How to Setup a Glass Tank (20 long) With Pictures!

Nope no moisture actually was feeling inside and checked my thermometer to make sure it was not broken lol but yeah like I said she just ate little bit ago and has been active at night and using her hide during day so don't think she's unhappy

Do you peel white paper off uth and tape the sticky with foil tape? Then tape Uth to tank?

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Originally Posted by xdragonx917

Do you peel white paper off uth and tape the sticky with foil tape? Then tape Uth to tank?

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I peeled sticky off uth and just stuck it to tank didn't need any tape it's holding strong but if it doesn't hold I'm assuming you would need the tape

I have a question the uth I have on the side of my tank is that fine or should I move it I also don't have a thermostat with it which on plan on getting but will I be able to use it with my uth the brand I have is all living things when he go to the hot side he lay under the tree near the heat pad should o move it under the tank or its fine there just add a thermostat to it !! I also moved the heat lamp to the middle of the 20 gallon tank http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14...7c728a4540.jpghttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14...4e84df26ce.jpghttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14...676f9a68c7.jpghttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14...3389996677.jpg


1.0 normal Bp #jr [emoji16]

I know i'm a little late to the party to ask this but would anyone be able to point me in the right direction to order the thermostat he uses? even just a brand or site listing. The local stores are severely lacking in adequate pet care products and I haven't found anything like he shows that allows the UTH to plug into the thermostat so that it auto regulates.

Thanks in advance.

He gave three options in section #4. This is what it said. The Reptile Basics link didn't work so I updated it for you.

Budget: http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTPR.../dp/B000NZZG3S
Mid-Range: http://www.reptilebasics.com/thermostats
Best: http://www.spyderrobotics.com/home/products.html

Im a Herpstat guy myself so I say go with SpyderRobotics. He prefers Herpstat too. You can see his Herpstat4 in one of the pics. I have one and they are awesome.

Many thanks. That was the top priority. Checking out the links now

So the herpstat will definitely be for when I build his permanent home. I'm going to have to go with a midrange one for this temporary glass enclosure...I might also require an associates in engineering before buying the herpstat one. Saved the links, going hunting for this stuff tomorrow. Thanks again

The Herpstats are not hard to operate. I have two Herpstat 1s, a 2, and a 4. All work great and are straight forward to use.

Check around on Fauna and the other sites for used tstats. They pop up as people get out of the hobby or upgrade to bigger better units. You can really get a good deal on a slightly used model.

That's good to know. I'll keep checking in. Thank you for that.

None of the original pics still work. Damn.

Fast Shadow

I just clicked on them and they still worked. Did you have a specific one you needed to see?

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Originally Posted by Baba Fett

None of the original pics still work. Damn.

Fast Shadow

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Sorry about that, the bandwidth limit on my photobucket account was exceeded from so many people viewing my threads. I upgraded my photobucket account so I now have unlimited bandwidth so they should work again.

Much thanks! Busy working but looking forward to reading them.

Fast Shadow

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

Sorry about that, the bandwidth limit on my photobucket account was exceeded from so many people viewing my threads. I upgraded my photobucket account so I now have unlimited bandwidth so they should work again.

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Thanks Aaron, your threads have helped me immensely.

Firstly, Thank you for the amazing post. I used it a ton when I was putting my snakes tank together. I even bought most of the recommended things haha.

But, having bought the Reptile Basics UTH that has no sticky side to adhere to the tank, how can I get it to better sit on the glass because it is bubbling. It's not producing the temps I want in the hide and even the surrounding area that is actually up against the glass. I have it turned up to 94 on the herpstat, probably like half an inch or less of aspen and its still like 85-87. I have a 20G Long and I got the 11x11, so the probe in the middle is making that bubble. Can I just take UTH off and secure it where it bubbles to the glass? I would think being foil tape, that it would interfere with the heating and do more damage than good. Or is it best to just tape probe on the bottom of the UTH, but then I would think it wouldn't gauge temps right because of the air cooling it off. Catch 22 it seems lol.

Concerning the UTH with therm probe:

The issue I have with this is that you're getting the heat measurement pretty much straight from the heating element rather than where the snake will be sitting above it over the glass and substrate (I'm currently using reptile carpet/felt).

Am I wrong in assuming you're not going to really get that accurate temperature sine it's measuring the pad temp and not the internal side of the cage?

One question as well about UTH, I've been reading around have not found a definitive answer:

Heat pad on the hot side with the heat lamp or middle or under the cooler side? With my heat lamp it sits about 90 degrees on the hot side and 78 on the cool side.

Is it even necessary to have UTH with these temps on one lamp?

