Help newb owner heat pad problems.

I am a first time owner of a baby ball python.
Here so my setup.
20 gallon zill critter cage
Zilla heat pad under tank
75 watt heat lamp
Half hallowed out log hide
Large grapevine climbing branch
Water bowl

My problem is that I noticed my snake was out of his hide all day for the last two days.
I thought something must be up. I used my cooking thermometer to check out the temp in the hide and it was 115.
The temp above the hide is 93 , the lamp is right aabove the hide and the tempinside does not drop much with the light ooff.
The temp inside the middle of the ttank is 85.

I have the hide right on top of the heat pad.
I need to know:
Do most people put the hide on top of the pad
Do most people use heat lamp and heat pad at the same time
Do I need a thermostat for the heat pad
I have had the snake for 4 days now and I want him to be happy, I hope he is not too stressed out. Thanks.

Hide over heat pad is fine but you need a thermostat for the heat pad so just unplug it for now, you also need 2 identical hides one for hot side one for cool that are more enclosed a half log is way too open and your snake won't feel secure.

Hydrofarm thermostat is $30 on amazon
It should be replaced with a better one like a herpstat

Get a digital thermometer from Walmart called an accurite, its $12 and measures 2 temps.

Thanks for the info.
Just to clarify, I do have a thermometer above the hide on the glass halfway up and a thermometer in the center halfway up on the glass.
Are you saying i should have a thermometer in the hides too?
I felt this hide wwas too wide open. Thanks.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tlich

Hide over heat pad is fine but you need a thermostat for the heat pad so just unplug it for now, you also need 2 identical hides one for hot side one for cool that are more enclosed a half log is way too open and your snake won't feel secure.

Hydrofarm thermostat is $30 on amazon
It should be replaced with a better one like a herpstat

Get a digital thermometer from Walmart called an accurite, its $12 and measures 2 temps.

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You need digital thermometer, the stick on ones are junk and not accurate, a digital one has a probe and you can stick it right in the hide to measure substrate temps. Temp guns are nice to measure substrate temps too.

Your hides should be enclosed with an opening obviously, but your snake should fit in it and be snug so it will feel secure.

So just make sure you unplug that heat pad until you get a thermostat, your heat lamp should keep temps suitable until you can get a thermostat. Ideal temps are 88-92 hot side, 78-82 cool side and air temps shouldn't drop below 75

A thermostat is NOT a thermometer. A thermostat controls the hearing pad based on a temperature sensor.

You also need better thermoneters. You need one that has a probe

This thermometer is good, costs $12 at Walmart and measures 2 temperatures (hit side and cool side) as well as humidity

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...nt/photo-3.jpg

Here are some good thermostats. (don't bother with the crap sold in pet stores, it isn't worth your money.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000NZZG3S

You must have a thermostat to regulate a heat pad, otherwise they can and will get hot enough to kill your snake.

You should unplug the heat pad until you have a thermostat.

Also Half log hides are not the best Balls like nice tight hides If you are in a pinch for cash you can easily use flower pots, dog food bowels, or just about anything. Also 2 identical hides is recomended one hot side one cold side. If you are using an aquarium I would black out 3 sides with paper or an aquarium background so it lookins simething like this all set up :)

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net...29230124_n.jpg

Also check out the care sheet lots of great info there

The help is greatly appreciated ill run out and get this little dude hooked up today.
Ill check back in with th pics later.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tlich

So just make sure you unplug that heat pad until you get a thermostat, your heat lamp should keep temps suitable until you can get a thermostat. Ideal temps are 88-92 hot side, 78-82 cool side and air temps shouldn't drop below 75

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x2
Your snake can turn its brain to mush if it sits on that 115 spot for more than a short time, while it could survive for days at anything 75-90

I have turned the heating pad off, and my question is...
Do I now leave the heat lamp on all night or do I let the temp drop at night.
I think I checked it and it was down at 70 at night.
Thanks.

I hope I didn't fry my snakes brain, again today he is not in his hide.
I will pick up some flower pots after work and install them when I get home.
He is in a corner of the tank, between the log and the glass.
he is active at night after I turn the lights out.
Not very much activity throughout the day, just stuffed in his corner.
Ill have to wait for next pay day for the thermostat for his pad. it maybe another week or so.

Leave the heat lamp on 24/7 you don't want his enclosure to get below 75, just as long as its an infrared bulb or ceramic heat emitter these won't bother him at night.

Your snake must have external heat, unplugging a heat source is fine as long as you can hold at least 80º across the cage (don't feed it while the temp is this low) if you cannot hold this temp I would return the UTH again and place a floor tile (ceramic or stone) inside the enclosure over the heat to prevent the snake from close contact for long time to 110º. 110ºF is warm enough to shut down a snakes digestive system but so is 80ºF as well. Cool temps below 75º with no hot spot is the equivalent to aids in humans it will depress the immune system and leave to door open to infection and bacteria. Reptiles are very closely connected to temps incorrect temps almost always result in sick animals. Why so much importance is placed on thermostats.

