Can't Get It

Ok so here is my setup:

Hot side:
http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/c...6/SSPX0169.jpg

I have a 10-20 gallon ZooMed heat pad set to around 95 degrees.

Cool Side

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/c...6/SSPX0170.jpg

No heat pad on this side but I do have a heat lamp, BUT my temps are only at 72 degrees.

Now I do have tin foil on 2/3 of the tank and 2 water bowls. My hygrometer is at around 35% and the central temp is only 75 degrees. Now these are All Living Things dial readers but should be good enough. But im at a lose why are my temps sooo low?
Do I need a 1-5 UTH on the cool side set low with the heat lamp in the middle set low as well to keep the humidity up?

Tank is a 20 gallon long tank also. Hot and cool sides have zilla digital readers with the readers them selves in the hides.

HELP is needed just got him today and don't wanna have probs with him the first night!!!:(

A couple things you could do. You could raise your room temperature for a while until you figure out a better way. I have 40 gallon breeder for my male and on the cool side I keep a 75 watt infrared bulb and that keeps my temps at about 81...I also keep my room at about 75 though. You could also get a ceramic heat emitter, I don't use one but I hear they're good as long as you have a thermostat to hook it up to...Or you could get another under the tank heater for the cold side thats smaller then the one on the hot side.

Ceramic Heat Emitters will suck the humidity out quick. Trash the dials and get an Accurite from Walmart, the one with the secondary probe and humidity gauge. Also you measure from snake level, not top of the tank. I tested my Zilla Digital readers and they where off by upwards of 10*f, returned the immediatly and got the Accurite.

I built an acrylic top for my tank when Nova was still in her 40g breeder (jesus that was hard to keep temp and humidity with the screen) and my humidity worked out well but the biggest UTH still had a hell of a time keeping temps. All of my snakes(and the girlfriend's snake) are in tubs now (not enough room for me to have a display snake as of right now, plus my RTB is going to be my display snake and the heating options for their setup are more open and reliable).

For right now you may want to mist the tank heavily until everything is moist, not damp, and periodically mist a little throughout the day. While my girlfriend's snake was in a tank we had to mist 6-7 times a day with a good 3inches of substrate (aspen).

Best of luck!

OH OH! I also stuck the probe part of my Accurite to the inside of the hot side hide when I did tank display with Nova and durring Leviathan's short stay in the tank until I got his tub set up.

First, where you have all the gauges and probes in your picture is way too high. Everything that measures temp and humidity has to be at snake level for it to be worthwhile.

Well, I would say get a bigger heat bulb, but it sounds like you're having problems with the humidity and heat bulbs destroy humidity, so you don't want to make anything worse. I'd say get the 1-5 heat mat and set it on low, then move the probes/gauges to 1-2 inches above the substrate (or below the substrate for the one inside the cool hide) and see where you're at. Only use the heat bulb if you have to. Mist every other day or so.

Otherwise, your set-up looks nice! Good luck! :)

Unless you have accurate digital thermometers and hygrometers you are not getting accurate readings. The temps and humidity could be up to 10* or % different then what it reads.

Alright soooo I'm returning the Zilla tom b/c they aren't reading right idc if they are opened. And ill buy the Accurite tom.
I just checked the cool side now is at 80 degrees. So i don't need the UTH for the other side. Or should I use it on occasion and get a UTH for the other side too?
Does spraying the aspen down with water (misting) help the humidity.

Misting the tank will help alot. Another substrate that keeps humidity really well is Cypress Mulch. Some might recommend coconut fiber, but if it's not used right it can do more harm than good.

as for the temp. you could add 1/8" -- 1/4" foam core board or insulation around 3 sides of the tank, this will help hold in some heat. And i suggest painting them black, this will make ur little guy feel more secure and hopefully less stressed.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jdwatermann

as for the temp. you could add 1/8" -- 1/4" foam core board or insulation around 3 sides of the tank, this will help hold in some heat. And i suggest painting them black, this will make ur little guy feel more secure and hopefully less stressed.

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As far as the less stressed, he does have three sides covered.

Yes he does, it's the background shown in the pictures. It's on the sides and back.

Also do I put the probes in the hides right? And put the humidity reader in the center?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Vader6

Also do I put the probes in the hides right? And put the humidity reader in the center?

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You should have at least one probe thermometer right on the glass where the UTH is to measure the hottest point in the tank and make sure it doesn't get over 95*F. If you measure above the substrate and get 95*, the temp on the glass could be dangerously high, enough to burn the snake.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Vader6

Yes he does, it's the background shown in the pictures. It's on the sides and back.

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yep ur right sry....but if he still wants to put the core board up it will help with heat. Looks like he just has the thin backround up....

