Temp. questions

I am going to acquire a new BP in a few days and i wanted to get some things sorted out before hand. First off, the hot side needs to be around 90 degrees, correct? Is just a UTH acceptable? Finally, is normal ambient household temperature fine for the coolside of the enclosure, or do I need some sort of very small supplemental heat? Thanks in advance for the help. I just want to make sure I get everything right and good before I actually get the snake.

An UTH by itself will burn your snakes. You will definetely need a thermostat. Most people (me included) recommend a Herpstat. Your temps should be 89-92 on the hot side and 82 on the cool side. I live in Texas and my air condition is set at 76. I have my vent almost all the way closed off. My snakes are in my office so the temp stays about 81 in the room and 82-83 in the tubs (ambient temp) and 92 on the hot side. My humidity is about 45% in the room itself and about 53-60% in the tubs. In the winter, we set our heat at 70 so I will have to provide an extra heat source for my BP's in the room to keep the ambient temps closer to 82.

It's great you are preparing yourself before you get your BP. You may want to consider (if you have not already) a tub. Many people spend $50+ on a tank when they could buy a tub for $10 and good thermostat. Just make sure you get the proper size enclosure depending on how big of a BP you are aquiring. Good luck.

Thanks. I guess I should have worded that a little better, I know I need a thermostat and all that jazz, I was just wondering if a UTH is good for the hot side on its own or do I also need a CHE or something along that line as well to keep the temps up?

anyone?

Yes, a heat pad with a thermostat, or a dimmer is fine by itself unless you can't keep the ambient air temps up, then extra heat in the form of a CHE or red bulb would be needed.

One last question, Should I place the thermometer probe on the bottom of the tub right above the UTH or should I mount it 1-3" above the bottom of the tub?

[Put it on the pad first to make sure the pad is the right temperature, then place it about midway. That way you know the basking temp, and the mid point and the other end would be your cool point.

my snake is in the basement it stays cold down here i dont use a thermastate or dimmer stays 90-92 always. i use a 100 watt che on cool side about 4-5 inches above screen at a slight angle to get ambient up a little covered half cage with foil. works well

my basement is 65-70 f though

Sorry for all the questions, but I've heard all the stories about bad snake owners and I don't really want to join that category. My UTH gets to about 90.5 degrees but the ambient hot side temps are 74 degrees and the ambient cool are 70 so looks like I'm going to have to add a CHE. Will just aiming the CHE at the enclosure be enough to bring up the ambient temps or should I cut a hole and put a screen over it to let the heat in? also, should I adjust the UTH to work in collaboration CHE or just leave it at the 90.5 degree setting. Thanks, I hope I'm not too much of a bother.

edit: He will be being housed in a plastic tub.

The UTH can be set so it can be about 90-94. You want to keep it in between those temps.

I use a red bulb also to keep my ambient air temps up in my tank because it's just too chilly, but you can also use a CHE.

This is my set up now with a tank until I switch to a tub set up.

do you cover the screen at all with foil or plexi glass, not the whole thing i do about 1/2 to 3/4 youll have to play around with it for a little bit to get it right pluse it will help with humidity but make sure it dont get to high either .and if you dont have a thermostate and it gets to hot put a peice of that reptile astro turf stuff then your substrait over it. hope this helps out .may not work for you but it works for me i have a cold basement.

you can also try an irrredeciet or what ever they are called there cheaper than che's and work pretty good for ambient temps.

He's going to be housed in a plastic tub first off, and second, I been trying to work with the CHE and just isn't getting through the plastic, so I think I will cut a piece out of the lid replace it with screen and put a red bulb over it,hopefully this will work

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dinosaur

He's going to be housed in a plastic tub first off, and second, I been trying to work with the CHE and just isn't getting through the plastic, so I think I will cut a piece out of the lid replace it with screen and put a red bulb over it,hopefully this will work

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oh when i heard che i was thinking tank. sorry.
so your using heat tape on the bottem or a heat pad

alright so, I finally got my temps in the hot side stable with ambient of 92.5-93 degrees, I am using a UTH and redbulb combo, the only problem is that the cool side is still too cold. It is hovering at about 73 or 74. Perhaps a repositioning of the bulb? currently the lamp is located directly above the UTH/hotside area.

The temps with the probe underneath the Paper towel are reading 95-96, but with out the paper towel they are reading about 90. is this fine or should I adjust temps according to the under towel reading?