Thanks for the tip. Great work around.
I am concerned that he was on there for 2 days.
I hope no permanent damage has been done. time will tell.
he is rolling around at night and having a good time.
My heat lamp is not an infrared, it does put out a good deal of light with it. so not really sure what kind that is but i will test the uth with a tile, i just happen to have one hanging around.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Yggdrasil

Thanks for the tip. Great work around.
I am concerned that he was on there for 2 days.
I hope no permanent damage has been done. time will tell.
he is rolling around at night and having a good time.
My heat lamp is not an infrared, it does put out a good deal of light with it. so not really sure what kind that is but i will test the uth with a tile, i just happen to have one hanging around.

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Im a newbie to the snake world as well. so take my advice with that in mind. :) But I have read that the "Day/ night" cycle is important for snakes. So if your light is emitting some light around the clock, that might be messing him up a bit.
Just my 2 cents- im sure better experts will have more to offer on this subject.

As, for hides. We've had our snake home 3 weeks and tried a couple different hides. It wasn't until her first meal (a week after we had her home) that she went in the hide. She'll stay in there for a few days processing food, then comes out and again sleeps behind the hide, or under the "fake Greens", so she's hidden. This is unusual from what I've read around here about snakes & hides, but seems to be her "thing". Im going to try a reptile basics hide next. Who knew they could be so "fussy" :)

Good luck- its been a fun experience for our family to learn all we have about snakes.

Ok uys had a busy after work. Went by ace and picked up some flower pots. Cut them out and got them ready.
I got the uth looked at and had to cut a piece of tile so it would be the right size.
I had also gone by the petstore and found a decent deal on some fake foliage so i figured for 8 bicks it was worth it.
I wanted to leave the hide where it was and add the new hides in a different place but it didnt work oit. So i pulled the little guy out and he did really good with my wife and kid holding hom.
So he seemed really healthy, which gave me a litttle piece of mind.so got the tile in place and turned the uth on. Checked the temp after a few hours and it was still 100.
So one of the things i havwnt entioned is that the sticky pad on the ith never worked. So i shimmed it against the glass.
I decided to jist remove the shims and get the uth away from the glass. Ill go check the temp in an hour.



On another note, tomorrow os feed ing day.
What os the recommendation. On live vs frozen moce? The pet store owner auggested live.
Please et me know im not sure how old thos snake is but cant be more than1or 2 months old.
Thanks for alll the help

frozen is safer, but some snakes don't really like the frozen rodents at first.

live has the chance of your snake getting bit, but your snake is more likely to accept it.

I would start off trying frozen (also usually cheaper) and falling back to live if need be.

Quote:

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Im a newbie to the snake world as well. so take my advice with that in mind. But I have read that the "Day/ night" cycle is important for snakes. So if your light is emitting some light around the clock, that might be messing him up a bit.
Just my 2 cents- im sure better experts will have more to offer on this subject.

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yes, if you have a white light on 24/7 your BP won't be too happy with you as they are nocturnal. this is why Infrared heath bulbs are what I recommend if someone is going to use a heat bulb. they put off a light that doesn't bother snakes. THe natural light in a room during the day is enough to get the day/night cycle in, so artificial lighting during the day isn't 100% needed. Temperatures should be held constant 88-92 on the hot side, 78-82 on the cool side. no part of the cage should ever get above 95 or below 75

Ok, im getting it dialed on now.
Ill get frozen and see how it goes.
Found some cash and will get the thermostat ordered tomorrow and hope to have the whole rough start behind me.
Also sorry for the poor spelling, androod tablets rough on a web page interface.

120am. Just checked on him. After I turned his light off tonight he was active for a bit and I went to sleep.. I woke up and checked on him and he has gone into the hide on the cold side. The I opened the cage up and checked the temp in the hide on the hot side and it was steady 95.
I'm a little concerned that he was on the cold side when the light is off but I assume he knows what he's doing and will at least move to the warm side if not into the hide on the warm side if he gets too cold.
So anyway I know 95 is a little on the warm side still, but I think I can drop it a few more degrees with some tweaking in the morning or afternoon.
Thanks for all the help.

Ok guys from ... amateur to more amateur.
So the snake was looking real good. He was cruising around and obviously hungry. So I get some frozens thaw one. And dangle it, he was up in in his branch and took it right awway.
I thought he had it down so I thought id put the screen on.
It scared the the hell out of hime and he dropped it and ran into his hide.
My question is do I just scrap the feeding for another 7 days or do I attempt to feed him later tonight when he comes out. Or tomorrow.
Thanks.

You can try again now, but if he doesn't seem interested, wait until your next feeding day.

Ok, im he was out and about with the lights off so I gave it another shot but he didn't have any interest.
I feel so bad but It's a for the sake of learning.
Thanks for the help serpanterchant. Your advice has been great throughout this whole thing.
. The good news is that he appears to be happy.. He was in the cold hide for the morning and came out and cruised around.. I could tell he was hungry by the way he was snaking up at the screen top.

Ok guys, I just checking in.. Got my tax check.
I picked up the accurate thermometer from wally world for 13 bucks.
I purchased the thermostat from amazon should be here in a few days.
I picked up a ceramic heater from petco..

I fired up the ceramic and shut down the uth.

I realized that this tank is a 40 gallon and the uth is only a 20 gallon rated (my wife decided to do the shopping without me.) .
I have three questions.
Do you set the thermometer On the cold side and use the probe in the hot side hide?
Is there any issue with the wire for the probe.?

When I get the thermostat should I :
A) use it for the uth under the hide and run the ceramic 24/7
B) use it for the ceramic and just forget the uth altogether

Thanks..

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