Adding a Second Heat Source

Hey everyone,

I got a new hatchling B-P 2 weeks ago. Living in VT its been pretty tough keeping his home up to temp without having to blast the heat in my apartment everyday. I went and bought a second heating pad today for his terrarium. Got a small Zoo Med one. His cage is about 80 degrees throughout. To warm it up/create a better heat gradient I want to put the new one on the back left of the tank. There is already a medium sized one on the bottom on the side of his hidey thing. Also, I bought a terrarium liner similar to this one: http://www.petco.com/product/110024/...ackground.aspx that has a tropical background and I taped that to the inside of the tank. It isn't an adhesive or paper, it's like a plastic-y photo paper. I'm almost positive I should remove it if I'm adding the new heatsource but just wanted to check to see what you guys thought. Do you think the small heat pad will get so hot it will cause the liner to bubble/melt? There's nothing for the snake to climb on on that side except the thermometer but he usually doesn't.

Thanks for your thoughts!

Dev

I have found that the smaller ones get hotter than the bigger ones.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747

Another heat mat will add a heat source but it will barley up the ambient temp in the tank. If you grab a 50w red heat lamp that will do a better job of upping the whole tanks temp. Is your mat currently hooked up to a thermostat? what size tank do you have? wheres the humidity at?( a heat lamp will drop the humidity inside of a tank).
Either way adding a heat bulb will be much more effective then adding a UTH to the back of your tank.

NEVER put tape in a snakes enclosure.

And for the thermometer probe wire I recommend silicon or hot glue. That way he can't get into it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747

Thanks guys! I have some work to do now for sure as the background is indeed taped to the inside of the tank. Its double sided so the paper isnt peeling but nontheless. I only got the damn bg because the tank looked so boring with what I could afford to put in it.

The tank is 10G, average temp (with heat blasted) is 80 throughout the tank, no heat gradient. However if I don't blast the heat it stay around 60-70 degrees. Humidity usually around 20-30%. Pretty broke right now but will buy a bigger tank as soon as possible. Also grabbed a massive aquarium big enough for many, many snakes from my work. Just too big for my apartment right now. Has a big wooden stand and everything. Excited to set it up.. Anyway, back to the point here..

I've read that heat bulbs should be avoided as they can hurt/burn the snake. But I've also read that the basking light is important. Which is it?

I don't have the heat mats hooked to a control yet as I can't afford that piece yet.

Here's a picture of my current set-up:

http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/8682/mpx.JPG

Your humidity gauge should be a few inches off of the ground and center of tank..u won't ge an accurate reading where u have it and especially near the water bowl..I'd also put my water bowl more to mid tank.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MontyPython22

Another heat mat will add a heat source but it will barley up the ambient temp in the tank. If you grab a 50w red heat lamp that will do a better job of upping the whole tanks temp. Is your mat currently hooked up to a thermostat? what size tank do you have? wheres the humidity at?( a heat lamp will drop the humidity inside of a tank).
Either way adding a heat bulb will be much more effective then adding a UTH to the back of your tank.

NEVER put tape in a snakes enclosure.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dev_DeCoste

Thanks guys! I have some work to do now for sure as the background is indeed taped to the inside of the tank. Its double sided so the paper isnt peeling but nontheless. I only got the damn bg because the tank looked so boring with what I could afford to put in it.

The tank is 10G, average temp (with heat blasted) is 80 throughout the tank, no heat gradient. However if I don't blast the heat it stay around 60-70 degrees. Humidity usually around 20-30%. Pretty broke right now but will buy a bigger tank as soon as possible. Also grabbed a massive aquarium big enough for many, many snakes from my work. Just too big for my apartment right now. Has a big wooden stand and everything. Excited to set it up.. Anyway, back to the point here..

I've read that heat bulbs should be avoided as they can hurt/burn the snake. But I've also read that the basking light is important. Which is it?

I don't have the heat mats hooked to a control yet as I can't afford that piece yet.

Here's a picture of my current set-up:

http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/8682/mpx.JPG

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The gauge on the left is just a temp gauge. Middle is 2-in-1 but I will move it lower once I get some hot glue.

I'm assuming I need to completely clean the tank since I brought same tape in there and have to remove the background... What would be the best way of doing this? Would the solutions sold at PetCo suffice?

For cleaning,there are a lot of ways. Ur best bet is speak to the more experienced about that..go and check husbandry forum ..when I clean my tank,I use some light bleach and alcohol wipes and rinse the hell out of it and let it air dry til completely scent free..

why are u removing the back round? I have reg black construction paper on 3 sides of mine

The background is taped to the inside of the tank, I am putting a heat source behind it (I would get a bulb like recommended but I already have the 2nd mat and can't afford another lamp. The bulb alone is $20, the fixture is another 20. At least where I was looking?

What if I just put the small one on the bottom so I had 2 on the bottom? Would that get too hot?

Also, how long will B-P be okay with slightly less than ideal living conditions? Have to admit I jumped the gun and bought the little guy as soon as I could afford the whole set up, but like the rookie I am didn't think about all the small little pop-up expenses of stuff you need later.

I'm a low-income college student so I have to save up. But Im gonna save up and follow The Serpent Merchants guide: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-With-Pictures!

Thanks!