Temp/Humidity issues. I need help!

I have my baby bp in a 40L tank. It's her home for life so I've been working on making it perfect for her. I'm having trouble keeping the temp at 90F and the humidity is way too low even though I spray it constantly and have a rather large water dish in there. Today I'm going out to buy whatever it takes to correct this problem but I don't want to buy anything unnecissary. I have a themometer and humidity gage but I'm hoping they sell some kind of mister system. I have a heating pad and red light but I think I need a bigger pad and stronger light bulb. Anyway, advice would be appreciated.

What kind of thermostat do you use? What kind of thermometer/hydrometer? If your using an inaccurate thermometer, then the temps could be much hotter than you think. My heat mat without a thermostat (small) runs at over 130 degrees...

Insulate the sides and back bottom too I like the ridgid blue or pink insulation this will help get the temps up some but the room temp will quickly over come that if it is cool the easyiest is to make the room warmer and usually everything will fall into place. A humid hide will solve the humidity problem.

You might find a CHE will help raise the ambient temps around the tank too you may need both.

the thermostat is most important.................

you can also add another heating pad and put it under a ceramic water dish to try to up the humidity.
that is a huge tank for a little snake too;)

Thanks guys. Yea the tank is too big for her right now. This is my first bp and I fully admit I'm ignorant and gulable. In my attempt to get educated I've listened to people who were only interested in selling me high priced stuff. Now I'm trying to compensate. The temp/hum gages are the kind you stick to the side of the viv. I haven't found the probe kind yet so I put what I have as close to the substrate as I could on the warm side. The hottest I can get it to go is 85F. The humidity is right now just above 40% and only goes up to 50% when I spray. I use "Rain forest" reptile substrate but I have heard that I should use coconut husk for the humidity. Can I find what I need at Petco or Petsmart? The closest reptile store is a long way from where I live.

You can find the coco at either but petco usually has both, the brick and bag.

Lose the sticky gauges and go to walmart and get a digital one. I think petco has a couple digitals but they are over priced.
also, have you covered part of the screen lid with foil yet?

Your temps are not what you think they are then, and if you're not using a thermostat, than you are risking a burn...

I'd like to give you an idea of how much ambient temps could impact stabilizing your scale kids home and how a good thermostat helps. During the summer months I keep the room temps around 76 degrees, this gives me tub temps of 90/80. The thermostat is set to its summer setting of 88.1. During the cold months I keep the same room heated to 73 degrees (air is drier during this time), this gives me tub temps of 89/80. The thermostat is set to its winter setting of 89.9. That is a difference of almost 2 degrees to stabilize my scale kids year round.

Many moons ago (when I picked up my first ball) I kept him in a 40L tank with a screen top. I also had a humidity challenge and looked to solve it by covering up portions of the screen with an adhesive material (cloth type) found at a local hobby store. It took several attempts until I reached my goal. It seemed like an obvious solution considering the heat was at belly level. I hope this helps the effort.

Okay so let me see if I have this right. I should insulate the sides and bottom, get a good themometer and humidity thingy, and a moist hide? No I don't have tin foil on the screen top should I do that? She has two hides one on each side but neither are heated or moist. Anything else I should get?

I still haven't seen you mention a thermostat at all lol...are you using one or not? Insulating the sides and back will help keep ambient temps good, but will do nothing for burning hot surface temps that the uncontrolled heat mat.....

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Originally Posted by LGray23

Your temps are not what you think they are then, and if you're not using a thermostat, than you are risking a burn...

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X2 again LOL

I think the OP might be confusing the two?
You need a "thermostat" to control your heat source, and digital "thermometer" to give you temps. If you are getting 85 degrees your heat pad has to be scorching hot:O
You dont want your pad to get over 95 degrees, regardless of how much substrate you have you dont want anything your snake can come into contact with to cook it.

What I have is a round thing that tells you what the tempature is. I wouldn't know a thermastate from a thermometer is there a difference? Sorry but I really don't know what I'm doing. lol

A thermostat is used to regulate and control the heat source. In your case, the heat mat (UTH).
Here is a thermostat. These are necessary because it keeps the UTH from burning your snake.

A thermometer reads the temperature. Here is one that people recommend.

OK, now we are getting somewhere. Your heating source should be plugged into a thermostat that plugs into house power. This is the device that will regulate the temperature of your heat source. There are a few options when it comes to thermostats (cheap or reliable). I personally use Herpstats, they are fantastic.

