Worried about Heat/Humidity For winter months

Hey, first time Poster. I'm Aware of the bashing ill probly get but I need all the info I can get.

So I just moved into a Basement recently and am starting to get worried about heat/ Humidity for the upcoming winter months. Unfortanatly on average my tank heat is around 73-75 and humidity 40-60, with using a spray bottle. I'm Using a Flukers 75 watt lamp with a Zoo Med Nightlight 60 watt Heat Bulb and a Zoo Med 8 watt heating pad underneath the tank under his hide. When Night comes his temperature drops to about 68 without the Lamp going. Its just going to get colder and colder as winter approaches and would like to know every possible methods or set ups I can use to fix this. This is only my 2nd snake I have ever owned and just want to make sure everything goes smooth. Thanks.

Firstly, up the wattage of the lamp and don't drop it at night. If you must use a lamp, use a ceramic lamp.

Secondly, get a room heater if your temps are that low.

Third, visit this link, it will help to keep some heat and humidity inside the tank: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...light=solution

The temps you currently have for your snake WILL give your snake a RI and likely lead to its death. Sorry to be so blunt - but it's true.

Thats Exactly what I need is Blunt and to the point Info, Thanks

If it is 73-75F in the tank during the day (and also 68 in the tank at night), it makes me wonder what the room temperature is... aren't YOU freezing?? I use a UTH and 50W red bulb for my BP (day AND night!), and it's a steady 80F in his tank (warm side at 90F), while it's 74F for me in the apartment. For the winter, can you not turn your heat up? Or like Ricky said, a space heater would probably work wonders. You can find those cheap on Craig's List or Kijiji (if you're in Canada). Or even at a big-box store.

I'd also suggest instead of having two different wattage bulbs, get a higher wattage night bulb - as well as keeping the UTH on. You might have to mess around a bit to find your "perfect" temperatures.
Perhaps take a gander at the care sheets on this forum as well, if you haven't already :) very helpful!

Good luck!

You didn't say what kind of thermometers you are using. It is entirely possible that the temps are far colder or far warmer than what you think they are simply because your thermometer is inaccurate.

While the mid 70's isn't terrible for the ambient temperature, it is far too cold if you don't have a hot spot in the low 90's. My advice would be to get some good digital thermometers with probes.

If your humidity is fine with the lamps, you might as well stay with the lamps. You don't need a ceramic bulb, but I think a higher wattage bulb might be on the menu.

Thanks for the advice, Greatly Appreciated! :)

I'm using a digital Exo Terra which monitors both temp/ humidity. any recommendations on a different one? I moved the probe (I believe thats what it is) right beside his hide above the UTH to double check the temperature there.

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I'm using a digital Exo Terra which monitors both temp/ humidity. any recommendations on a different one? I moved the probe (I believe thats what it is) right beside his hide above the UTH to double check the temperature there.

Is the probe directly on the inside of the glass, in the middle of the UTH where the hottest part would be? Also, is your UTH stuck to the OUTSIDE of your tank?
I like the digital thermometers too :) apparently they are the most accurate.
But you do need more than one. You definitely need a probe for the UTH (and a thermostat, of course to control the heat output), which it looks like you have.
You'll need another one to measure the air temperature as well, and I'm not sure if you have that already?

I have a few of those thermometers. They aren't too bad, but sometimes the readings can be off. I have a ton of thermometers to double check them against to see how accurate they are. If your air temps are only in the mid 70's with the heat lamp, it leads me to believe your thermometer isn't reading correctly. Do you have any other thermometers you can double check it with?

Try putting the probe under the substrate right where the UTH is. You want to measure the hottest point the snake can reach.

It gets to about 80, Im going to invest in a space heater and another Lamp for a basking side. and go from there. Thanks For All the Advice, Really dont want to put him through any harm...:(

So I just tested the temp of the UTH under his hide,( Yes his UTH is underneath the tank and not inside under the bedding) it puts off about low 90's without bedging blocking it.

Not sure if this will help or if any of you can tell a bit about health from pics but heres a couple pics. I dont really know how to post pictures into the message

My setup is, I have the UTH underneath Orion's hide, and beside his hide but not directly above I have the Heat lamp. Should I maybe have another heat lamp for the opposite side of the tank? or even move the only Lamp I have to the opposite side of the tank where his water dish is?

Im sure alot of you are shaking your head at me, but I really need to get this setup correctly.

Thanks

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You should really only need a max of 2 heat sources. In your case, the UTH is the hot side temp (around 90º) and the lamp will help raise the ambient temps, between 75-85º). Most people put their lamps on the opposite side of the UTH or in the center to evenly heat the air.

I Added my 4 pics to my images, There's 2 pics close up of Orions Head, was maybe hoping you experienced people would maybe be able to say if hes somewhat healthy from just looking at him. Would be greatly appreciated :) Ill try that technique of using the UTH on his Hide side, and put my lamp (ill be buying a higher watt lamp) in the center of the tank. Plus im moving from a big open room to a smaller more confined room to help keep in heat, Plus the space heater ill be getting ASAP. Thanks again for all the info :)

[IMG] http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps808fe5fd.jpg [/IMG]

It works! :p just testing sorry,

[IMG] http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps0f53783a.jpg [/IMG]

You can use either infrared lamps or ceramic heat emitters in your set-up. I still have some IR lamps on some balls in my bed room as I enjoy watching them cruise the enclosure when they know feeding day is close.
If you stick with the IR bulbs always keep a couple of spares on hand. I can't speak for others experiences but, personally I have found them to have a rather short life (Most of them at any rate I have the odd one that just keeps going and going).
The ceramic heat emitters might seem more expensive but when you factor in the life you should expect out of these they are actually cheaper over their life time.
The space heater is a definite option and insulating the enclosure to retain the heat you put into it is another.

Substrate can help with humidity. Coconut husk, Eco-Earth, Cypress mulch and Peat Moss retain a fair bit of moisture so less misting is required, as can covering part of the top (depending on the set-up you chose to use).

really happy this thread was created, ill have the same problem these upcoming months, living with 5 other people who dont want the house boiling in the winter, all this info helps.

If you just have the one snake you'd be better off ditching the tank and getting a regular reptile enclosure. Initially it's a bit more expensive, but once you factor in costs like supplemental heat for the room and your daily battle with humidity (and there will be one, I've BTDT and have the pulled-out hair to prove it), life becomes so much better.

A reptile enclosure such as? Sorry still new to all this

Not sure what's available in Canada, but look for enclosures like the ones offered by Animal Plastics or Critter Condoz.

Have a look at PVC Cages.com Herp houses.com they are in Ontario and accross canada in certain areas. I believe they both offer the same products. I just picked up the 24x24x12 powerhouse system for my BP and I was having a hard time retaining heat and humidity. Got the new cage, got a few new thermometers and Hygrometers and Voila! Heat stays consistant at 88 in basking hide, 80 on cool side, humidity has not gone lower than 59% since I got it and I have not misted once, and I'm using Aspen mulch. Add in the fact that its not glass but all PVC he now feels more boxed in and look really content in comparison to the glass one I was using.