Switching to Tub, Need Clarification on a Few Points

The Herpstat II is a thermostat that has 2 probes and will control a seperate heating device for each of them. (Alternatively, one outlet can control lighting or cooling instead). You can get them from Spyder Robotics.

As for the dog dishes, it's best just to go to PetCo and take a look at them, so you can evaluate how much space they have underneath and pick out the most suitable ones. My snakes tend to accordian up on the far side of the dish from the entrance.

<<Here's a few pictures of some of our single tubs.>>

I notice the baby pic does not have two hides. That is the size tub I bought, but I am pretty sure I'm not going to be able to fit two hides and a water bowl in it ... or even two hides, with one being a water bowl. How did I reach that conclusion? Well...

I took my snake with me shopping today ... went to two pet stores and some places like Target and Shop Ko, looking at dog dishes. The ones that she fit were too wide for the 16 quart Iris. I did pick one up and put it in her current set-up for her to check out. She seems to like it - at least she went in it and stayed there, unlike the flower pot bottom hides we tried. (She likes the half-log (in there for roughness for shedding) better than the flower pot bottoms.) And, for those of you wanting pix, I took some. But I can't figure out how to import them into my message! (When I click the "Insert Image" icon, it asks, "Please enter the URL of your image:" ... unhelpful when it's on my hard drive and there is now "browse" option!)

So ... is a 30 quart tub too large for a 380 gram snake? She's not really a baby anymore, she's about 1 3/4 years old. (Note, we had a power outtage last month - temps dropped to the 70s in her enclosure and she ended up with RI. She dropped about 40 grams while she was sick. :() I was looking at this tub:
http://www.allorganized.com/istar.asp?a=6&id=762016364476!IRIS

<<The Herpstat II is a thermostat that has 2 probes and will control a seperate heating device for each of them.>>

Is the Herpstat II an on/off or a proportional?

BTW, thanks for all the help from everyone who has posted!!

Peggy :)

The baby tubs do only get the one hide due to space issues but since the babies all live quietly in a corner of our master bedroom until they grow big enough to move into a rack in the ball python room, there's little to no traffic near them. Since it's so quiet and private they seem quite comfortable moving around the cool side.

One of the 07's is tricky enough that she simply moves her hide with her all over the tub and believe it or not, she somehow manages to place her hide over top of her water dish. I really need to get a pic of her perched around the edge of her water dish (not in it) with the hide over top of her and her dish. Quite the smart snake, she's got a lovely hide spot and a handy drink all in one LOL. How she manages this without opposable thumbs...I'll never figure out! Darra's a smart little snake it seems. :)

How is an almost 2 year old Ball only 380g? My two year old is 1500g and will breed this year.

You can easily fit 2 hides and a water bowl in a 15qt tub. Or you can get a small water bowl(like the stainless steel, blue-rubber bottomed, 3" diameter ones from WalMart) and a 6" pot saucer. A 400g Ball should easily fit in a 6" pot saucer for quite awhile. For all of my juvies/sub-adults that are in 15qt tubs, they get one 6-8" pot saucer and a water bowl. They all do just fine.

And I'm not griping, but please don't take your snake shopping with you. That's just an accident and possibly illness waiting to happen.

When I needed to get my flexwatt, I asked the dude at reptile basics, just like someone suggested. He was a HUGE help. We decided I would get 1 piece of 12" flexwatt which covers exactly half of the tub's bottom.

Here are some pics of mine, since mine is a little different from most that I see. I'm of the philosophy that even though she's in a tub, which sits on the floor and no one looks at but me, that it doesn't have to be boring. :rockon:

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c1...padalae021.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c1...s/FILES002.jpg

The temps in that pic were wrong because it was when I'd first gotten the therm. set up and it was adjusting.

I have several sets of hides - one set is two boston market gravy cups with holes in them (her fave) the other set is clay pot bottoms with holes chipped (then filed down), and the last set is two black plastic containers of some sort. I change them out when I feel like it, and rearrange things occasionally. Sometimes I'll organize her branches so that she has something to hang from, which she enjoys. Actually, she's hanging off the side of the computer chair right now. Hooks her little tail into a hole in the mesh and lets her pudgy belly hang off. She's been like that for a while now. -lol- My little computer buddy.

Oh, and the holes are about 3 inches apart, one row of them going all around the top edge of the tub. There are also a total of 9 holes in the lid, three rows of three. But I'm in Florida. It's already hot and humid so I don't have to do much. -lol-

You can see her water bowl is just a custard dish thing from Walmart. They come in sets of two for like 6 bucks so I switch them out every few days and wash them with the people dishes.

