Couple questions

Hi,

It's utter twaddle. :rolleyes:

Just remember the thermostat and your snakes will do exceedingly well with UTH's providing the correct temps.


dr del

I am a new BP owner myself, but I have been doing research for a while now, and here are a few suggestions on heating IMO.

1) An UTH with a thermostat is the best heat source as you can directly control the temps and BPs need the UNDER BELLY heat to help with digestion.

2) If you use a ceramic heat emitter or heat bulb, keep in mind to monitor the temps INSIDE of the hide, as a light shining down on the top of the hide will heat up the inside to much different temps than what is either outside or under it.

3) If you are using an espceially non-conductive substrate with a thermostat-regulated UTH, using a low wattage light bulb set to a few on/off cycles over the hot side will help control your ambient temps (both inside and outside hides), regulate the humidity better than just the light, and help the day/night light cycle if your tank is backed and does not have good ambient lighting in the room. My 40W bulb is even plugged into a rheostat to ensure nothing overheats.

4) If you continue to have humidity issues with the cypress, you can place some lightly damp sphagnum moss in a hide or scattered throughout the substrate to keep humidity up. Just make sure that it does not remain damp at all times, as it can cause blisters and RIs.

Hope this helps some!

I live in NM where our conditions are almost identical to CO except even warmer. I will be totally honest with you, in glass tanks it is nearly impossible to keep the humidity anywhere near what it should be. I use coco tek, spray the cages daily, and run a humidifier in my snake room and I am still lucky if I can pull 60% humidity in the glass cages. However, in tubs, it is much much much easier. I know its not as nice for viewing, but ultimately you want what is best for the snakes, not what is the prettiest for you.

As for heat, the UTH work fine so long as you have them on a thermostat. Ball pythons need belly heat, not back heat. Usually your best bet is not to trust what pet store employees say, as they aren't experts, rather just $10/hr employees. Always double check for answers like you have on here :)

Also, in the winter, the UTH may or may not be enough to keep your snakes cage temps correct, and at that rate you may need to add overhead heat as well, which will likely add to your dilemma in keeping the humidity where it needs to be.

As he said, "utter twaddle". :) Ball pythons especially need belly heat more than back heat. Their bellies are more sensitive to temperatures than their backs. They're nocturnal and live inside of giant termite mounds. They spend as much time inside them as they do inside their hides, so they really don't even need a day/night cycle (as long as it's mostly dark at night).

Don't trust pet stores. If you hang around enough you'll catch a few threads of general complaint about them, discussing the reasons for this and that and who's really responsible. Seems even if employees are knowledgeable, they are powerless to apply it, as it's the business people, not the animal people, who make the decisions. Of course, in your case the employee was not knowledgeable.

About where to monitor temps when using a CHE or heat bulb, the above comment make perfect sense, but if also using a UTH, I'd want to have a probe in the normal place as well (under substrate directly on glass/plastic). I've actually not yet heard the above warning, but it's probably worth checking out.

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Originally Posted by Morph Momma

Also we went to a local reptile store and were told that we should absolutely under no circumstances use under tank heaters because snakes soak up heat from their backs and they are no use to the snakes. Please lend your thoughts on this statement.

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I am not sure who you talked to, or which store you were in but this is not true. Just to make sure you understand you will want to mount the UTH on the outside, under the tank. This will prevent any electrical shock when things get moist inside the tank.

The cypress is a good choice, it can be misted and kept damp without it molding. Don't keep it soggy or they will get belly rot. You will see it get light tan when it drys out.

It's not impossible to keep your humidity up in glass tanks. I have a 20L glass tank and like I said, as soon as we stopped using the heat lamp, I've had no problems at all.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Morph Momma

Also we went to a local reptile store and were told that we should absolutely under no circumstances use under tank heaters because snakes soak up heat from their backs and they are no use to the snakes. Please lend your thoughts on this statement.

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Wow, that from a reptile store?
Absolutely amazing.

My thoughts...Run, run as fast as you can from that store :snake:

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Originally Posted by sarbear

It's not impossible to keep your humidity up in glass tanks. I have a 20L glass tank and like I said, as soon as we stopped using the heat lamp, I've had no problems at all.

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Yeah, but they're in a very dry climate with a much bigger tank. I did okay with humidity too, but the ambient in my apartment is near 50% and I had a 20gal.