Newbie with some questions

Just purchased my first snake, a spider ball python the other day.
I am having some issues with temperatures. I have a fairly large tank (48x18x18) and having difficulty achieving proper temps.
I have an UTH that reads 90 degrees on top of the aspen bedding, and 95 degrees without the bedding (incase the snake digs under the substrate)
I noticed that with just the UTH the tank everywhere else was cold (72 degrees, the temp of my house) so I got a lamp and bulb. That puts the hot side at a ranging temperature of 85 degrees to 92 degrees (which is good correct)?

Anyways, the cool side is still pretty cool, between 72 degrees and 75 degrees maximum. However I am debating whether or not to just leave it alone because my ball python seems to be spending most of her time on the cool side (sleeping there ALL day, for the past couple days since I brought her home). She does venture to the warm side at night and into her hide on the warm side, but not nearly as often as she stays on the cool side.

Is everything ok?

My suggestion is the cool side is too cool at 72-75 I personally don't like seeing below 77-78 cool end so I'd suggest lifting the temps some. The hot end is fine at 90 small snakes 88 is great they typically don't need as high a temp.

Definitely get the heat up in the cool side. You my want to use two heat sources with such a big tank. Also you might want to place a second hide on the cool end especially if the snake is small. Also one more piece of advise. I would switch your substrate from aspen to eco dirt. You will be able up control your humidity much better.

Are you sure those tank dimensions are correct? Are those in inches or cm?

those are inches. Its a 4 foot long by 18 inch deep by 18 inch high

Ok I definately need to make a sticky for this if I can ever get around to it.
Here is How I manage temps in my Aquariums this works great for all size tanks

I cover 3 exterior sides with a aquarium background for viewing pleasure only :)
Then I take Cardboard and cover one side with foil tape and attach over the background on the ouside of the tank with the foil tape facing in to reflect heat back in Looks kinda like this

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...83841836_n.jpg

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...84084614_n.jpg

Then I use plexi on top of the mesh Cut a hole to fit you heat lamp and several holes for ventilation :) as seen here

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...64496118_n.jpg

I use a 60W CHE in my 20 longs and a 100W CHE in my 40 long All my CHE's are on a dimmer bought from homedepot looks kinda like this

My UTH is usually a peice of 11in Flexwatt I prefer to use the Vivarium T-stats to regulate the heat for those I set min to about 98 with the T-stat probe taped to the Flexwatt under the tank. I never use tape or glue in any of my enclosure (see the numerous threads about snakes stuck to -----)

When all is setup properly this give me what I think is great temps for my snakes
about ambient 80 with a hot hide about 92. As you can see on the accurite temps and humidity are great and the room temp when that was taken was about 66f

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...38874278_n.jpg
Hope this helps and feel free to ask me any more questions you might Have :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by spider_ball

those are inches. Its a 4 foot long by 18 inch deep by 18 inch high

---

That means that is a 67 gallon tank! That tank is WAY too big for your bp. Im assuming you got a baby but even if you had a fully grown female that tank would be considered WAY too big. You need to get a smaller tank for him. It will make it easier for you to maintain the temps/humidity and your bp will feel much more secure. Im not trying to sound rude or bossy btw so please dont take offense :)

Thanks for the detailed directions Robie! This will be helpful to anyone with a tank - you really should make a sticky, lol... :gj:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mike41793

That means that is a 67 gallon tank! That tank is WAY too big for your bp. Im assuming you got a baby but even if you had a fully grown female that tank would be considered WAY too big. You need to get a smaller tank for him. It will make it easier for you to maintain the temps/humidity and your bp will feel much more secure. Im not trying to sound rude or bossy btw so please dont take offense :)

---

A 40gal breeder is often recommended for an adult BP. Those measure 36x18x16 which is only 12" longer than the OP's tank. I don't think that's too large for an adult at all. I know my own adult female would use ever inch of that space. I do agree it's too big for a baby, but an adult should be fine so long as there are at least 2 hides and plenty of cover to provide security... ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Evenstar

A 40gal breeder is often recommended for an adult BP. Those measure 36x18x16 which is only 12" longer than the OP's tank. I don't think that's too large for an adult at all. I know my own adult female would use ever inch of that space. I do agree it's too big for a baby, but an adult should be fine so long as there are at least 2 hides and plenty of cover to provide security... ;)

