40 gallon breeder tank 4 ball python setup

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Originally Posted by Sonny1318

If you stuck with the 100 watt year round, I bet it would increase the life of bulb dramatically. I know several members on here have pointed out the advantages of using a higher watt bulb turned down to increase the bulbs lifespan. Have a good day

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I totally agree w you, I’ll go pick up a 100w Infrared bulb and a dimmer switch, any brands in particular you would recommend? Thanks again

I want to thank everyone in helping me throughout this build , I am enjoying all the good suggestions and conversations as I am pretty new to the snake world. On the flip side if anyone needs help with their Subaru I am the guy , lol...

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Mocking it up!!!!!!!!!:gj: Still waiting on my ultratherm uth pad and a few water dishes and hides.... gonna go get a heat lamp and a 100w I fared bulb this weekend and a sheet of .75 thick insulation board and some black gorilla tape, soon enough I’ll be checking temps👍

UPDATE.......

So I got the 1” foam insulation board put up around the tank and it seems to be insulating the enclosure pretty dam good. I covered it all with some 3” wide gorilla tape to make it appealing to the eyes, Also got my ultratherm uth heater dialed in and got it maintaing a 92-93 surface temp for the hot side. Got wooden block to keep the enclosure off the ground. I’m running about 75-76 degrees on the ambient temp so I’ll be picking up a heat lamp enclosure and a 100w infrared bulb to dial the ambient temps to 80 degrees or so. I am waiting on my medium size hides to come in from reptile basics and some fake plants I ordered. Im going to be making a hinged door for the top with acrylic and I’ll be cutting out a hole for the heat lamp and putting in wire mesh so it all fits together ever so nicely... just wanted to throw an update out for anyone who has been following this. Thanks everyone for ur advice and if u have any suggestions just lemme know.



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Is that 92-93* on the surface of the substrate or on the surface of the actual glass with substrate pushed away? This is an important difference, because your
snake will undoubtedly push the substrate away & you don't want them contacting a surface that is too hot. (-that is hot enough to cause them damage)

The wood blocks might be thicker than you need: the more space you leave, the more that the cooler air from the room enters underneath the cage. I mostly
use thick rubber weatherstripping on all the bottom edges of my tanks, leaving a few 2" gaps on opposite sides of the tank for wires to pass underneath without
the weight of the cage on them, and so there is just a little "breathing space" for the safe operation of UTH.

Also, if your room is that chilly, you can do one of 2 things to keep heat in the tank:
1. Either insulate under the tank with some of your foam (or other safe materials) where the UTH is NOT located...or, better yet...
2. Block all but 2 gaps around the bottom edges of the tank (between the tank & the cabinet it sits on) so that basically the extra heat from the UTH builds up
under the tank & slightly warms most of the cage floor. I've been using UTH for decades, literally, & to help protect my wood furniture from drying out from
the constant UTH heat, I also put some thin ceramic tiles under the tanks as a "heat sink". If your power goes off, they help retain & radiate warmth upwards,
and they also help protect the wood.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Is that 92-93* on the surface of the substrate or on the surface of the actual glass with substrate pushed away? This is an important difference, because your
snake will undoubtedly push the substrate away & you don't want them contacting a surface that is too hot. (-that is hot enough to cause them damage)

The wood blocks might be thicker than you need: the more space you leave, the more that the cooler air from the room enters underneath the cage. I mostly
use thick rubber weatherstripping on all the bottom edges of my tanks, leaving a few 2" gaps on opposite sides of the tank for wires to pass underneath without
the weight of the cage on them, and so there is just a little "breathing space" for the safe operation of UTH.

Also, if your room is that chilly, you can do one of 2 things to keep heat in the tank:
1. Either insulate under the tank with some of your foam (or other safe materials) where the UTH is NOT located...or, better yet...
2. Block all but 2 gaps around the bottom edges of the tank (between the tank & the cabinet it sits on) so that basically the extra heat from the UTH builds up
under the tank & slightly warms most of the cage floor. I've been using UTH for decades, literally, & to help protect my wood furniture from drying out from
the constant UTH heat, I also put some thin ceramic tiles under the tanks as a "heat sink". If your power goes off, they help retain & radiate warmth upwards,
and they also help protect the wood.

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94@the glass with the probe hot glued right above the uth inside the tank, I get about 90-91 degrees @ the substrate with the thermostat @ 94 degree setting. I have about 1/2 inch maybe less of the substrate on the hot side with an incline to about 2 inches of substrate on my cool side. I do have foam covering my uth which seems to help the heat being kept in the tank. I have changed my mind on the whole heat lamp with infrared bulb, I figured it was gonna cost me about 50-60 bucks to get this setup so I’m gonna go with an 80 watt radiant heat panel from reptile basics with a proportional thermostat from exo terra for about 150 all together. Just seems like a way better setup to me.

You're making some solid progress!!

Just 2 things jump out to me...

1) you want to measure the actual surface temp for your hot spot, not the substrate. Like Bogertophis said, they can and will burrow, push substrate around, etc...
So you want to get the actual glass temp down to 88-89.

2) the thermostat probe goes OUTSIDE the enclosure, sandwiched between the glass and the UTH.
Tstat probes that are INSIDE can be moved (even glued), laid on, peed on, water spilled on, etc... which can all cause inaccurate readings. These inaccurate readings can cause dangerous heat spikes.


Other than that, nothing else I can see.

I think you're going to love the RHP. They're fantastic.

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Originally Posted by Craiga 01453

You're making some solid progress!!

Just 2 things jump out to me...

1) you want to measure the actual surface temp for your hot spot, not the substrate. Like Bogertophis said, they can and will burrow, push substrate around, etc...
So you want to get the actual glass temp down to 88-89.

2) the thermostat probe goes OUTSIDE the enclosure, sandwiched between the glass and the UTH.
Tstat probes that are INSIDE can be moved (even glued), laid on, peed on, water spilled on, etc... which can all cause inaccurate readings. These inaccurate readings can cause dangerous heat spikes.


Other than that, nothing else I can see.

I think you're going to love the RHP. They're fantastic.

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i have read online and seen videos to not put the probe for the heat pad sandwiched between the glass, so which one is the right way?

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Originally Posted by SubieRoadKill

i have read online and seen videos to not put the probe for the heat pad sandwiched between the glass, so which one is the right way?

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Ask around and youll learn that pretty much ALL experienced keepers sandwich it between the UTH and glass/enclosure.

Ok I did and I see it is the way, thanks , ur help is awesome and always the best