Herpstats are one of the better thermostats out there--not quite as pricey as Helix, but reliable and with all the bells and whistles.
The Herpstat II is a proportional thermostat, but if you want you can set it to analog as an option. You can program it for automatic night time temperature drop, and it will set off an alarm if the temperature varies by an amount you select. Pretty nice device. It's got a built-in clock, so you don't have to attach it to a timer to use the night drop feature. I got mine to deal with the 2 racks I ordered from Animal Plastics. Buying one Herpstat II was less expensive than buying 2 regular Herpstats, and I like all the added features.

<<The baby tubs do only get the one hide due to space issues>>

It certainly makes more sense ... the flat floor space on the small tub is only 13.5" x 8.5"!

<<A 400g Ball should easily fit in a 6" pot saucer for quite awhile. For all of my juvies/sub-adults that are in 15qt tubs, they get one 6-8" pot saucer and a water bowl.>>

Yes, this is where I was running into trouble ... trying to figure out how to fit TWO hides and a water bowl all into one small tub! But in fact, two 6" bowls/hides takes up most of the floor space ... perhaps you have more floor space because you've found a 15 quart tub that is long and wide, but not very tall? (Because I have been to 7 or 8 stores now in search of such a beast and not had any luck.) Or do your hides and bowls take up all the floor space?

<<How is an almost 2 year old Ball only 380g? My two year old is 1500g and will breed this year. >>

Well, to be honest, I don't know the exact date my girl was born. The breeder I bought her from said "around Christmas," but she was rather small then ... I suspected at the time that perhaps he was confusing her batch with another. Regardless, except for the aforementioned problem with the heat plumeting and resulting illness, she eats weekly, except when she is shedding. On the other hand, I am not using a digital scale to weigh her ... it's an old-fashioned scale that measures ounces and then I convert it. So it is possible that I've given you all the wrong weight.

<<And I'm not griping, but please don't take your snake shopping with you. That's just an accident and possibly illness waiting to happen.>>

Be that as it may, shopping with the small tub and the snake made me realize that any two hides she would fit in would take up the majority of the floor space - if they didn't just plain not fit. Thus my return wondering about using a larger tub with more floor space. (And to make everyone breath easier, taking my snake shopping is not anything I have done before, nor do I plan to do it in the future.)

<< Here are some pics of mine, since mine is a little different from most that I see.>>

Mindibun, it looks to me like you have a larger tub with a snake that (I think) is smaller than my girl. That is more like what I was asking about ... perhaps it is okay that it is larger because she has plenty of "plants" to hide among, as well as the hides.

<<When I needed to get my flexwatt, I asked the dude at reptile basics, just like someone suggested. He was a HUGE help. We decided I would get 1 piece of 12" flexwatt which covers exactly half of the tub's bottom.>>

I am leaning towards cover both sides and regulating both ... I suspect it is MUCH colder here in the Rocky Mountains than in Florida. (And it doesn't help that my husband goes crazy if the temps get over 74˚ ... and who prefers them around 70˚!) But I'll be talking to Rich at Reptile Basics ... he sounds like the man I need to speak with when it comes to Flexwatt and setting up the tub! :)

<<The Herpstat II i...You can program it for automatic night time temperature drop,>>

Not something you need for a BP though. Are there any BP-related uses you can use that for (other than breeding-related)?

<<Herpstats are one of the better thermostats out there--not quite as pricey as Helix, but reliable and with all the bells and whistles.>>

As near as I can tell, none of the Helix thermostats can regulate two different temperatures/flexwatt pieces. Anyone know if that is correct? <sigh> It would be handy if Reptile Basics carrid the Herpstat II or a Helix thermostat that could measure two pieces. :p

Thanks everyone!

Peggy :)

P.S. I still don't know how to post pix...

Not that I know of, night drop for BPs is just for breeding (which is what I'm going to be doing in a month).
The Herpstats are here: http://spyderrobotics.com/index.html

They even have a quad unit (Herpstat Pro), it can control 4 seperate heating/cooling devices with a seperate probe for each of them.

They are pricey, but once you start looking at proportional thermostats, you'll see that they're among the most reasonable. I have used an analog thermostat before, but I really don't like them...I think it's much better for the animals to have a steady temperature rather than one that goes up and down constantly.

Well, I ordered a Herpstat II from Spyder Robotics ... I figured it was better to control both sides, so I spent the money now, rather than buying one thermostat and eventually getting another one.

Now if I could just get ahold of Rich at Reptile Basics ...


Peggy :)

You dont have to keep your snake in a wee little tub if you dont want to... I start my babies off in a 66qt tubs and theyre doing just fine...they have 2 hides, big water bowl, and something to climb on... all 3 eat every week like pigs and are as happy as can be. More importantly worry about your temps and humidity... as long as those are on and you got some nice snug hides you should be fine... I picked up the herp pro about a month ago and its pretty sweet, youll like it. I got some pics of my baby set ups if you wanna check em out.