---

Idk, I respectfully disagree with you but I dont really want to fight because they're your snakes not mine. If it is a baby spider that he got then that is too big of a tank. But I'll just explain my reasoning for saying it could be too big for an adult: Im almost positive that most bp breeders keep their adults in 41qt tubs. 41qts=only 10.25 gallons. I also know bps are terrestrial so thats what counts more but I just wanted to explain to you where I was coming from with my comment :)

I agree that the OP's tank is NOT too large for an adult, provided there is enough tank decor to provide cover. They key with larger tanks is to make sure there aren't big open spaces between warm and cool side. If there are enough plants, driftwood, extra hide or two, to provide cover, then I think a little extra space is ok.

Also, RestlessRobie's insulating technique is fantastic, and serves another great purpose. If the snake can't see out three of the walls, it will feel more secure, another added bonus. That is one of the benefits I love about vision enclosures, keeping a secure, dark environment is great for ball pythons.

I agree that a baby shouldn't be in anything that big, but an adult should be ok with the proper adjustments.

You will also probably need a very large water dish for an enclosure that size. There are some nice ones that fit into a corner. I am thinking about getting one of those when my girl gets a little bigger. She likes to soak in her dish right before she sheds (even though my humidity is perfect AND she has a humid hide) she just seems to like it, so I always want a dish big enough for her to get it. If you have the space for it, and you sure do, I would recommend providing a big soaking dish. Some snakes will never get in it and some will all the time, but regardless, it is a fantastic humidity solution, which is always more of a battle in a larger space. Your tank is probably even big enough to use something like a cat litter bin (unused of course) at one end as a water pool. I would not do that until the snake is an adult, but I always think big water container is better than constant misting. Misting works, but keeping a wet environment is never good. You cat get a small UTH to put under the water dish, whatever you use, and set the thermostat low, around 78-80 and just gently warm the water to help boost humidity.

Just tricks that CAN be done, find what works for you. A big tank always means more work, but that doesn't mean they can't work.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mike41793

Idk, I respectfully disagree with you but I dont really want to fight because they're your snakes not mine. If it is a baby spider that he got then that is too big of a tank. But I'll just explain my reasoning for saying it could be too big for an adult: Im almost positive that most bp breeders keep their adults in 41qt tubs. 41qts=only 10.25 gallons. I also know bps are terrestrial so thats what counts more but I just wanted to explain to you where I was coming from with my comment :)

---

I'm not trying to argue either and I'm not being critical towards you at all. And you are right that the proposed tank is too big for a baby. But there is no way on God's green earth my adult female would EVER fit in a 10gal tank! She doesn't fit in a 20gal either. She is in a 40gal breeder which measures 36x18x16. She is about 46" long and weighs about 2000 grams and is 3 years old - a fully grown adult female BP.

You're mixing up quarts to gallon ratios with floor space. You are right that 41qts = 10.25 gallons. BUT a 41qt tub measures 35"x17"x6". 35x17 is almost the same floor space as a 36x18 40gal tank. BP owners and breeders recommend a 41qt tub OR a 40gal breeder tank for adult BPs because they BOTH offer the snake about the same, and correct, floor space. The 40gal tank becomes bigger only because of it's height. You are also right that BPs are primarily terrestrial and that IS more important - and that's why the 40gal tank works just as well as a 41qt tub - they have the SAME floor space. :gj:

Yea i gotcha, i know you werent being critical :) Just for the record I have my bp in a 30gallon long tank just to make sure nobody thinks I have him in a 10 gallon tank lol.
I did the math conversion in my head from quarts to gallons without thinking about the floor space that each has, but youre right theyre the same.

OP you do have a smaller snake right? I believe that you can make a secure space in the tank you have it just takes lots of 'stuff' in there especially over head. However I do have a suggestion. There are two issues you are facing, cool room temps and a very large space to heat. My suggestion is until the snake grows some placing a partition inside the tank say 2 foot by 18 by 18. This will make it a bit easier to heat. The height is the killer heat rises and you are loosing lots just to the height.

A fluorescent light actually kicks off more heat that most realize this might be an option to help with the cool end temp if you can figure a mounting system so it is inside the enclosure.

Here is a thought for the future, it takes a bit of effort but is not too bad really. I took ages for the first one but only 2 or 3 hours for the second one.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...arium-Solution