Newcomer looking to jump into the scene.

One last question: I have the tub, and the UTH (and everything else), but it says that the UTH shouldn't be on plastic. So, is there something I need to put between the UTH and surface of the tub?

No - as long as you have it on a UTH, it can't get warm enough to damage or melt the plastic - if it could, it would be too hot for your snake. :)

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Originally Posted by rabernet

No - as long as you have it on a UTH, it can't get warm enough to damage or melt the plastic - if it could, it would be too hot for your snake. :)

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Good point. Well, I'll get it all set up here in a minute and start regulating humidity and temperature, and if it's all good and steady by tomorrow afternoon I'll be heading down to pick up the little guy (or girl). :)

Having some trouble getting the temperature/humidity stable. My setup right now is:

A 16qt. Sterilite Tub with 10 holes drilled at the top (three on each side and two on each end), and I've kept the lid on.
A Fluker digital thermometer/hygrometer. I looked at two different Wal-Marts and had no luck finding the Acu-rite.
A small water dish, full.
Two hides made from cool-whip bowls.
And finally, a small Zoo-Meds UTH.
Also, some newspaper for substrate.

I have the thermometer/hygrometer positioned slightly more on the warm side of the tub, and it's been going in the same condition for about four hours, and the highest the temperature has gotten is 80 degrees F. My humidity is a bit higher than it should be, ranging from about 69%+. And right now, and for the past while, the temperature has dropped to 76 degrees F, and isn't moving. I would take pictures, but I seem to have lost the charger for my camera, been a while since I've used it. Any help would be appreciated.

How thick is your substrate? For the humidity, add more ventilation holes and see if that helps.

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Originally Posted by rabernet

How thick is your substrate? For the humidity, add more ventilation holes and see if that helps.

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I have about four pages of newspaper in total for the substrate. And I was thinking about adding more ventilation holes, but wouldn't that put my temperature in worse shape than it's in?

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Originally Posted by CircleOfSnakes

I have about four pages of newspaper in total for the substrate. And I was thinking about adding more ventilation holes, but wouldn't that put my temperature in worse shape than it's in?

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I usually use 2 sheets of newspaper, you might try that. Also, is the UTH on a thermostat? If so, what have you set the thermostat temps to?

I haven't found that adding more ventilation holes reduces the heat. If you'll go back earlier in the thread and look closely at the pictures I posted, you'll see two rows of holes along the upper half of the tub.

However, you could try a smaller water bowl, or move it more to the cool side.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rabernet

I usually use 2 sheets of newspaper, you might try that. Also, is the UTH on a thermostat? If so, what have you set the thermostat temps to?

I haven't found that adding more ventilation holes reduces the heat. If you'll go back earlier in the thread and look closely at the pictures I posted, you'll see two rows of holes along the upper half of the tub.

However, you could try a smaller water bowl, or move it more to the cool side.

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I took it down to two sheets of paper. The UTH isn't on a thermostat, I forgot to grab a dimmer yesterday, was meaning to get one today. Also, I went back up the the place, and asked them about it (and looked at prices on the snakes), and the guy I talked to said that the ambient air being 76-80 degrees should be alright, being as it'll be significantly warmer under the hide over the UTH (he also said that the humidity being between 60 and 70 percent was alright, but I'm doing what I can to take it down). I added some more holes and moved the water bowl to the cooler side, and I'm keeping the room warm. Yesterday I had the temperature in the tub at 80, and it dropped slightly at night, so I've covered up the vent in my room to keep out the air conditioner, so hopefully I can keep it at 80. I was thinking though, can they be a little cooler at night? Being as they're nocturnal, and naturally in the wild it gets a bit chillier at night?

I got the humidity and temperature pretty leveled out, and brought the BP home. He's a boy, I forgot to ask how old, but he's probably about 12-14 inches. He's not shy at all, which made me happy. That also means he isn't stressed, right? He's slithered all around his tub since he's been home, and the few times I've had to take him out to do something to the tub (minor adjustments, and he dumped his water bowl so I had to replace the newspaper), instead of balling up and hiding he's just slithered all around my hand and tried climbing up my arm. I'll be taking pictures as soon as I figure out my camera situation. I've lost the charger to my main camera, and our other one doesn't seem to be working. I could use some visual advice about my setup, but I think I've got it pretty good.

Also, in the past hour or two he's settled down, and doesn't seem to like his hides. He actually has only been inside one of them for a short period of time, on his warm side. But he's actually been curling up in the corner, behind his warm side hide, and likes it there. Does that mean anything? I've been led to believe that they're almost un-pryable from their hides.

Once they discover that the hides are good and safe they're un-pryable. :) Most new snakes don't seem to know what the hides are for, or aren't sure about the safety, so they avoid them. Every new snake I've brought home has spent the first week or two curled up in the corner behind the hides. Heck, my new adult Het Albino female is curled up in the center of the tub with her chin resting on her branch(in the store, she was kept in a medium sized acrylic display box due to lack of room) since she's so used to open spaces. Her tub is covered, tho, to make her feel more secure.

As for a thermostat, if you're short on money I would suggest you order a ZooMed ReptiTemp 500R rather than spending your money on a maddening dimmer. Trust me, I fiddled with dimmers and rheostats for months at first before discovering that the ZooMed stats are just fine for short term use. They typically run about $20-30 and do a great job keeping temps once you get everything dialed in properly. Of course, you'll want to save up for the good stats (Johnson or Herpstat) ASAP, but the ReptiTemp will give you peace of mind about temps until you can get a better t-stat. The best site I know of for those stats is ReptileSupply.com.