Deciding to switch my normal female ball python from a glass tank to plastic tub. Would I need a thermostats in order to use a plastic tub?
06-11-2012, 10:38 PM
The Serpent Merchant
YES
Tubs need to be heated with under tank heaters... and they must be regulated by a thermostat. the air temperature in the room that the tub is in will also be an issue... it needs to be at least 75 degrees.
06-11-2012, 10:40 PM
youbeyouibei
Yes, you still will. How are you planning on setting up your tub? Just as a stand alone unit or part of a rack or...? Either way, you would still need a thermostat to regulate the temperature of the heat source, whether it be Flexwatt heat tape or a radiant heat panel or whatever you elect to use. There's some great tips/information in this thread if you want to look it over, it might answer a lot of your current questions as well as maybe some you hadn't though of yet, lol!
Thank you for the replies. My room is about 70 ish and no rack just alone. I also read that link but still needed help lol. Another question if I put my snake in the tub, do I feed it in the same tub?
06-11-2012, 10:48 PM
The Serpent Merchant
yes feed it right in the tub.
06-11-2012, 10:53 PM
ChuckieSD
Would it make it aggressive?
06-11-2012, 10:55 PM
The Serpent Merchant
not at all, that is a myth... a ball python can tell the difference between you and a rodent.
06-11-2012, 10:59 PM
ChuckieSD
Okay thank you. Any good low cost thermostats that you know of?
06-11-2012, 11:12 PM
The Serpent Merchant
This is the cheapest one that is any good... stay away from the junk sold in pet stores they are a huge waste of money
I would suggest that with a heat source directly on a tub and given the cool room temp and the swing of a hydrofarms. It can produce very high temps in this case (very slow probe response with a slow software controlling it and a large swing 3º) In my tests I was able to produce spikes of over 100º inside the tub.
With this in mind I would not suggest a on/off t-stat for a single tub in a cool room. To prevent this you would need a proportional unit. My suggestion would be a herpstats intro.
You are still going to have issues with your cool end temp and ambient temps in a room that is 70º Most solve this by adding an oil filled heater to the room.