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Originally Posted by Boomerang

One question as well about UTH, I've been reading around have not found a definitive answer:

Heat pad on the hot side with the heat lamp or middle or under the cooler side? With my heat lamp it sits about 90 degrees on the hot side and 78 on the cool side.

Is it even necessary to have UTH with these temps on one lamp?

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Technically? No. If you're obtaining the correct thermal gradient with overhead heat alone, then you should be fine without a UTH. Just make sure you are measuring you temps near the bottom of the enclosure where the snake actually hangs out.

10-4 thank you lizard licks. :)

OK first timer here. I set up the UTH and are considering mercury vapor bulbs. Could I use the bulb during the day and use the UTH at night on a timer?

Do I leave the red heat bulb on 24/7? How long do they typically last before needing replaced?

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Originally Posted by LieutenantLysol

OK first timer here. I set up the UTH and are considering mercury vapor bulbs. Could I use the bulb during the day and use the UTH at night on a timer?

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Maybe, depends on your temps. You may need both on all the time.

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Originally Posted by Adamrhh

Do I leave the red heat bulb on 24/7? How long do they typically last before needing replaced?

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You can but again you need to monitor your temps. Replace the bulb when they blow/burn out. Always have a spare because your bulb will blow at the exact moment that you can't go to the store and get another. Also if you live in an area that your electricity has a lot of surges and/or outages, put the lamp on a real surge protector or you will be replacing bulbs a lot.

Can I use a Lamp Dimmer on the UTH instead of a Thermostat? My room always stays ~75 degrees.

Thank you for such an informative post, OP! I am just about to set up my first Ball Python tank, and have almost everything I need, thanks to your info provided :)

You can but it is recommended that it be temporary until you can get a real thermostat. Make sure you monitor the Uth temp regularly.

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05...c1c5e80bcc.jpg

Is it safe to leave the lamp directly on the screen? Would a baby ball python be able to burn itself?

Also, could I buy a Ceramic Heat Lamp from Walmart or a Hardware Store? Or do I have to buy one designed for pets? (Fluker's, Zoo Med, etc)

If your screen is metal, yes it is ok. You can possibly use the heat lamps from Wal mart or the hardware ware store. I would personally go with a hardware brand over Walmart. I would suggest that you make sure it can handle different size bulbs in watt and shape.

hi there, i'm new.

is there a reason why u cover the back and sides with paper? i was thinking of only putting in a background wallpaper of landscape scenery or something at some point.

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Originally Posted by Ax01

hi there, i'm new.

is there a reason why u cover the back and sides with paper? i was thinking of only putting in a background wallpaper of landscape scenery or something at some point.

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The back and sides are covered to help make the ball python feel more secure. If your tank is sitting in a high traffic area of your home then this will help reduce stress to the snake from people walking by all the time.

I guess the background wallpaper may work. You want to attach it to the outside of the tank. That way it is easier to clean the inside of the tank. I used black construction paper and double sided scotch tape to attach mine. It has been on my same tank close to 3 years now with no trouble.

^ thnx Fireman. good to know! i don't wanna stress/scare my little baby snake.

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Originally Posted by wthNick

Is it safe to leave the lamp directly on the screen? Would a baby ball python be able to burn itself?

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I left it on the screen, I still do it won't do nothing to a BP.

This is an awesome guide, thank you.
i got everything setup just like you recommend .
I see that some people say that it's ok to run infrared 24/7 I'm a bit worried that it might stress my Python out anyway . Do you think it's better to run infrared during the day and zoo med moonlight at night ?
What do you guys have in your tanks ?
i have an exo terra 36x18x18 with herpstat 1 powering reptile basics 11x11 on one side and 75 w infrared light in the middle, I have bunch of hides. I'm getting 4 months ball python for kids for Christmas , so I can't test my setup yet. I will set it up in few days in the closet and get my snake on 23rd to keep it as much a surprise as I can.
Aaron, I see that you mentioned that you run reptisun. Do you think it would be better for my setup ?
thanks

Running the inferred heat lamp 24/7 will not stress the snake. You just need any visible light that is for you to be on a 12 hour cycle so it's not daylight four 24 hours. If I understand your setup, you have the heat lamp in the middle? I would suggest moving it to one side so that is your hot side and the other side is your cold side.

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I already have uth on the hot side, the light in the middle makes temperature more even cold hot side, or at least I thought so.
would it be better to use some kind of other light not infrared for a day/night cycle ?

So I followed this tank setup pretty closely as far as the UTH and tstat and bought the exact same thermometer, but when I placed the thermometer in the tank as you had it, my BP messed with the cord and drowned my thermometer. I know I can't place any sort of tape in his tank so what should I do to prevent this from happening again in the future? Can I take a hot glue gun and glue over the probe wire in the corners of either side of the tank? Any other suggestions?

