How do you make the plastic viv hot enough without lighting?

Hi! I am new to this site, and am purchasing my ball phython today but want to make sure i have all the right still first. I am getting a small (but not too small plastic bin to keep it in ( a baby) and a UTH. I am going to find 100% cypress mulch and get some moss. But as far as lights go? I heard you have to keep the warm side of the tank at about 90 but how do you do this with an area so small?

and with glass vivs you can just set the light on top of the tank, but how do you set a light on a plastic tub?

I don't really think you can safely use lights with a plastic tub or at least not ones that will give off a significant amount of heat.
You're best bet it to probably stick with the UTHs or a full room heater.

What are you room temps?
If your temps are ~75+, then the UTH should be fine to provide a reasonable gradient alone without additional heating.
(~88-91 hot spot, 75-80 cool side)

Thank you! I have not even purchased my BP yet, but want to be really educated before i get it. So what all do i need? its a baby so is a 10 gal to small for a tub? Poke holes in it, get substrate that will hold moisture, get a UTH and put in on one side of the tank and then just keep the room warm enough? water of coarse , and a hide? Is that basically it?

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also.. with a UTH and plastic.. it wont melt the plastic right?

A UTH with a thermostat to regulate heating should not pose any risk to melting plastic.

Welcome to the site, I actually have recently set up a temp. tub for my boa, I have an uth on the hot side and a zoomed infrared lamp for the ambients and to warm the cool side some, I have a lamp stand to keep the lamp up off the plastic it works fine. It just heats through the plastic.

Also it's best to set it all up and let it run for a while so you can get the temps all adjusted.

Do you think you could post a picture?

My room temps are pretty cold. Maybe around 67

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Medusa<3

My room temps are pretty cold. Maybe around 67

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if your room is that cold, you will either need to heat it up or use a tank where you can use lamps to keep the ambient temp over 75*. If the temp is too low, your snake can get a respiratory infection which are a killer to knock out.

If you still want to use a tub, a 12 or 15 qt will be good for a baby. Once they get 500g or so bump them up to a 28 or 32qt tub.

Make sure to have a thermostat on the UTH and try to offer two additional hides.

I turned it to the side for the pic, but its normally centered. I wrapped the aluminum foil to direct the light/heat downward, also rigged up the "hook" part with wire, just had this lamp sitting around didn't see why to go buy another.
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6b6b1c80.jpg

This is they kind of lamp I would buy (deep dome already has the hook):
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/...psf95b3558.jpg

Perhaps looking at a different type of enclosure might be a better option. Tubs are difficult to deal with in room temps as cool as you have custom plastic enclosures (like vision or animal plastics) are easier to heat as the insulate better and often have provisions for fluorescent lighting inside the enclosure. FL lights get warm enough to heat ambient air with out being overly hot as to pose a hazard.

As many have mentioned...but I will repeat thrice...please, please, please, buy a thermostat for your UTH. Do not run your UTH without a thermostat...even with cypress substrate covering it. Ball pythons can burrow and an unregulated UTH can burn or kill your ball python.

[QUOTE=ballophile;2025704]As many have mentioned...but I will repeat thrice...please, please, please, buy a thermostat for your UTH. Do not run your UTH without a thermostat...even with cypress substrate covering it. Ball pythons can burrow and an unregulated UTH can burn or kill your ball python.[/QUOTE.

I dont have a thermostat and the soonest i can get it is tomorrow. Would it be better to just turn it off??

If I understand you correctly you are having issues holding a warm spot at 90º and your cool end is below 80? If this is the case NO do not remove the heat. Not all heating appliances will get hot enough to burn. Many now hold no hotter than 100º and given your very cool room temps it is unlikely if you had this type it would become scary hot.

Thermostats are never optional. They regulate a constant temp rather than allow variation. You should buy one asap. I would suggest a better one than a cheap inferior unit. They save money/frustration in the long run. I personally recommend herpstats as they have the most advanced systems for safety (why we use them for safety). Any of the proportional units would be fine (as herpstat also makes the least expensive models the others become questionable).

All that said exactly what are your temps? Warm, cool, and air temp?

I would not turn it off given your room temps. I have had both a Zoo Med 6"x8" and a Zilla Medium UTH on glass enclosures and both were too hot to my touch when I directly touched the glass. I found my Normal liked to burrow under her cypress substrate sometimes and one found her coiled around the edges of the UTH like a square "C" one time (all temps were spot on) and am glad my UTH was on a thermostat...

Like many said, thermostats are not optional. The UTH gets plugged into the thermostat, the thermostat gets plugged into the wall, the temp probe goes on top of the heating pad, and you set the temp you want the UTH to be (the hotspot). Thermostats control the flow of electricity to the UTH to control the temp of the UTH. Where your snake lies on top of it should be about 90 degrees. With cypress, I set mine to around 95 degrees as there will be a few degrees of heat loss between the bottom of the enclosure to the top of the substrate.You'll need to adjust yours accordingly depending on the thickness of your substrate. Also, use a hot glue to secure your wires and probe inside your enclosure, never use tape.

This is the best pic I could find online as I am at work and can't show you mine. UTH is affixed to the bottom-underside, probe is directly over the UTH inside:

http://www.ballophile.com/public/probe.png

As far as thermostats go. Herpstat is THE best ($139.00 currently):
http://www.spyderrobotics.com/store/

Many in our community have used the HydroFarm (~$40 on Amazon) until they could get a Herpstat or equivalent:
http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTPR.../dp/B000NZZG3S

Hope this helps...

I just measured them again and my air under the log where his heating pad is is 82.6 and under the tank is 90, and the cool side is 72.5 so im going to go get a heat emmiter and hopefully that raises the temp a bit, or are the temps fine here?

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...-58-50_878.jpg

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...-03-41_915.jpg