Temperature Issues

Hi all,

I got my first BP yesterday, she/he is about 2 years old. The ambient temp in her enclosure is currently 86F, which is a little high from what I have been reading. Is there a way, other than turning on the air conditioning that I can lower the temp? Or is this okay?

One last random thing, If a BP is sleeping over the under tank heating pad and gets too warm, will it wake up and move or no?

Thanks in advance!

If you are using any lamps, turn them off. Try moving the enclosure to the ground or to a cooler room in your house.

They will thermoregulate to some degree (which is why it's important to have a gradient), but often times they will not move in time to escape burns or regurges if the uth is too warm; thermostats are a must-have!

Thank you kind sir.

I don't have a lamp hooked up a the moment, just the pad.

Thanks for the suggestion!

HEat pads do not affect the ambient temperature in the cage, so whatever your rooms temperature is is what the ambient temperature should be. (ceiling fans/AC should lower the ambient temperature)

Heating pads can easily get up to 150+ degrees (enough to kill your snake) They will not move if it hits too hot. A thermostat is not optional when using heating pads

Don't waste your money on the thermostats old in pet stores, they are not worth your money.

Here are 2 good thermostats.

The hydrofarm, cheap but effective.These are great if you are on a tight budget but lack accuracy and safety of better thermostats

http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTPR.../dp/B000NZZG3S

The herpstat is the best of the best, these are extremely accurate, and have multiple built in safety features, but have a much higher price tag

http://spyderrobotics.com/

Do you have a probed thermometer? Because heating pads do not change the air temperature in the cage you need a probed thermometer to monitor its temp.

This is a good one, sold at Walmart for $12. It measures 2 temperatures (hot side and cool side) as well as humidity.

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

I got one much like the one you have there. Is there a good way to keep the cords out of the way? I tried burying them in the substrate, my little one still manages to drag them around. I don't want to use tape in the even he could get stuck.

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Originally Posted by mackynz

I got one much like the one you have there. Is there a good way to keep the cords out of the way? I tried burying them in the substrate, my little one still manages to drag them around. I don't want to use tape in the even he could get stuck.

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I know a lot of people use super glue... Otherwise try placing a heavy piece of cage furniture (a rock hide or something) on the part of the wire just before the probe.

I have found hot glue to work the best; it is water resistant, holds well, but if needed is easy to remove.

In my PVC cages, I am able to drill holes so that makes things easier as well:

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...s/IMG_0452.jpg

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...s/IMG_0453.jpg

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...s/IMG_0451.jpg

Here you can see the thermometer probe cord stuck to the back of the cage with double sided foam tape

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...s/IMG_0446.jpg

Just say no to super glue...

Quote:

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One last random thing, If a BP is sleeping over the under tank heating pad and gets too warm, will it wake up and move or no?

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Do you have the belly heat plugged into a thermostat to regulate the temperature?
86 is an excellent warm end ambient air temperature.

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Originally Posted by Crazy4Herps

I know a lot of people use super glue... Otherwise try placing a heavy piece of cage furniture (a rock hide or something) on the part of the wire just before the probe.

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:O NO SUPER GLUE !!!! It fumes out and the fumes are not good for lungs the big problem it out gasses for quite a long time . It also has no shear strength and little water resistance.

Hot melt is much safer as long as it is cool before there is a snake in the enclosure there is nothing more to worry about!

Jeez you guys are helpful! :D Thanks for the tips!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by snakesRkewl

Do you have the belly heat plugged into a thermostat to regulate the temperature?
86 is an excellent warm end ambient air temperature.

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Right now I am using a lamp dimmer as a rheostat until I can get a thermostat.

My bad! No super glue then!

Thermostat will be the best decision you make this year. I was waiting for my Herpstat 1 while it was on order and delayed. I had to change my dimmer 2-3 times a day. I had the opposite problem you have though I was too cool in my house. You will love not having to worry as much about temps. I still check daily (paranoid) but they are bang on even with A/C on etc. My house fluctuates a lot.

86 ambient seems really hot. Where a bouts are you living?

Please post how you got you ambients down for any future readers. I know that I stumbled across many threads with excellent advise given (like this one) but it is always nice to know the end result.

Wisconsin, where its 90 one day and snowing the next!

I was able to get the temp down two ways. First, I am using a tank with mesh top, a fan in the room (not pointed in the tank or anything) helped circulate air and bring the temp down. Second, I put the tank up on some wood blocks, it had been sitting on my dresser. Any heat the UTH was putting out into the air (probably not much) was able to dissipate better.

I temporary solution I thought of but didn't try would be to put some of those gel ice packs on top of the mesh to see if the cold would lower the temp at all without directly influencing the snake.

Ultimately we turned the A/C on.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mackynz

Wisconsin, where its 90 one day and snowing the next!

I was able to get the temp down two ways. First, I am using a tank with mesh top, a fan in the room (not pointed in the tank or anything) helped circulate air and bring the temp down. Second, I put the tank up on some wood blocks, it had been sitting on my dresser. Any heat the UTH was putting out into the air (probably not much) was able to dissipate better.

I temporary solution I thought of but didn't try would be to put some of those gel ice packs on top of the mesh to see if the cold would lower the temp at all without directly influencing the snake.

Ultimately we turned the A/C on.

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I figured the A/C would have to go on. Thanks for posting what you did. I can't get away with out A/C during the summer either because it will be 35C plus and we live in a townhouse (one side only has windows), that heats up pretty fast. If I didn't have A/C units I would have to put my cages in the basement.

Glad you got your temps down! It is amazing what even a fan will do in a room too.