housing question

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Originally Posted by 4Khan

Dont heat your whole bin if not neccessary

I keep a uth on half of the bin and a heat bulb (yucky i know) outside the tank (about a 60w) which helps heat up my hot end and doesnt get my plastic hot. The rest gets to be the right temp just from your warm end getting in the 90's.

Cooling it down is easy...Just open the cage...turn on a fan!
You should be checking on your enclosure often throughout the day. I do it a few times in the morning and my boyfriend checks on it in the evening.
We have weird weather here so its a must...no temp stays the same for to long in WI!

Once it gets warm outside all you'll need is your flex watt or your uth. I keep an extra heating pad around just incase my middle temp isnt warm enough, and I also use it for my back! gots those pains..need backeyotomy! (thank goodness my grampy has those old heating pads without the 2 hour shutt off.)

Oh and your do infact need a cooler side. Remember if your bp was in the wild it would be in a den chillen most of the day not drying up in the heat.

youll get it all right...just keep messing around and trying new things to see what works best!

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you dont want a "backyotomy", trust me, I've had 2 lol
laminectomy and discectomy, 4 years apart. sux. whats wrong with yours?

anyway, so maintain the hot side and watch the cool side to make sure it doesnt go below 80? I wanna get this figured out so I can be ready for nagaina in 2 weeks. sheesh feels like I am starting all over again as a newbie, but I suppose in a way i am...with the plastic bin thing that is.

ehh i was doing my strength training workout this morning with weights and my muscles get into knots easily as well as if I move just right(or worng) i pull them very easily. Yep...thats what i did today! now im walking like an old women with a poop in my pants! Also I have fibromyalga and my back is where i feel it most...I am the knot queen!!! Your pain must be unimaginable..icky!

baisically...just watch your temps. do what ya gotta to raise and lower them.
It can be a pain in the booty to constantly be checking but with the right gear your temps can be regulated.
good luck!

Do you have a/c available? You may need to consider a small window unit if your house temps normally reach 90+. Fans might help too, but not if the air your blowing is hot. Sorry that's not much help.

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Originally Posted by 4Khan

ehh i was doing my strength training workout this morning with weights and my muscles get into knots easily as well as if I move just right(or worng) i pull them very easily. Yep...thats what i did today! now im walking like an old women with a poop in my pants! Also I have fibromyalga and my back is where i feel it most...I am the knot queen!!! Your pain must be unimaginable..icky!

baisically...just watch your temps. do what ya gotta to raise and lower them.
It can be a pain in the booty to constantly be checking but with the right gear your temps can be regulated.
good luck!

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I pull muscles like that as well. I was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease and degenerative arthritis when I was 24 when I had my first surgery (along with half of the rest of the PDR...my doc says I'm a walking medical nightmare LOL). SUX but if you want to continue this line of conversation, maybe we should move it elsewhere? up to you.

anyway, I *think* we are moving in August before school starts, and hopefully we will have a/c then of some kind. if not, I am going to have to check into a window unit to keep Nag (and Nagaina in 2 weeks lol) comfortable. I'll wait it out for now and see if he is still behaving oddly and go from there.

ok so I just went and picked up my bins. They are 66 quart flat sterilite bins with wheels on bottom and a hinged top...for under the bed stuff.

I've looked everywhere and cant find anything on uth or flex watt for plastic bins. maybe I'm just dumb and cant figure out the search, I dont know, but I need help.

my questions are these...

1. uth, flex watt, or both...and why?

2. can you put the uth or the flex watt directly on the bottom of the bin or does it need to be on some sort of shelf under the bin?

3. whats the best way to control humidity?

4. how do the thermostats that you plug the stuff into work? think I need one?

5. I still need a hot side and a cool side, and 2 hides and water bowl, right?

wow I think I'm exhausted just thinking of all these changes LOL
thanks in advance folks. I know I'm a PITA sometimes, but I really cant figure out how to use the search function :/

help?

1. Flexwatt is a type of UTH (under tank heat) Flexwatt is relatively inexpensive and widely used.

2. You can use foil tape to tape the uth directly to the bottom of the bin, but allow a little air circulation under the tub.

