New and need help with keeping my 55 gal tank warm please.

I am in Maine and I'm afraid I don't keep my house warm enough for my BP. I got him to "rescue" him from my brother in-law who was keeping him in a filthy tank which he kept escaping out of. Anyway my house is starting to get cold around 65 in the day and 60ish at night. The tank is only around 75 during the day and I noticed it got down to around 70 at night. This is what I have for a set up: 55 gal fish tank with a metal screen top which is 80% covered with tin foil. (1) 100 watt ceramic bulb light which sits right on top of the cover on the right side. (1) large heat pad (for a 55 gal tank) on the lower left side of the glass. (1) small heat pad on the bottom of the left side which I keep his water dish on. I have put styrofoam (sp?) insulation on both of the smaller sides and most of the back (I left the spot behind the heating pad open). The styrofoam does not seem to be doing anything as the temperature did not change. The tank is on an enclosed wooden stand. Also I have aspen on the bottom of the tank about 1 - 2" thick. The ceramic light and heat pads are all plugged straight into the wall so I assume they are running at full blast. I have a Zilla thermometer/hygrometer which says 76 right now. It is 65 in the house right now.
Poor Rudy (my BP) has been in his hide all the time for the last 4 days (as far as I know). I have had him since 9/14 and he has been eating 2 adult mice every week since then. Prior to this week he would get more active when he was hungry and he would poke his head out of his hide when he heard me nearby.
I feel terrible and I want to do the best I can for Rudy but I cannot afford to raise my heat up 10 degrees. Nor would I want to live in a house that was 75 degrees. I live in a mobile home and I have a large kerosine heater that heats my whole house so putting him in one room and turning that rooms heat up to 75 is not an option either. Especially since I just have the one snake.
I do have a smaller tank (20 gal long I think). Would it be best to keep him in that for the winter?
Thanks so much.

The heat pad running 100% will burn him!
Unless I missed it, how big is he? just wondering for the 20l tank. A 55gal is tall and is very difficult to heat

Well I would also think a smaller tank would be easier to keep the heat in. But if the 55 is the way you want to go I would ADD foil tape to the tanks side of all the Styrofaom to reflect heat back in. I would also cover 3/4 of the tank with a peice of Plexi with the foil tape on it to also reflect heat in. I Drilled a few holes in mine for ventilation. This will help keep the heat and humidity in a lot better. JUST make sure no tape is in the tank as this is very bad if your snake gets stuck on it.
Here is a thread about the tank top treatment similr to what I did
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...tment-Tutorial
Hope this is helpful :rolleyes:

Oh forgot you do also need to get a thermostat for the heat pad if you dont alreay have one. I have seen heat pads get up to 130f unregulated before and this will burn your snake:O

+2 on the thermostat. UTHs are not meant to raise ambient temps, and the floor temps you are running it at can burn him severely. I live in MA, and in the winter I use either a CHE or a low wattage lamp on dimmers in order to raise needed ambient temps. I read temps with my temp gun (on the surfaces) and with digital thermometers. I suggest getting a smaller tank honestly...since you are using a high wattage CHE and a UTH on full blast, both of which are very dangerous. How are you reading these temps?

The way you have it setup is actually pretty good; however given you are in Maine and winter is on its way and you can’t control the temp of the individual room he is in, i would suggest keeping him in the smaller tank. As stated the UTH is not designed to raise ambient temps, but rather to provide good belly heat. And depending on the way you are setup, substrate, etc you can run a risk of harming the snake if you don’t have a thermostat.

Personally i have a second room that i keep at 75 ambient temp and have lamps/UTHs for additional heat for my snakes and it has served well for me thus far. But really just move him into the smaller tank it is easier to control the temps/humidity in a small enclosure.

Thank you so much for all the help. Rudy is about 4' long BTW.
I am going to set him up in the 20 gal tank tomorrow and see if I can keep him warm that way.
I did not realize that the pads would not increase the ambient temp and I put it on the back side of the tank so he would not burn himself on it. The one under the tank is covered by his water dish so he cannot lie directly on it.
I do have a thermostat and I will use it when I switch tanks.
I will try some of the other suggestions like the reflecting tape if I find that it is still too cool in there.
I'll keep you posted on my progress. :)

Glass in fish tanks have no insulating properties.

Stick 1/2 inch ridgid foam insulation to sides and back.

Here's a crappy video of the treatment I did to the top of ours. I've added an Ultratherm UTH to it and a few more things in the tank but temps and humidity are great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9riW...&feature=feedu

i have the same size tank, with a 100w bulb on the left, a 75w bulb on the right, and another 10g strip light with 30 more watts in it on the left, my house is around the same temp, and i was having the same problem. i covered my entire lid in 3layers of foil and taped it around the edges of the lid, tho only holes in it are just big enough for the lights, no extra open space. i also wrapped the back and one side in foil shiny side in, and now my temps are back to perfect, even with my room being 65, the glass is even warm to the touch hours after the 100w goes off. hope this helps

To the op. My family is all from millinocket maine and i know the temps your gonna be dealin with this winter. If ya want to keep temps in a big glass enclosure heres a cheap simple fix. Go to home depot pick up a 4x8 sheet of exterior home foam. Its made by dow and its blue on one side and foil on the other. Cut pieces to wrap on the sides and back of the tank. And put a piece on the top and attach it leaving a small gap on one side for air. This will insulate the glass tank. Glass by itself will not hold heat in. The insulation will help stop thermal transfer through the glass. The only glass that has any insulating properties are gas filled dual pane glass and fishtanks do not have this. Now if you get an acrylic tank you will be able to keep heat in better but the insulation will work great on your glass tank

Success!
I ended up keeping him in the 55 gal with these changes:
1) 3 layers of tinfoil and duct tape on the cover. I cut a round opening about a 1/4" larger than the CHE and for now no other openings.

2) I took off the rigid insulation on the sides and back of the tank and put 1 layer of tinfoil on the outside of the glass then put the insulation back on.

3) I put the large UTH on a thermostat and set it to just below medium.

Right now (7 am) my humidity is 50% and the temp is around 78 in the tank and the house temp is 65. I have turned up the thermostat to 1/2 between med and high to raise my temps.

Thanks again for all the help.