Why can't you use tape on the inside?
i see the thermometer set up but I can't see how you got the probe through. Did you drill a hole?

The Walmart thermometer that I am using is all inside the tank. I put the unit on the cold side with it set to display Temps and humidity. The probe is over on the hot side. I did in the past hot glue mine but now I just let the substrate hold it down. If you have a uth, place the probe over the center of it. It will not give you an exact temp but an idea of what the Uth is doing. Make sure you have some sort of control such as a thermostat.

Tape,..... Basically it will about skin a snake. I think you can Google this to see.

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Well I set the thermometer and probe up JUST like you did in the pictures, but he drowned my main thermometer unit and then he somehow got the probe unstuck (obviously I then freaked out over the adhesive thing that sticks it to the glass) but after I found that and made sure he was okay I was left with a very wet thermometer and no way to make sure my temps were accurate.. I'm working on getting a temp gun so that i won't have to deal with this in the future, but for now do you have any suggestions as to how I could maybe restick this probe to my tank at all? I tried using a teeeeeny weeeeny piece of the aluminum tape on the probe and making it like double sided and cutting all of the edges so that there was no way he could get stuck on it but of course he dislodged the probe again so i took it all out immediately. I have the Jump Start thermostat and a Zilla UTH.

As in drowned it in the water bowl? What substrate are you using and can you post a photo of your setup? Find my post in this thread with the video link. That may help more than pics.

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yes but the issue with that (i believe) is that it was quite close to the water bowl due to small tank space so im getting a new one friday. I will find the video and see if I'm doing the probe setup wrong somehow, thank you.

This is an amzing post I seemed to not have seen when I got my first snake. I'm supposed to get a tank and some stuff from a friend soon-ish so I'll have to see if I can use it in the end.

How would someone up the ambiant temp of a tub wothout a space heater? I have found out that I am at the top of my amps for the room I have for my quarantine and cannot get one to function without slowing everything else.... I am getting a infrared lamp but no idea how to place it to not burn the plastic tub?

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Originally Posted by Ufoo9k

This is an amzing post I seemed to not have seen when I got my first snake. I'm supposed to get a tank and some stuff from a friend soon-ish so I'll have to see if I can use it in the end.

How would someone up the ambiant temp of a tub wothout a space heater? I have found out that I am at the top of my amps for the room I have for my quarantine and cannot get one to function without slowing everything else.... I am getting a infrared lamp but no idea how to place it to not burn the plastic tub?

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Tubs are normally used with a rack system. Racks usually use some sort of heat tape to provide heat. I have no experience with racks. You may need to look for a thread about racks or make a new thread to have your questions answered. I do not think you can safely use a heat lamp with a tub.

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First time looking at the setup, I read through 8 pages of the comments and haven't found a definitive answer so I'm sorry if someone has already asked this but, are you supposed to leave the infrared light on all day and rely on ambient daylight for the day cycle? I'm thinking about using this setup but the tank would get much too cold in my nights without the lamp.

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Originally Posted by Pippers

First time looking at the setup, I read through 8 pages of the comments and haven't found a definitive answer so I'm sorry if someone has already asked this but, are you supposed to leave the infrared light on all day and rely on ambient daylight for the day cycle? I'm thinking about using this setup but the tank would get much too cold in my nights without the lamp.

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The ambient light of the room will be plenty to give them some sort of a day/night cycle. They don't really need this cycle to the extent that many other sun-loving reptiles do. That's why rack systems, without any lights at all, tend to work so well for these guys. :gj:

Visible light on a day and night cycle is for you to see if you have your enclosure setup as a display. I would run your infrared 24/7 to maintain heat. Find the post with the video about setup and see if it helps answer questions.


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I set up my tank exactly like his. But my humidity wont get higher than 25% unless i mist then it goes down in an hour after that. How do i get it up?

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Originally Posted by michael.cser20

I set up my tank exactly like his. But my humidity wont get higher than 25% unless i mist then it goes down in an hour after that. How do i get it up?

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What size tank.?

Is your lid covered to help hold in heat and humidity ie tinfoil mod?

Wattage of your heat bulb?

Size of your water bowel, does it hold a lot of water but does not have surface area? You want more surface area like a pan of water instead of a pitcher of water.



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Its the same as the post. I mean exactly. Same water dish same tank size. Everything.

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Originally Posted by Firemaniv

What size tank.?

Is your lid covered to help hold in heat and humidity ie tinfoil mod?

Wattage of your heat bulb?

Size of your water bowel, does it hold a lot of water but does not have surface area? You want more surface area like a pan of water instead of a pitcher of water.



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And yeah i have the top covered in foil tapehttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...d976b31ce2.jpg

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