The round thingy is the thermometer. Walmart sells a really good digital thermometer for around 12 bucks or so made by Acu-Rite. It has the probe that is placed around the heated area inside the tank. This is going to let you know how hot it is on the warm side of the tank. You can use this to lower or raise the thermostat (that your heat source is connected to) to reach the desired temperature.

OMG! Thank you so much for the examples. I love my baby so much and I want everything to be perfect for her. It makes me want to cry thinking that she is probably uncomfortable in her home. I will let you guys know what I come home with and I'll take pictures so I can show you what I've done.

what are you using as a heat source???? please dont say a heat rock:colbert:

Okay, what a crazy adventure my shopping trip turned out to be. Not one person at Petco, Petsmart, or Walmart knew anything about bp's. I couldn't find any of the suggested brands of equipment but I did find a thermastate by Zilla. I could only find a themometer with a probe, no duel gage. As for the moist hide, well I found a log hide made of cork which I'm sure can be soaked in water and moss that is for that purpose. I also bought coco and a camera for taking pictures. lol Merry Christmas to me! la la la To the previous post I have a heating pad and 60 watt red light. Those heat rocks look like a disaster waiting to happen if you ask me. I live in Phoenix Arizona, one of the largest cities in the USA and can't find basic reptile equipment. What's wrong with this picture?

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Originally Posted by enchantress62

Those heat rocks look like a disaster waiting to happen if you ask me.

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You are already smarter than you know:gj:

I am in San Antonio, Texas...............I think we have you beat AND I have the same problem as you. Everyone can "order" it BUT SO CAN I!!!!

This is one of my favorite places to order from: Reptile Basics
I am sure others will chime in with their online stores too.

BTW check out their VE Thermostats...........they rock, you could get away with the 100 or 200:gj:

I keep temps up in my 40L with 2 UTH, and 1 CHE. I also have the top, bottom and 3 side covered with foam board. Finally for humidity I use a humid hide, it's a plastic show box with damp moss and a small hole cut into the top. I sit the humid hide over the UTH and under the CHE. She never misses a meal and sheds in 1 full piece. This is her 5th shed with me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

what does UTH and CHE stand for? :cool:

why dont you try the tank screen foil treatment its in the DIY caging form. i use it with my tank and it works wonders keeps my ambients and humidity just right with a simple spray of water once or twice a day. it might not look the greatest but it works and will make your life much easier. You may have to adjust the hole sizes from the ones pictured below.

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Originally Posted by Argentra

Ok, in response to requests I am posting my Screen Foil Treatment step-by-step picture tutorial here in the caging forum. :) I hope it proves useful.

SCREEN TOP TREATMENT PROCESS

Step 1 - Supplies. Screen top, aluminum foil, Duct Tape, box cutter or Xacto knife, and clear vinyl (optional. Wouldn't show up in pictures)
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...s/Supplies.jpg

Step 2 - Tear 3 layers of foil, sized basically to your screen. (had to use two sets of three layers for this square top) Lay them shiny side down.
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...cts/Foilon.jpg

Step 3 - Tape down the edges with Duct tape.
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x.../Tapeedges.jpg

Step 4 - Continue with strips of tape to cover the top completely.
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...ts/Covered.jpg

Step 5 - Cut the ventilation opening on one end of the top with the box cutter or Xacto knife. Be VERY careful not to cut into the screen! The opening should cover about 1/4 of the top - typically 5-6" square.
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...Cutopening.jpg

Step 6 - Tape the edges of the opening to secure the foil. (Indentations mark the edges of the hole)
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x.../Holeedges.jpg

Step 7 - (Optional) Cut the window opening near the center of the top. This lets light in without sacrificing humidity.
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x.../Cutwindow.jpg

Step 8 - Use the cutout piece of foil/tape from the window as a template to cut vinyl, adding 1/2-1" extra to edges.
(NOT SHOWN - I pre-cut my windows, and vinyl doesn't show up in pictures.)

Step 9 - Lay the vinyl UNDER the foil inside the opening (against the screen) relatively centered.
(NOT SHOWN - camera wouldn't pick up the plastic)

Step 10 - Tape the edges of the window, similar to taping the ventilation opening edges.
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...indowedges.jpg

The Finished product! This screen top was to an 18x18 ExoTerra tank.
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...s/Finished.jpg

To show what a more usual screen top looks like treated, here is my 20gal Long locking top:
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...kscreentop.jpg

And my 10g locking top for contrast. The window of this one was larger to let in more light in a dark room:
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...gscreentop.jpg


This is the most effective screen top treatment for regulating humidity in glass tanks! Second would be plexiglass, but that can be pricey. :)

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Wow! Okay, that looks easy enough. What is the vinal for? and What do you spray 1 or 2 times a day? The lid or the tank?

