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

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Originally Posted by Yirra2112

This is actually my first post on this forum, although I've been poking around for the last two weeks or so. I've already encountered a tremendous amount of helpful information while perusing the shared experiences on this site. I used this guide to help set up my ball python's home. He's my first bp, I've always kept corns before. I'm encountering a problem keeping up the humidity in his enclosure though. I live in the desert, the ambient humidity in our house is about 15%. His enclosure has an UTH w/thermostat, dimming switch heating lamp (w/zoomed infrared 75watt), somewhat large waterbowl located directly beneath it and foil covering 2/3 of the top of the tank, most of the space that isn't dedicated to the lamp. The foil covers both the basking side, and cooler side. Beside that he's got the usual reptibark substrate. two hides, some plastic leaves he seems to like more than the hide and two thermometers, one for each side of the cage.


The lamp seems to actually be drying the air our rather than encouraging the water from the bowl to evaporate and raise the humidity. Before I got the lamp the humidity seemed to hang around 45% (when i wasn't home to spritz the cage, if I'm home I can maintain the 50% -60% ideal). Today was the first time I left the lamp on while I wasn't home and I checked on it on my lunch break and in the 4hrs I was at work the humidity had dropped from 58% when I left in the morning, post spritz, to 35%. However, if I turn off the lamp, the cool side drops to about 78 degrees. I'm not sure what I can do to promote both a steady temperature and steady humidity in the appropriate range. Is there a way for me to keep the lamp on and still get the humidity to rise? Any suggestions would be hugely appreciated as he was already in shed when I brought him home a few days ago and I really want to make sure he can get the last of it off successfully/comfortably.

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welcome to the forum! try soaking a hand towel in water, ring it out so it's not dripping but still damp, and laying it over a hide. that will boost your humidity pretty good.

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Originally Posted by tttaylorrr

welcome to the forum! try soaking a hand towel in water, ring it out so it's not dripping but still damp, and laying it over a hide. that will boost your humidity pretty good.

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Thank you! That sounds like a great idea, I'll give it a shot as soon as I get home =)

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Originally Posted by tttaylorrr

my bad for misunderstanding. sometimes i just speed read posts and can miss stuff. yes it goes in the hot hide. 😀

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No worries! :)
I have another question regarding this matter; if my hot hide is around 90 - 91 degrees, is it okay if my hot side outside of my hide is a bit lower than 88? I hope that makes sense.
Thank you so much for helping out!

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Originally Posted by SimonPalmieri

No worries! :)
I have another question regarding this matter; if my hot hide is around 90 - 91 degrees, is it okay if my hot side outside of my hide is a bit lower than 88? I hope that makes sense.
Thank you so much for helping out!

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that's fine. 😀

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Originally Posted by tttaylorrr

that's fine. 😀

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One other thing I've noticed is that if my room's temperature is below 72-73 (I live in Canada) and I have to turn the lamp up a bit to maintain my 78 degrees, the substrate near my bowl gets to about 86-88 degrees. However, it only seems to be near the back(ish) of the bowl. The substrate in front is more around 85. The surface temp on top of my cold hide varies from 81 - 84. Is it OK if this substrate gets this hot and if the cold hide's surface temperature on top gets this hot?

I'm sorry if I have so many questions, just want to make sure I'm doing this right.

Thanks so much!

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Originally Posted by SimonPalmieri

Is it OK if this substrate gets this hot and if the cold hide's surface temperature on top gets this hot?

I'm sorry if I have so many questions, just want to make sure I'm doing this right.

Thanks so much!

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don't be afraid to ask questions!

since this is for the cold side, the temp of the substrate should range between 79-82°. 84°/88° is definitely on the warm side but i don't think it's that big of an issue as long as the substrate inside the cool hide is within proper range. just keep tweaking and trying out what works best for your environment, eventually you'll find that sweet spot. maybe you could get a space heater for the room to ensure it doesn't drop below a certain temperature, then tweak your lamps accordingly.

Does putting aluminum on the lid prevent enough airflow? Is there a certain amount of the mesh top that I should leave open?

hello all when i got my uth i wasn't told to get a thermostat, i have no issue adding one but i dont want to ruin a new mat to install the probe, so my question is this, can i use hot glue to attach the probe inside the tank under the cypress?

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Originally Posted by MrBeeBow

hello all when i got my uth i wasn't told to get a thermostat, i have no issue adding one but i dont want to ruin a new mat to install the probe, so my question is this, can i use hot glue to attach the probe inside the tank under the cypress?

