2 Heat lamps and a UTH, is it okay?

Hi, I recently purchased my first Ball Python, and I have been having troubles with keeping my tempature inside my habitat stable and healthy. I currently am using a glass tank (20gal) with a small uth in the corner (away from the heat lamps) and 2 heat lamps on the basking side. My ambient temp in my house is 65 deg F. My thermometer is on the side with the hide. Its been going around 70-82 degrees F on the side with the hide. I wanted to make sure the double heat lamp set up with a UTH is okay, I dont want to cook the little guy ya know? :P (Hes about 3 months old and about 1 foot in length.) thanks!

EDIT: for got to state the wattage of the bulbs, one 100w and 60w & I dont have a thermometer on the basking side I forgot about that :o

-Soup

What type of thermometer are you using? 100w + a 60w seem a little over kill... I have a feeling your thermometer is wrong... I use a 75w in my boas enclosure which sits at 82F ambient...

Second, there should be two hides. One on the cool side and one on the hot side (directly over the heat pad). The heat pad should cover a quarter 1/4 of one side of the enclosure. As long as you have the proper heat pad regulated by a thermostat, you shouldn't even need a heat lamp. Without a thermostat, your heat pad can reach 110F and burn your snake. You should also use a digital thermometer with a probe to monitor your heat pad, or purchase a temp gun, checking the temp over the heat pad two - three times a day.

160 watts in a 20g tank is way overkill. You need to get a thermometer asap so you know the temps. You might very well be cooking your snake. I use 100 watt CHEs for my guys' temp 40g breeders and with the Herpstat going on them, I can easily keep em 82F+. Also if your room is really cold like you said, you can also buy sheet foam insulation from Home Depot and cut to fit and put it around the outside the cage to keep heat in.

I had a 100w che and a 60w bulb with a uth on my 40gallon tank in a room that stayed around 68F. I also had both the che and bulb on lamp stands which I used to dial the two in and create the exact temps I wanted for both the air and surface.

In a 20gal you have to be over doing it.

That is way overkill, I'd think you'd only need a 80w bulb to keep Temps up

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Im using a ZOO MED thermometer that also reads humidity. I took the 100w bulb off and put replaced the 60w with a 65w. Im getting a constant 80 degrees with the 65w. I just hope the little guy is comfortable, when he isnt sleeping, hes trying to look for a way out.

link to thermometer: http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Econom.../dp/B004PBB1JE

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Originally Posted by Soups

Im using a ZOO MED thermometer that also reads humidity. I took the 100w bulb off and put replaced the 60w with a 65w. Im getting a constant 80 degrees with the 65w. I just hope the little guy is comfortable, when he isnt sleeping, hes trying to look for a way out.

link to thermometer: http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Econom.../dp/B004PBB1JE

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Yea, those ones are no good... get a digital thermometer and hydrometer.

I actually have two of those and they are surprising pretty good. I compared them with my digital gauges in my cigar humidor and they were spot on. For a cheap option it is the best I have seen.

I would still get a digital model and a temp gun.

okay, I put another thermometer in there, they have the same reading on the cool-side, both hitting about 80 degrees F. I replaced the 65w with the 100w because I saw a massive drop in temp on the cool side. (about 67 degrees on cool side with the 65w bulb). I put the thermometer on the hot side, getting about 90+ degrees. I think a 85w bulb would probably hit the spot... I currently dont have any money (Im not an adult) for a thermostat :tears:.
EDIT: the Basking-side got to 93 degrees F when writing!!! Yeah, Im going to get a 85w A.S.A.P.

Without a IR temp gun how are you measuring the basking spot? In a 20gal and a 100 watt bulb I bet the hotspot being created under the lamp is over 100F.

For your set up you don't have to have a tstat and instead can use a dimmer to dial in the 100 watt bulb to the power you need.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=sr_1_3&sr=8-3 (Lowes, HomeDepot, WalMart, and Target will have these too.)

You can also use two 60w bulbs and have one on each side, or whatever watt bulb you need to create the correct temps. If you keep the entire tank in the 80-85F range your snake will be fine. There are plenty of keepers that do not provide their collection with a hotspot and their collections are thriving with nothing more than a good ambient temp.

Without a tstat on the uth you need to UNPLUG it now. Having it unregulated is placing your snake in great risk. Google images of burned snakes and you will see what I mean.