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Originally Posted by enchantress62

what does UTH and CHE stand for? :cool:

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Under Tank Heater
Ceramic Heat Emitter

Pit on the prowl, Thank you. The info you have given me has been very helpful and thanks for the link I see several things I can use in that store... Jeez I can see a spending spree coming. lol My understanding has been that the viv temp should be kept at 90F but it's the heating pad that should be kept at that temp right? What temp if any should I look for in the viv it's self? As for the humidity, I was told 60% is this correct?

P.S. I have many more questions not related to this post so I'm going to start another thread. Please look for it. It will be titled "I have questions"

Quote:

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Originally Posted by enchantress62

Pit on the prowl, Thank you. The info you have given me has been very helpful and thanks for the link I see several things I can use in that store... Jeez I can see a spending spree coming. lol My understanding has been that the viv temp should be kept at 90F but it's the heating pad that should be kept at that temp right? What temp if any should I look for in the viv it's self? As for the humidity, I was told 60% is this correct?

P.S. I have many more questions not related to this post so I'm going to start another thread. Please look for it. It will be titled "I have questions"

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To adress the questions you asked in this post:

Ambient temperatures (air temps) should be around 80 in your viv, and should never drop lower than 75. I keep my glass tank at around 78-79 on the cool side and 82-83 on the warm side. You are correct, 90 F is the temp you should aim for with the UTH or under-tank-heater. You will also need a thermostat for your UTH to control the temperatures because often, if left unregulated (aka plugged directly into the wall) the temps will spike and cause burns on your bps.

You should aim for 60% humidity, but anywhere in the 50-60% range is ok. Raise humidity to 70% if possible during shed. Keep asking questions, thats what this forum is for. Heck, even I still ask lots of questions and Ive been here for a few months now.

Thanks to one and all for the advice. Okay, thermastat and themometer are in place. I have utilized the coco and because I made it too moist I mixed it with the substrate that was already in the viv, which was too dry. lol Anyway I followed the directions on the pkg's and now I'm waiting for the temp/humidity to stablize. Right now it's 77F in viv and I have the thermostat set at 92F to help it warm up, plus I have the red light on to help dry it out a bit. The humidity is currently at 65% but the directions said to wait 1hr before putting Baloo back into it so she's in the closet with a f/t hopper which I'm praying she will eat. Is there anything else I should do before introducing her to the new environment?

oops missed a page

Check this Thread out I explained how I set up my tanks this works very well no mater what size tank you are using I have done this to 10g 20L and 40Breeder tanks and makes a huge difference:)

Yes I was told about insulation and am working on that. Thanks for the demo it helps and the cardboard is a great idea since I'm running out of money. lol Seems like duct tape is the important thing no matter what product you use for insulation. I'm curious, however, the thing you had for the top. What are the individual holes for? Also, for esthetics, is it ok to place some kind of decrotive cling between the glass and the insulation? I'm trying to make her home as close to her natural environment as possible. Not because she can see it but because I can. hehe

Use foil tape not terribly expensive and holds up a lot better for enclosures Duct tapes gets messy when warm and wet :)

Oh Wow! Thanks for the info. See I would have never known that. It's approximately 12hrs since I made the adjustments to Baloo's viv. Right now the thermostat is set at 93F but the ambien temp is only 78.2F. I've tried all night to get the temp up without success. The humidity, on the other hand, is a perfect 60% :banana: So I'm guessing insulating is the next step. The cardboard is a great idea but is there any product that is a little more esthetically pleasing to use?

If it is a glass tank you are going to always have trouble.
As soon as I switched to a plastic tube I never had to do anything extra again.
No extra insulating, heating anything. Glass is kinda bad for ball pythons for this reason.

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Originally Posted by enchantress62

The cardboard is a great idea but is there any product that is a little more esthetically pleasing to use?

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Foam board or cork board:gj:

Duh! Right! Why didn't i think of that. Lol and use silver tape not duct tape right? Where does one buy silver tape may i ask?

its actually aluminum tape, you can find it at most hardware stores around the insulation.

O.K. thanks. A progect for the weekend. I can see why they call herping a hobby. lol