New Member! First snake questions...

Alright, well I just bought my first ball python two days ago. I seem to be having problems getting his tank to be the right temperature. I have a UTH on his "hot side" which only seems to be getting the tank to about 80 degrees when I know its supposed to be between 85-90 for his basking needs. The whole cage seems to be around 77-80 degrees as well. I just put the probe on top of where the UTH is and the temperature is 97 degrees on that spot. My humidity levels seem to be doing fine at around 50 percent and I sprayed it down yesterday and it went up to 77 percent for awhile. What else can I do to help out overall heat. I'm including a picture of the setup. Thanks for any advice given. I just want to make sure I give him the change to be as healthy as possible![IMG]http://i1188.photobucket.com/albums/...av24/photo.jpg[/IMG]

97 is a tad hot. Is your UTH connected to a thermostat / rheostat? If not, it needs to be. That will keep it at a constant (safe) temperature- mine is set to 92, and never goes more than 1.5 in either direction. If you have a weak UTH, another option to consider is a heat lamp to provide supplemental heat. Placing said heat lamp over the water bowl will also help with humidity.
Sadly, I too have a glass tank for one of my snakes- they're a pain to maintain temp and humidity. However, there is a STELLAR guide on here that teaches you how to foil/tape the screen to trap heat and humidity. If you give me a sec I'll go find it.
Also, congrats on your first BP!

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...tment-Tutorial

Try this, see if it fixes your problem.
Tanks only need to be 50-60%, unless your snake is shedding, in which case mist the sides (not the substrate) and keep it about 70%.

If the probe is on the glass over the uth and registering 97*, then your hot side is 97*, not 80*. 97* is too high, it should be around 86-92* (90 being optimal, I believe), and needs to be controlled by either a rheostat or a thermostat, a thermostat being a the preferred choice. The probe of the thermostat should be between the uth and the bottom of the tank.

Under which area of the tank is the uth?

Thanks man! Yeah I need to get a thermostat but I'm not sure which one to get the only one I can seem to find at petsmart was a high/low one now a specific temperature. And yeah he's just relaxing in his warm side hide right now which I have my probe close to now and it's around 85 degrees. That good? Thanks for the tutorial. I'll look at it and might try a few things!

Honestly rheostats have all worked fine for me, they just aren't as dependable. Get one of those if it doesn't look too cheaply made, and upgrade it later.

Ok. I do not have a rheostat or thermostat at the moment. I'll be getting on soon. Is there a specific kind I need? And I put the probe on the glass and it was 97 but putting the probe on the substrate above the glass it's around 80-85...he has been in his hide on the warm side(left side) all day so far today. I have the probe right beside his hide and it's 85 now and 67% humidity.

For tank setups a Hydrofarm thermostat is recommended, but until you can find one of those a simple and easy solution is a lamp dimmer... http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...t-Instructions. Just be sure to check on it often.

Also, the thermometer probe should be directly on the glass over the uth.

One more thing, I think it is best to have one hide on each end of the tank (better for the snake to thermoregulate) with the water dish in between.

Edit: And welcome to the forums! It is a great place to learn with plenty of friendly and knowledgeable people!

Is petsmart a good place to get that kinda thing from? That's the closest pet place to me really.

Thank you! I'm going to try to get something very soon. And I'll place it on the glass then under the substrate I'm guessing?? And I've heard to not keep the water dish too close to the uth in case of spillage.

Yes on the glass under the substrate. Not too sure why you would need to worry about spillage? If it gets spilled you just clean it up. Just to be sure, your uth is on the outside of the tank, correct? All of my water dishes are actually partially covering the uth, it can help with humidity.

You don't have the UTH inside the tank do you??

there shouldn't be a problem with water and a UTH if the UTH is under the glass outside the tank

the order of things is (from top to bottom)

substrate
thermometer probe
glass
thermostat probe
UTH

No! Lol it's under the glass. And I don't have a thermostat right now. What if I get a lamp dimmer for now to control the uth??

Yes it's under the tank. So should I have the thermometer probe on the glass, where should the humidity probe be at? Thanks for your help! And I'll be getting a lamp dimmer to help soon

I don't think there is any specific spot that the hygrometer probe needs to be placed. If I'm wrong, please somebody correct me.

As long as it is reading 50-60% normally, all is fine. During shed cycles humidity should be between 60-70%, so some light misting then and covering the top with some plastic wrap or tin foil can help keep humidity levels up.

It's not a good idea to have any electrical devices INSIDE the tank. Keep the heat pad underneath and outside of the tank. I think the biggest mistake most beginners make is keeping the tank too hot. I try to keep the warm side of my tubs between 86-90 and try to make sure it never goes over 95. I don't generally concern myself with the cool end, but then again my snakes are in a room which is generally between 75-80, but even in the winter when it gets colder in there I don't get concerned. You're never going to achieve perfect temps all the time in any kind of cage, snakes kept too cool might be uncomfortable, but snakes kept too hot can die. I personally think it's best to err on the side of caution. As long as they have temps close to the 90 degree range sometime during the day they should be fine.

Also, don't guess at the temps. Those stick on dial thermometers are next to worthless and those color changing strips that change colors like a mood ring are even worse. I think anyone who has a snake or even a reptile of any kind should have a temp gun like one of these - http://www.reptilebasics.com/pe-2 I have several laying around my snake room and use them every day. frankly I think they're just as important as the heating devices themselves.

Thank you guys. I don't have a temp gun but I have an actual digital thermometer/hydrometer with two probes.

A uth is not going to heat the air in the tank. If your ambient temps are low a heat lamp might be needed.

Probes for thermometers and hygrometers are best a couple inches from the cage floor. Measuring as close to snake level as possible let's you know what your snake is feeling.

Yeah that's what I thought. So the probe shouldn't be sitting right on the glass then right??

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KMG

A uth is not going to heat the air in the tank. If your ambient temps are low a heat lamp might be needed.

Probes for thermometers and hygrometers are best a couple inches from the cage floor. Measuring as close to snake level as possible let's you know what your snake is feeling.

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Really? I was told multiple times to place it directly on the glass above the uth, but then I use a thin layer of substrate.

Probes for the thermometer not thermostat. It was asked where the humidity probe should go. That's what I was answering.

A tstat probe should go between the uth and the bottom of the cage.

Yes, the tstat probe goes between the uth and glass, but I was told to place the thermometer probe directly on the glass inside of the tank above the uth in order to monitor the absolute hottest spot the snake could possibly come into contact with, and then to use a heat gun to measure temps of the surface of the substrate.

If that's wrong, I'm sorry I gave incorrect information! I guess you learn something new every day, particularly in this hobby.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Meletee

Yes, the tstat probe goes between the uth and glass, but I was told to place the thermometer probe directly on the glass inside of the tank above the uth in order to monitor the absolute hottest spot the snake could possibly come into contact with, and then to use a heat gun to measure temps of the surface of the substrate.

If that's wrong, I'm sorry I gave incorrect information! I guess you learn something new every day, particularly in this hobby.

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You can do it that way.

If you have a temp gun I would just use it for the surface temps. I use thermometers to measure my air temps since the gun can not give me that information.

Alright guys. Thanks. I guess I'm going to get a light dimmer as a rheostat and I will start to do the thermometer on the bottom where the uth is.