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I hot glued my Herpstat probe to the bottom of the UTH = outside the tank... this will not ruin the UTH and you'll get 100% adhesion of the UTH against the tank bottom. Keeping the probe outside and monitoring internal temps with a temperature gun and an Accurite thermometer is preferred should your animal move it, defecate on it, water spill on it, etc. it's also a little easier when cage cleaning too.

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Originally Posted by vikingr

I hot glued my Herpstat probe to the bottom of the UTH = outside the tank... this will not ruin the UTH and you'll get 100% adhesion of the UTH against the tank bottom. Keeping the probe outside and monitoring internal temps with a temperature gun and an Accurite thermometer is preferred should your animal move it, defecate on it, water spill on it, etc. it's also a little easier when cage cleaning too.

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well my issue is that the uth is already stuck to the tank, and according to the company that made it i can not peel if off without ruining it, so thats why i was asking about using glue on the inside of the glass

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Originally Posted by MrBeeBow

well my issue is that the uth is already stuck to the tank, and according to the company that made it i can not peel if off without ruining it, so thats why i was asking about using glue on the inside of the glass

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I know! re-read my post, no need to remove UTH, leave it be - all you need to do is invert your tank and hot-glue the thermostat probe to the center of your UTH - OUTSIDE the tank on the bottom of the UTH (it does not have to be between the UTH and the glass). Recognize that you will likely need to set the thermostat setting up to 5 or so degrees hotter to achieve your hot spot temp.

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Originally Posted by vikingr

I know! re-read my post, no need to remove UTH, leave it be - all you need to do is invert your tank and hot-glue the thermostat probe to the center of your UTH - OUTSIDE the tank on the bottom of the UTH (it does not have to be between the UTH and the glass). Recognize that you will likely need to set the thermostat setting up to 5 or so degrees hotter to achieve your hot spot temp.

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Ahh thank you for dumbing that down for me lol, do you take the temp on the glass or on top of the bedding?

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Originally Posted by MrBeeBow

Ahh thank you for dumbing that down for me lol, do you take the temp on the glass or on top of the bedding?

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On the glass push ur substrate aside, good luck!



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Originally Posted by vikingr

On the glass push ur substrate aside, good luck!



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What temps are you looking for on the glass

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Originally Posted by MrBeeBow

What temps are you looking for on the glass

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No hotter than about 93 degrees

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

No hotter than about 93 degrees

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OK cool thanks

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Your third option for the thermostat doesn't work anymore. When I used it it says page not found. Just thought I'd give you a heads up. Nice info tho!!! I just I could see the pics better

I love to point people that want to use glass tanks to this thread. But almost all of the pictures are gone..

Or at least I can't see them.

Is there a way to edit the original post or replace the pictures somehow?

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Originally Posted by zina10

I love to point people that want to use glass tanks to this thread. But almost all of the pictures are gone..

Or at least I can't see them.

Is there a way to edit the original post or replace the pictures somehow?

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i noticed this, too. i saved all the photos on my phone just in case anyone ever needed them.

Photobucket removed linking images sometime last year or so where unless you pay a subscription now all you get is that default image.

I would love to see if these stickies can either be recreated or the images edited and use something like imgur. I would love to help out if needed.

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Originally Posted by tttaylorrr

i noticed this, too. i saved all the photos on my phone just in case anyone ever needed them.

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That is awesome !!

Not sure how this could be done, perhaps the permission of the OP needs to be asked ? And then the pictures hosted elsewhere ? And a administrator might be able to re-insert them?

Would be great if it could be done, this is such an important sticky !!

The pictures are a victim of the "cloud". Photo bucket changed something and those images are no longer reachable. This is always a possibility when people link to something that is outside the hosting of this site. The only other alternative would be to store all the images locally to this site which incurs cost in disk space so it may not be feasible for the owners. On the sites I host I do not allow outside linking. All images must be on my systems so this problem is avoided.

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Originally Posted by zina10

That is awesome !!

Not sure how this could be done, perhaps the permission of the OP needs to be asked ? And then the pictures hosted elsewhere ? And a administrator might be able to re-insert them?

Would be great if it could be done, this is such an important sticky !!

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i might work on re-posing the OP with the photos through Tapatalk when i get home later.

Thankfully you can click the image placeholder and it will show the image. All that needs to be done is update the hosting site. Imgur has been around for years now and is funded in part by reddit. It is designed to be linked.

