BP interested in only escaping?

Ok guys i Finally got my tank set up. I have background picture and side covered with towel so he should feel pretty safe from those two sides. I got two hides set up on two ends of the tank, a tree plant if he wants to climb on it, a water bowl in the middle, aspen substrate with newspaper under it. I also got 2 UTHs on the right side and a 60 watt red light bulb lamp on the right side. Thermostats are set, the humidity is at 55%. Buddy finally went in the hide yesterday and spent most of the time there (in the new one) but right now he's again out exploring one of the uncovered walls and climbing up towards the screen and very small gap where i guess he believes he can escape from. I am planning on not touching him for upto a week then feeding him and not touching him for another 2-3 days before starting to handle him again.

Also I think he's about to shed since his skin color has gotten slightly darker. At what point should i start increasing humidity? Also is it a good idea to spray water on aspen? If not then what else can i do to increase humidity? 1 thing i know of is moving the water bowl closer to the light bulb and insulating the tank from all sides.

1 last question. Is it a better idea to use the 60 watt lightbulb to heat up the warm side or the cool side? because if I use it for the warm side it never gets high enough (stopping around 88) while at the cool side the thermostat keeps shutting it off all the time.

Also, for some reason the 2 UTHs won't get higher than 88 degrees F even tho i have the thermostat cranked up all the way to see if that is why UTHs don't work properly. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong? Should I insulate the top? Right now i just have a towel covering the top and before it worked fine but it's not working anymore.

Sounds like you are doing good. I noticed that you said both the light and the UTHs never get hotter than 88. Hmmm... Is it possible your temp gauge is not working? What kind are you using?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kc261

Sounds like you are doing good. I noticed that you said both the light and the UTHs never get hotter than 88. Hmmm... Is it possible your temp gauge is not working? What kind are you using?

---

I'm using Acurrite and one of the dual ones

I have 2 UTHs set up on the left side and for some reason they can't heat up the tank at all. Right now its at 84 degrees F. While the other side is at 81.5 degrees with the 60 watt light bulb.

One thing you could do is put both the UTH and the bulb on the same side for a while and see how hot it gets. Don't do that while the snake is in there, or else stand there and watch the temp gauge, because it might get way too hot. But at least it would be a start to proving there isn't something messed up with the temp gauge.

If the room is really cold or drafty, you may just need more heat.

I would also suggest you start a new thread, because this really has nothing to do with the title anymore, and you might also get more responses that way. In your first post, put all the details about your tank size, what equipment you have, etc. etc.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kc261

One thing you could do is put both the UTH and the bulb on the same side for a while and see how hot it gets. Don't do that while the snake is in there, or else stand there and watch the temp gauge, because it might get way too hot. But at least it would be a start to proving there isn't something messed up with the temp gauge.

If the room is really cold or drafty, you may just need more heat.

I would also suggest you start a new thread, because this really has nothing to do with the title anymore, and you might also get more responses that way. In your first post, put all the details about your tank size, what equipment you have, etc. etc.

---

Haha cool thanks :)

I'm not sure the risk of fires or anything from this but I was told that a good idea would be to place cardboar underneath the heat pad, kind of to insulate it but it does sound like there may be a fire risk if the bottom of your UTH gets too hot.

The thickness of the substrate has a big impact on the surface temperature. I try to keep the substrate as thin as possible so that there isn't a big difference between the temperature of the glass at the bottom and the surface. That way, if my snake burrows down, he isn't in danger.

So, I just keep enough in there to be absorbent and keep him from bottoming out too much. I find about 3/4" to 1" is good. Just keep in mind that if you run with minimal bedding you have to keep an eye out and spot clean if he pees.