Some quick tank questions

Hello everyone, I just had a couple of questions involving my tank setup (with pictures). My first question is do ya'll think my substrate layer is too high? My second question is what are some ways I could tear down and clean his tank (like the watermarks from misting his tank) and then disinfecting and what not. My last and finally question was just to make sure my temps and everything are where they should be. I've had Vigile for quite some time, but it never hurts to ask I guess :D http://i907.photobucket.com/albums/a...pscc4cfc88.jpg

Your substrate is not too high / deep. To be honest, in a tank that tall, the less air space you have, the better you'll be able to keep up the humidity.

Best way to clean an enclosure like that is to move your snake to a tub and break the whole thing down on a regular basis. How regular? That depends on your spot cleaning regimen. I would not go longer than a couple weeks, personally.

Can't answer your last question unless you let us know what your current temps and humidity are. Warm side / cool side, both spot and ambient.

What are you using to heat the tank? If you are using a UTH then yes the substrate is too thick, if not then its fine. As far as cleaning goes, Slim already pointed you in the right direction.

Right now the cool side is 81 my humidity is 51 and my uth is on 91 at the moment.

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Originally Posted by jclaiborne

What are you using to heat the tank? If you are using a UTH then yes the substrate is too thick, if not then its fine.

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That is an excellent point I over looked! Thank You :gj:

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Originally Posted by jclaiborne

What are you using to heat the tank? If you are using a UTH then yes the substrate is too thick, if not then its fine. As far as cleaning goes, Slim already pointed you in the right direction.

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I kinda figured my substrate was too high over the UTH... i lowered the substrate in the hide where the UTH is though. I don't know if it make a difference or noy

How are you measuring that 91 degrees?

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Originally Posted by Slim

That is an excellent point I over looked! Thank You :gj:

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Originally Posted by Paul_Woods93

Right now the cool side is 81 my humidity is 51 and my uth is on 91 at the moment.

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No problem...

Since you are using a UTH they substrate is too high. It should be no greater than half an inch and that may be too thick depending on how packed in the substrate is.

***saw your responses after I posted this

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Originally Posted by Slim

How are you measuring that 91 degrees?

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Theres a probe from my thermometer attached to the glass under the substrate. I also have a hydrofarm controlling my temps, just figured I should throw that bit of info in there haha

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Originally Posted by Paul_Woods93

Theres a probe from my thermometer attached to the glass under the substrate. I also have a hydrofarm controlling my temps, just figured I should throw that bit of info in there haha

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I would get a Temp Gun so you can measure the substrate above the UTH, if it is 91 on the glass you don't want to crank it up any higher in case your BP burrows down, but you should double check what the actual surface temp on the substrate is.

Any recommendations of a temp gun?

All good advice!
Just want to say I think it looks like a nice setup.
If your ball python is a burrower, the substrate might be okay. In general though it sounds like all are in agreement that it could be cut down a bit. That being said, you will also save money and resources this way.

P.S.
Is that the Hidey Log from Hell!? (ie. PetSmart)??
If it is the one I'm thinking of... be careful! I have seen a few too many snakes get stuck in there, or owners freaking out because they can't find their snakes and it's such a good hiding spot! :P

This is the one I've been using for about 5 years, I think. There are some that are less expensive, and some that have more bells and whistles, but this one has never let me down:

http://www.reptilebasics.com/412l-thermometer

They come in a wide range of prices:

http://www.reptilebasics.com/thermometers

That indeed is the hidey log from Hell... He seems to love it haha

I planned on changing out his substrate and everything this weekend, so it's safe to say that I could cut back on my substrate height and get a temp gun?

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Originally Posted by Paul_Woods93

so it's safe to say that I could cut back on my substrate height and get a temp gun?

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:gj::gj::gj::gj:

Thanks everyone for the help!

You want to put the probe near the top of the substrate, so it captures the heat of the ground the snake will be touching. What is your substrate? That may take an affect. Ps make sure the probe is not sitting on top. Just near the top.

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Originally Posted by BallPythonGuy007

You want to put the probe near the top of the substrate, so it captures the heat of the ground the snake will be touching. What is your substrate? That may take an affect. Ps make sure the probe is not sitting on top. Just near the top.

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I think I get what you mean but I'll take a picture of what I did

Sounds good

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Originally Posted by BallPythonGuy007

You want to put the probe near the top of the substrate, so it captures the heat of the ground the snake will be touching. What is your substrate? That may take an affect. Ps make sure the probe is not sitting on top. Just near the top.

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Some, such as myself, disagree with this. I like to keep my probes on the bottom of the vive; the hottest point where my snakes can get to. I notice too that my ball python pushes the substrate all over the place, so if you have less substrate it makes sense to adhere it to the bottom rather than just placing it in the substrate where it can be moved around.

I have the UTH probe secured on the outside of the tank, in between the UTH and the vive. The thermometer probe as mentioned above is secured inside on the bottom of the vive.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/24/ezevytu8.jpg

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Originally Posted by NH93

Some, such as myself, disagree with this. I like to keep my probes on the bottom of the vive; the hottest point where my snakes can get to. I notice too that my ball python pushes the substrate all over the place, so if you have less substrate it makes sense to adhere it to the bottom rather than just placing it in the substrate where it can be moved around.

I have the UTH probe secured on the outside of the tank, in between the UTH and the vive. The thermometer probe as mentioned above is secured inside on the bottom of the vive.

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http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/24/aqumy7an.jpg
There's the tstat probe between the UTH and the tank

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Originally Posted by BallPythonGuy007

You want to put the probe near the top of the substrate, so it captures the heat of the ground the snake will be touching.

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It's 1:00 in the morning, and your BP just moved the probe while burrowing down to the find that warm spot. The probe is now floating around in the air somewhere and the UTH starts really heating up because it's trying to hit your Thermo set point. Meanwhile your BP has burrowed down to the glass, and had no idea that it's burning its skin off the bone...

You want the probe secured at the point that will get the hottest and could be reached by your snake.