Here is the user page for this thread

http://s1186.photobucket.com/user/Th...?sort=3&page=1

Yep photobucket SUCKS!!

TapaTalk is fabulous for uploading photos easily and quickly AND it's a free app


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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

Yep photobucket SUCKS!!

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Yep. Didn't used to. Now - worse than Hoover.

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Originally Posted by tttaylorrr

i might work on re-posing the OP with the photos through Tapatalk when i get home later.

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gona have to be this weekend [emoji21]

I'll be happy if it happens in time. It's a great link to send new keepers too.


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Wow what a great thread. I am a newbie so bare with me. Just doing research to get my daughter and I a pet BP.

Couple things that come to mind with tanks heat and humidity. Is the room temp the tank is in. This concerns me as we like a cool house in the Pa winter at 68. And I can see humidity a issue depending on how dry the room is also or at least play a small role. Same for the summer time with the AC. And these factors will change depending on location and preferences to room temp.

Another thought I have or maybe is common knowledge. Is with a red bulb heat lamp. The bulb watts is going to be another factor to play with. Depending on tank overall size and depth really changing the radiant heat. So too small a bulb in a large tank or deep tank could cause both temp and humidity issues. Same type of issue with a larger wattage bulb in a "normal" shallow tank (20L) or smaller temporary tank for the new baby BP.

The best info in this thread is the water source with a large surface area and moving it to control humidity. Also the wet towel idea! I always had humidity problems with my daughters hermit crabs! Temp was good with the lamp on but a little struggle with just a heat lamp. Temps fell to far at night. This thread and site has taught me how to correct all those problems! Some foil wrap with a larger water bowl and a UTH with stat would have corrected everything. So I now have a ton more confidence in setting up a home for a new BP! Sorry for the long reply! Thanks all!

Ok here are all the images uploaded to imgur in an album. Should preserve them if photobucket kicks the bucket

https://imgur.com/a/siH2L

I have a few issues with this that if this is going to be edited to update images that should be addressed

1) Red heat lamp. Not ideal at all for BPs. CHE should be recommended
2) Aspen. Not good for glass. Coco fiber or cypress mulch should be recommended
3) That thermostat probe is placed literally in the middle of the laminate and not across the heating elements. It is not getting accurate readings as the laminate is just to hold the bits together, it doesn't produce heat. Probe must always go across so it touches black strips or black part of heat tape, never clear area.

this thread really needs to be re-done ;)

2 more newbies that could have really benefited from this. I miss being able to send them here...

Currently benefiting from this info! Thanks! :snake:

I know this is an oldie but I need to comment on it. This is a great thread. I only wished I had read this before setting up my tank. I had watched videos on YouTube on how to set up a 20L tank and there were many to see.

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Hello all.

I'm a new BP owner, I had my male BP for exactly one week today. I've posted a pic below of his tank set up. Hide on cool side, wood, hide on hot side, rock (not a heat rock), water bowl in center. Limbs and clutter throughout, shonogeum moss to help hold humidity scattered throughout.

Temps are as follows
Hot side- 88.2-89.2
Cool side-77.8-79.5
Ambient center temp stay right about 84
Humidy-65-75%

I have UTH pad under hot side as well as 75watt ceramic bulb over the hot side, providing a nice 91-92 basking spot

Since I've had him, Nema, he normally, from what I've read/seen as normal, hangs in his hide all during day time hours. Almost as soon as the sun goes down he's out exploring, climbing, drinking, in and out of both hides, probing every square inch of the tank.

My friend who is also snake owner, corn snake, said he's behavior indicates he is a happy snake. 🤷🏼:cens0r:♂️

I tried feeding for first time last night, he did not eat. I thawed for mouse for few hours in room temp water, then ran hit water over it for a few minutes to hear up the mouse. He seemed very interested in the mouse, approaching serval times doing some investigating but never ate. After the he had not eaten mouse after an hour I discarded the mouse and will wait another week before feeding attempt number two.

Is there anything wrong with husbandry/set-up/ temps/ humidity that is just way off that I missing or maybe something I haven't looked in to? Anything would be greatly appreciated.

Apparently can't figure out how to post pictures lol

Also.... didn't mean to the emojis after friends behavior statement
Shouldn't be a video but here is the setup pre snake in the enclosure

https://photos.app.goo.gl/sZvvbQhD3h4i8bQs6