Ball Python Terrarium Heating Issues..

hey,

I have a few questions for you about my pet ball python. I've recently purchased him a new terrarium, switching him from a 20 gallon to a 40 gallon tank. Unfortunately the pet store salesmen seemingly steered me the wrong way. They had me purchase a glass aquarium, not a acrylic type aquarium that's recommended. I've been trying to make due with it, however. The humidity is good about 65 % I have a humidifier running at all times in my room and I mist the cage frequently.

The problem lies in heating the cage. I have a undertank heater spec'd for a 40 gallon tank, and I believe a 100 watt ceramic bulb in about the middle of the cage. These are both being powered through a reptitherm* heat sensor which is set to exactly 80 degrees. The heat sensor is placed almost touching the bottom of the cage so I can try and control the surface temperature. Half of the cage is covered in aluminum foil in an attempt to capture more of the heat. (just a little more information)

In further detail of the problem..The tank air temperature being read with a needle type thermometer near the middle of the tank says about 75 degrees on the warm side. I know that the surface temperature is the more crucial element for snakes. With my infrared thermometer I can say that the warm side fluctuates between 85 and 95 degrees, while the cool side stays around 78. I would like the cool side to be warmer but if I raise the temp on the thermostat any more it can jump up to 105 easily which makes me quite nervous because he seems to prefer the hide on the warm side. i don't want to harm him, obviously.

Is the fluctuation bad for him? I'm really not happy with this heating source.. I would like to be able to keep a stable temp for him. Also should I have any concern about the air temperature? Are there any other types of heating sources on the market that I should be using instead of this one? Lastly, would you recommend I use some sort of UTH on the cool side of the tank to boost the temperature a small amount? (The problem I'm assuming will be caused by that is the inability to control a heating element on the opposite side of the cage without a second heating source)

Any answer will be appreciated, there's not much help for me in my area. I'm not sure if I can trust the pet store workers to give me reliable advice.. Thanks in advance.

You can't run both the UTH and the CHE on the same thermostat. You should run the UTH off of the thermostat, and get a lamp dimmer to control the CHE. (On a side note you should really get a better thermostat)

Once you have done that if you still have any issues we can look into them, but I think that should be all it takes.

I haven't seen a dimmer for sale at any local pet stores but I always thought that a dimmer would be more logical than the heat sensor I have. If I don't have the UTH being controlled, however, it will get REALLY hot (over 110 degrees) on the surface of the substrate. Not sure I'll be doing that. Thanks for the reply!

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Originally Posted by gomez

I haven't seen a dimmer for sale at any local pet stores but I always thought that a dimmer would be more logical than the heat sensor I have. If I don't have the UTH being controlled, however, it will get REALLY hot (over 110 degrees) on the surface of the substrate. Not sure I'll be doing that. Thanks for the reply!

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Try Lowes or Home Depot - they sell lamp dimmers for about $12-15 in the same area where they have the switches, outlets, etc. Run the CHE off of that and you're correct, a UTH should be on a thermostat or it gets way too hot.

I picked up two slide-type dimmers at Home Depot. I have a dual-domed lamp that houses 75 and 50 watt red bulbs respectively for the warm and cool sides, and am able to fine-tune the ambient temps cage-wide with the slides. Also have a heat mat under the warm hide on a thermostat.

Awesome posts guys that's going to help me out a lot. excellent I will check it out next time I go to the big city. Thank you all :)