Yea im looking into that now to put behind the background. Just bought 2 Acu-Rite's. Placement is as follows;
Acu-Rite 1:
Probe under the hide on the heat pad reading 97.3 trying to lower it a bit.
The box is in the middleish at ground level reading 74.1 and humidity at 56%

Acu-Rite 2:
Probe under cool hide reading 76.6
Box is still on the cool side, temp reading 78.3 and rising due to the heat lamp and humidity is at 49%

Will be misting at least 5x's a day bought a mister.
And just for kicks the zilla readers weren't as bad as I thought. Temps off my 3-5 but nothing to big. But I do LOVE these new Acu-Rite's.
Sitting with 5 different temp readers and 3 humidity readers. I'll know EVERYTHING happening in this cage. lol

Update
Cool Side
Hide: 79.2
Ambient: 80.5
Humidity: 50%

Hot Side
Hide: 96.9 ( thermostat is set to low and can't get it any lower......HELP!!)
Ambient: 74.1 (middle of tank)
Humidity: 55% (middle of tank)

Hot side Dial readers:
Temp: 75
Humidity: 67%

What if I tin foiled 1/2 over the hot side
Lamp in the center 1/4 open
Tin foil on last 1/4 over cool side.
Thoughts??/

I dont know if a dimmer might be appropriate for the warm side? What do the more seasoned snake keepers think?

It doesn't sound like you have a real thermostat. You should be able to set your thermostat to a specific temperature.

Insulating the sides of the tank with inexpensive foam board from a hardware store may help hold the heat in the tank. Cover most of the top with foil, only an inch or so of screen is really needed for ventilation. This will help retain humidity, which needs to be bumped up to 60%.
Be sure that the cage bedding is dry, not damp. Putting the water bowl on the hot side can raise humidity.

I got this:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...ductId=2752611

Ok so adding a second water bowl in (dog bowl) to the normal middle spot and then adding the rock bowl to the hot side. Adding tin foil like stated above and heat lamp will be in the center with the venting area. I think from here I should be good. Might lower the heat lamp temp when I get the foam or cork board. But for now the amibent temp is 80ish on all sides. So YAY!! Humidity is still 5-8% in the middle and cool side to low. But Hot side is 65%.

Any suggestion on my new thermostat??

Rheostats only work if the room temp doesn't fluctuate much.

Repti-temp 500R thermostats are under $30 delivered on ihome.com and will keep much more accurate temps than a rheostat.

Also those dials are notoriously bad, especially the humidity ones.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by snakesRkewl

Rheostats only work if the room temp doesn't fluctuate much.

Repti-temp 500R thermostats are under $30 delivered on ihome.com and will keep much more accurate temps than a rheostat.

Also those dials are notoriously bad, especially the humidity ones.

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Yea I saw that one at Petsmart but I am learning petsmart is for the fail.:( And yea the dials r there just for the hell of it to get a sum what reading they aren't the ones I look at. No worries. THANK YOU ALL!!!

Need to do the things I wanna do but here is how it stands. :banana:

Cool Side
Hide: 76.7
Ambient: 80.2
Humidity: 51%

Hot Side
Hide: 91.6 (getting a new thermostat, it's not working that great) and rising
Ambient: 80.4 (middle of tank)
Humidity: 53% (middle of tank)

Hot side:
Ambient: 75ish
Humidity: 65%

Temps seem fine to me. I don't think you have to mist 5 times a day though..
Putting foil tape over the screen will help hold in temps and humdity better.

Added his other water bowl to the hot side. Humidity is at 58% all the way around. Sun Glo bulb in lamp is keeping the ambient temp at 80 and added a dimmer to the rheostat. Now the hot hide has dropped to 92 as of now so it's good there. Only thing that is bugging me is the cool hide is 75 degrees. Is that a prob. I mean the cool side itself is 80 but the in the hide is 75....
Also getting my reptile basics hides this week! But he really hasn't figured out hides yet. lol Just bask on his drift wood and roams around.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Vader6

Added his other water bowl to the hot side. Humidity is at 58% all the way around. Sun Glo bulb in lamp is keeping the ambient temp at 80 and added a dimmer to the rheostat. Now the hot hide has dropped to 92 as of now so it's good there. Only thing that is bugging me is the cool hide is 75 degrees. Is that a prob. I mean the cool side itself is 80 but the in the hide is 75....
Also getting my reptile basics hides this week! But he really hasn't figured out hides yet. lol Just bask on his drift wood and roams around.

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Honestly I wouldn't worry about the 75*. As long as it isn't below that its fine. If the ambient air is 80*, then that is enough.

If he isn't using his hides that means he is stressed out. Hopefully he will like his new hides and get more comfortable.

get rid of the log hide ....which it sounds like you are so perfect.

Also get a temp gun. Reptile basics has a great one!! I just got mine and cannot tell enough ppl...get temp gun...get temp gun....get temp gun...

It will take the doubt out of the other stuff.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BPelizabeth

get rid of the log hide ....which it sounds like you are so perfect.

Also get a temp gun. Reptile basics has a great one!! I just got mine and cannot tell enough ppl...get temp gun...get temp gun....get temp gun...

It will take the doubt out of the other stuff.

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Y no log hide? I'm just curious. I know it could cause bacteria to grow in it but I plan on baking it every 2 weeks to dry it out and kill the bacteria that may form.

Here is the new set up:

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/c...6/SSPX0174.jpg
http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/c...6/SSPX0175.jpg

Here is the little guy he loves to be handled. :taz:

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/c...6/SSPX0171.jpg
http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/c...6/SSPX0172.jpg

Since you have two identical hides having the log hide is fine. Using just those as hides isn't recommended because they are very open and don't provide much security.

Just one more thing to clean though.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

Since you have two identical hides having the log hide is fine. Using just those as hides isn't recommended because they are very open and don't provide much security.

Just one more thing to clean though.

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Ditto to that!


He is a very handsome boy!!!