidity is up from 18% to 50% by foiling the top and cardboarding the sides and back(temporary). air temp is 85, inside cool hide is 82 and i am still setting the hotside. its at 100 right now, turned it down tryin to fine tune to around 92 or so.

i use to have an 04 gto, had the ls1(5.7l) with a lunati g5x3 cam, fuddle 3600 stall, kooks lt headers into slp catback with catless mids, custom built cai. dyno tuned at 391rwhp 356rwtq and put down 12.46 at 108 in the 1/4 mile. miss the car a bunch but at the time couldnt handle 6-8mpg! now drivin an 06 titan 4x4. still shoppin for an 05-06 with the ls2, had one of those as well and loooovvvveddd it!

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Glad the foil and board helped. After awhile it the lamp won't need need to be on that often either.
And nice numbers on the GTO. 6-8 mpg or not that thing sounded nasty.
Anyways haha. Sounds like once you get the final fine tuning done on the hot hide you should be good.

got all my temps set perfectly. humidity where im at sucksss. i just bought a humidifier and sealed the room up so we will see if that helps. also bought a sponge if all else fails.

If you decide after owning yours for a while that BP's are for you, then check out these websites (in no particular order):

http://www.repti-racks.com/index.php...&id=1&Itemid=1

http://www.constrictorsnw.com/home.html

http://www.reptilebasics.com/thermostats/

http://www.boaphileplastics.com/

http://www.petmountain.com/

http://www.herpsupplies.com/index.cfm

http://www.rodentpro.com/index.asp

These are just a few of the best resources and people to deal with that I have found in the 2 years I've been keeping snakes. The plastic enclosures are much easier to control temps and humidity in than glass (that's how I started too).

Good luck with your first snake! I hope you learn from it and share your knowledge with others.

Thanks for the advice. I know I made a bad choice. I should have bought a tin setup would have Ben way cheaper. Now I'm stuck with this setup. Kinda mad. I cannot get my humidity up over 50 for more than an hour. Around 45% all day with a mist goes to 55 for an hour. Before the humidifier was only 20. So if I buy a rack setup there's 500 down the drain for this tank. What would yall do? Money doesn't matter but the point is I wasted a bunch!