Got my BP...

Well, today I got my BP and all the supply's he is in a 10 Gallon Tank with a Heat Mat, Basking Bulb, Thermostat...ect any way. The thermostat I have is shutting the lamp off not dimming it and the snake can see the light is is okay if it shuts off and turns on every 20-30 seconds? Or will this severely stress the snake out.

Temp Directly on the Heat Pad: 105 F
Basking area temp 87-88 F
Middle of the tank: 84 F
Humidity 63%

Is all this okay? Also the Hide is above the Heat Mat and the probe is directly on the Heat Mat through he glass. Another thing I noticed is he won't go in is hide not sure why he about 6 weeks old and about 16-18 inches long. Here is a pic of the hide. http://s.petco.com/Assets/product_im...561228527c.jpg

The dimensions are also. 9" L X 5.75" W X 3" H

I got him from a breeder seems healthy any every thing.

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Originally Posted by hunter94

Well, today I got my BP and all the supply's he is in a 10 Gallon Tank with a Heat Mat, Basking Bulb, Thermostat...ect any way. The thermostat I have is shutting the lamp off not dimming it and the snake can see the light is is okay if it shuts off and turns on every 20-30 seconds? Or will this severely stress the snake out.

Temp Directly on the Heat Pad: 105 F
Basking area temp 87-88 F
Middle of the tank: 84 F
Humidity 63%

Is all this okay? Also the Hide is above the Heat Mat and the probe is directly on the Heat Mat through he glass. Another thing I noticed is he won't go in is hide not sure why he about 6 weeks old and about 16-18 inches long. Here is a pic of the hide. http://s.petco.com/Assets/product_im...561228527c.jpg

The dimensions are also. 9" L X 5.75" W X 3" H

I got him from a breeder seems healthy any every thing.

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You don't need a heat lamp unless your ambient air temperature falls below 75 degrees. The heat mat is way to hot, use the thermostat on the under the tank heat mat and set it at 93 degrees. Put the probe of the thermostat directly on the under the tank heat mat out side of the tank, just use foil tape or duct tape and tape it in the middle of the heat mat. As for the snake not using the hide, he probably won't go in because of it being too hot. Also, I would get another of the same hide and put it on the cool side so it can regulate its body temperature.

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Originally Posted by bsash

You don't need a heat lamp unless your ambient air temperature falls below 75 degrees. The heat mat is way to hot, use the thermostat on the under the tank heat mat and set it at 93 degrees. Put the probe of the thermostat directly on the under the tank heat mat out side of the tank, just use foil tape or duct tape and tape it in the middle of the heat mat. As for the snake not using the hide, he probably won't go in because of it being too hot. Also, I would get another of the same hide and put it on the cool side so it can regulate its body temperature.

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I agree. The thermostat should be regulating the Under Tank Heater. If the thermostat has more than one plug and you want to also run the lamp off of it, then a Ceramic Heat Emitter may be your best bet. If not then you can get a lamp dimmer from Lowes or Home Depot for about 10$ or so for the lamp...

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Originally Posted by Vypyrz

I agree. The thermostat should be regulating the Under Tank Heater. If the thermostat has more than one plug and you want to also run the lamp off of it, then a Ceramic Heat Emitter may be your best bet. If not then you can get a lamp dimmer from Lowes or Home Depot for about 10$ or so for the lamp...

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I taped the thermostat probe to the bottom of the tank right under the heating pad along with that I taped a Thermometer probe so I can measure the temp cause my thermostat doesn't tell me the temp. It shuts off at about 93.4 then goes down to 92.6 or so and kicks back on which I think is perfect. He wen't into the hide once to check it out but doesn't seem to like it and he isn't wondering in the day today as much is he was yesterday I think he is getting for comfortable. He just sleeps in the corner of is water dish. I just picked up a Red Infrared Bulb and the temps are getting up there and he seems better and secure.

Thanks for the help guys. I really do appreciate it.

Not a problem at all, I don't mind helping. Let the snake settle in, most likely when it feels comfortable, it will go inside of the hide. Try not to handle it until you get it to eat for you.

The thermostat won't tell you the temperature, that's what the probe from your thermometer needs to be doing.

The thermometer probe goes inside the tank and lays under the bedding directly over the UTH.
The thermometer itself goes to the cool side of the tank to read that temperature.

If your cool side is 80 degrees, the warm end where the UTH is should be a few degrees higher.

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Originally Posted by snakesRkewl

The thermostat won't tell you the temperature, that's what the probe from your thermometer needs to be doing.

The thermometer probe goes inside the tank and lays under the bedding directly over the UTH.
The thermometer itself goes to the cool side of the tank to read that temperature.

If your cool side is 80 degrees, the warm end where the UTH is should be a few degrees higher.

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I have 1 Thermometer in the warm end and 1 for the ambient air and humidity and 1 for reading the temp of the UTH.

Just a note... some bulbs will burn out prematurely with constant off/on switching. In such a small (nicely sized for smaller bps) terrarium, you may be best served with heating by UTH, and a smaller wattage bulb that generally stays on all of the time or for long periods.

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Originally Posted by Vypyrz

If not then you can get a lamp dimmer from Lowes or Home Depot for about 10$

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this works SO well. I got the dimmers last week for my tanks and while it took a few days of working with getting the perfect spot, im now at a perfect 90.0 =]
(slight variance during the heating and cooling of the day)

Thanks for the advice everyone.