3. In tubs, humidity isn't nearly as much of a problem. Less holes = more humidity. In a tank, less open screen = more humidity (contact paper works great for this)

4. Thermostats work the same as the one in your home. The control the heating elements so that they do not get too hot. Very important since flexwatt and other uth's can reach temps around 120 degrees uncontrolled.

5. Yup :sweeet:

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Originally Posted by tigerlily

1. Flexwatt is a type of UTH (under tank heat) Flexwatt is relatively inexpensive and widely used.

2. You can use foil tape to tape the uth directly to the bottom of the bin, but allow a little air circulation under the tub.

3. In tubs, humidity isn't nearly as much of a problem. Less holes = more humidity. In a tank, less open screen = more humidity (contact paper works great for this)

4. Thermostats work the same as the one in your home. The control the heating elements so that they do not get too hot. Very important since flexwatt and other uth's can reach temps around 120 degrees uncontrolled.

5. Yup :sweeet:

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excellent! this might not be as hard as I thought it would lol
so in a bin, its possible or likely that just the flex watt will keep the bin warm enough? I'm going to have onto my lamps and stuff and make sure I have things right before I sell them, but it would be awesome to be able to get along without the lamps.
(Nag has had a few LOOOOONG days here lately. forgetting to turn on the red lamp before bedtime :)

and I should put the flex watt only on the "hot" side then, or does it need to be all over?

and how about air flow? what type of holes should I put in the bins (I know I know...the round kind)
where should I put the holes, how many , and what size?

and one last question....I've googled flexwatt and am not coming up with anything but commercial use, like for water heaters. where the heck can you buy the stuff?

anyone got a suggestion for a thermostat? one that works better than others? and how do you use them? all I'm seeing is "use it for night drop" and other such that for some reason I'm NOT understanding today. sheesh I feel like I'm on something lol

I'd hang onto your lamps, as backup in case something happens to your UTH. You can never have too much. ;)

The flexwatt only needs to cover about 1/3 of the tub.

I use a soldering want to melt holes into the tub. You kinda have to figure that part out yourself. Melt 10 holes into 2 of the sides, and then setup the tank with heat and water bowl. See what range your humidity is in. If it's too high, melt more holes. Some people use drills, but I have her of the tubs cracking. (although I can add any person experience with that) I would put the holes along the top portion of the tub.

As for the thermostat. There are two types. One that is on/off, like a Ranco. This one will heat up until it hit the predesignated point, then shutoff. Once it drops below that point it will turn back on. The other type is the Helix or Herpstat proportional. These pulse smaller currents constantly to maintain the desired temp. I have one of both, and I prefer the proportional, and have plans on getting a few more. These are not cheap, but ultimately worth it simply for the peace of mind. ;) You shouldn't need a night drop unless you are actively breeding.

Matt @ MG Reptiles can help w/the flexwatt. I got mine from him already set up so that it was "plug and play". GREAT! way to do it because I have neither the time, inclination or electrical know-how to do the wiring.


Aluminum foil tape can be bought at Wal-Mart. Taping the flexwatt (or other version of UTH) to 1/3 (I use one side. One of my tanks had the UTH running down the length in the back and it just really messes up the heat zones. *sigh*). Some plastic or felt feet glued to the bottom of your tub (unless UR using a rack system) will help with air flow underneath.

I have a soldering iron. For my smaller snakes, I melted the holes the size of the tip, but for Hera and the biggees who can't escape bigger holes, I used the size clear up to the handle. Even then, I got impatient and went a couple holes faster than the melting time and cracked the tub. :( I even melted some holes in the LID to help control the humidity. Hera liked to tip her bowl over so the humidity was always waaaaaay to high. < I've since changed bowls, too.>

For the little guys it might not be needed yet, but as your snake gets bigger and can push, you'll probably want to look at getting some office supply clips to clip the edges of the lid at different spacing intervals. I found out that hard way on a couple of my tubs, that the little goobers can squeeze thru the SMALLEST spaces and be the newest Houdini!!!!

If your room is around 82-84, your UTH will make the hot side w/o any additional lamps, but like my bedroom is getting TOO warm, I've started fans to cool things off, using just room temp and UTH. I've turned off the extra lamps that I used during the winter.

I hit the site. Those are some pretty snakes!!

Good luck Wendy. Sounds like you really care and are headed in the right direction for Nag and Nagaina!!! < Looooooove the names! I loved RTT!>

RuLyn