under tank heater and hideaway

I'm getting an uth today, but just a few questions before i get it and set it up. I am so new at this.

What size would you recommend, should it go under 1/2 the tank or 1/3?

Are there any particular brands of uth or thermostats you would recommend?

Do I place the heater directly on the wooden dresser under the glass? Is that safe?

...also the hideaway I have is pretty big, and my bp is pretty small right now. the woman at the pet store told me to get the big one so he could grow into it. however i keep reading that it should be tight fitting. She also didn't tell me I needed 2. Should I get 2 smaller hideaways while I am out? And I actually stood the climbing branch up so that its verticle...it opened up a bunch of space.
http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/...105_6111-1.jpg

http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/...n/105_6115.jpg

What size would you recommend, should it go under 1/2 the tank or 1/3?

It shouldn't cover more than 1/2 to 1/3 of the tank so either would be great.

Are there any particular brands of uth or thermostats you would recommend?
Do I place the heater directly on the wooden dresser under the glass? Is that safe?

I use the Zoomed brand from one of the major pet stores. I also have the Hydrofarm brand on/off thermostat. I attached the probe directly between the UTH and glass on the bottom of the tank

...also the hideaway I have is pretty big, and my bp is pretty small right now. the woman at the pet store told me to get the big one so he could grow into it. however i keep reading that it should be tight fitting. She also didn't tell me I needed 2. Should I get 2 smaller hideaways while I am out?

The hides should be nice and snug when your bp goes in them and have one on the warm side with the UTH and one on the cool side. Try to have them be the same type of hide

thanks... how big should the hides i get be? my bf wants to build one out of rocks from outside but i don't trust that at ALL. it freaks me out that it will fall or something. so i would rather just go out and buy 2 identical hides. i just dont know what size to get since i was told originally to get the huge one. so any suggestions on the type of hide and size would be great too.

he is spending most of his time inside the big hide right now. he hasnt really come out much at all since i got him.

For the hides, I went to the Dollar Tree, bought two little bowls, and cut an opening (just one) for my bp to go into. The size of the hide depends on the size of the snake. They like it snug so you would have to judge the size. Bps are nocturnal so they usually move around at night time and if you see them moving around during the day that usually means the bp is stressing out.

ok well thats good to know that its probably not stressing out. its all curled up against one side of the big hide right now. it wont stress it out to change the set up? we are going out to the store in a few to get the uth, thermostat, and 2 identical tighter fitting hides.

i'm surprised no one's mentioned this...
those little round temp/humidity gauges on the glass there...trash 'em, they're notoriously inaccurate.

temp guns are awesome for taking temps as they measure surface temps which is what your snake is sitting on 24/7. these can be found at tempgun.com

for measuring humidity one of these would suffice...

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...myaccurite.jpg

these, & others similar to it, can be found at walmart, home depot & lowes for about $15.
the corded probe can be placed on the warm side directly over the heat pad under the substrate.

i have this model but because of my temp gun i did not need the corded probe so i snipped it off & have this device attached to the back glass of my terrarium via a 2" x 4" piece of velcro, also found at lowes & home depot.

oh & elevate the side of the terrarium you have with the heat pad underneath...or the whole thing. this allows for ventilation underneath the tank so the heat pad doesnt get too hot & malfunction. i use 2" x 2" pieces of drywall/sheet rock. those little rubber nubs that come with terrariums/tanks, they're trash...
do not let the heat pad sit on the dresser or whatever you have the tank on. that'll be a fire hazard.

I got one of THESE from amazon. It shipped pretty quickly and works really well so far. What you do is plug that into the outlet. Take the probe from that thermostat and put it between the glass and the UTH. Then plug the UTH into that thermostat. Set the thermostat (according to the directions) to about 92-95. What it does is makes sure that the UTH doesn't get any hotter than that and therefore won't burn your snake.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mommanessy247

i'm surprised no one's mentioned this...
those little round temp/humidity gauges on the glass there...trash 'em, they're notoriously inaccurate.

temp guns are awesome for taking temps as they measure surface temps which is what your snake is sitting on 24/7. these can be found at tempgun.com

for measuring humidity one of these would suffice...

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...myaccurite.jpg

these, & others similar to it, can be found at walmart, home depot & lowes for about $15.
the corded probe can be placed on the warm side directly over the heat pad under the substrate.

i have this model but because of my temp gun i did not need the corded probe so i snipped it off & have this device attached to the back glass of my terrarium via a 2" x 4" piece of velcro, also found at lowes & home depot.

oh & elevate the side of the terrarium you have with the heat pad underneath...or the whole thing. this allows for ventilation underneath the tank so the heat pad doesnt get too hot & malfunction. i use 2" x 2" pieces of drywall/sheet rock. those little rubber nubs that come with terrariums/tanks, they're trash...
do not let the heat pad sit on the dresser or whatever you have the tank on. that'll be a fire hazard.

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Yea, you beat me to it.

i know the hides are not identical, but my step son had his heart set on the tank. so i got that and the other one, might tighter fits. he found his way in no problem and is just hanging out in there now. i got the under tank heater and a thermostat. the only reason i have the lamp on is because it makes the flash not reflect as much for taking pictures.

we are going to get digital thermometers next paycheck and the temp gun.

http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/...n/105_6120.jpg

http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/...n/105_6128.jpg

i got one of these from petco... i just found it for $30 on amazon and i bought it for $50 at petco! is this an ok one? grrr lol

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...yL._SS500_.jpg


i got a zoomed heating pad too, but no digital thermometer/hydrometer or temp gun yet. is this one ok, i found it on amazon but im not really sure what i am looking for http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41vNgi2Ta6L.jpg

I think those are all good to go. You'll just have check the temps even with that temp controller until you can make sure it is maintaining temps.