Regulating temps

I posted this under General, then found the Husbandry board and thought maybe it's more appropriate to post here. If you already responded on General, please accept my apologies for the double post and thank you for your help! Here's what I posted over there:

Hi everyone, I'm a new BP "mom". I know that my set-up is not ideal, but would like some suggestions on how to make it better.

I have Kashmire (a baby BP) in a 20 gallon tall tank with a screen top with clamps. I have a towel over the cool side to help keep heat from escaping and a basking lamp (50 watt) on the warm side with an under tank heater on that side as well (Exo Terra Heat Wave) for a 20 gallon tank. He has a hide on both sides and a ceramic water dish in the middle.

I plan to get a digital thermometer this weekend, but right now I'm using those Exo Terra Dial therms and Hygrometer. I have the therms on each side about 1/2 way up the tank (which I now know should probably be lower to get more accurate temp reading closer to the bottom of the tank). With them half way up the tank, I know my temps are reading too low and not sure what I can do to improve his temps. The humidity is staying around 65 to 70 and the temp on cool side right around 75 and warm side around 80 to 85.

I use coconut bark substrate.

So, having to work with what I have, what are MUSTS that I need to get to improve temps for Kashmire? I read someone actually took aluminum foil shiny side down to cover 3/4 of their screen top and taped it on and helped them. Or get some sort of lucite (I think that's what I read) from Home Depot and get someone who has a jigsaw to drill a few holes for circulation and then cut out a hole for the basking light to help keep in heat. They set this over the screen top.

What brand of themometer should I get? Where can I get it? Isn't there a digital combo therm/hygrometer? Is 50 watt enough for the basking light for increasing temps?

Eventually I want to purchase from Animal Plastics, but for the time being have to work with what I have. Any and all suggestions are gratefully accepted!

Robin

Unless your bp is in shed your humidity is a little high. 50-60% is a good range.

As for temperatures....until you have an accurate reading it's hard to say what you need to do. My advice is to get the thermometer asap. Once you know what your actual temps are then you'll have a better idea how much change needs to occur. Make sure you take your hot and cool side readings on the floor level. You want to know your ambient temps too.

What we use is an Accu-Rite bought from Wal-Mart. They run just under $15.00 and are digital. You can set it up to read cool side temp, warm side temp and overall humidity. Home Depot sells something very similar for around $17.00 I believe.

We have it set up this way in our Sterlite bin. The actual unit is on the cool side of the bin and reads the cool side temp, the probe cord (very long but very thin) runs up out of the bin then back in on the warm side and the actual probe end is tucked just under the edge of the warm side hide. So at a glance I know the cool side temp, the temp in the warm side hide and the overall humidity. Pretty good for $15.00! LOL We used bit of velcro to attach the unit to the bin as it comes with a stand but that tends to get knocked over or crawled through by a really small snake.

Once you know your actual temps and humidity I'm sure lots here will have suggestions to help with a glass tank. We use a sterlite so for us it's very easy to just either add a new hole or cover up a few.


~~Joanna~~

Thank you both! Where in WalMart is the AccuRite themometers? I have no clue what department to even go look in. I checked out the pet section last time I was there, but other than some things that could be used as hides, there wasn't much. I want to stop on my way home and get one! Thanks again!


Robin

Another thing, Kashmire has refused a pre-killed small mouse (which happened to be brown because the folks I got him from said he was eating hoppers and I could not find any hoppers any where). I had it pre-killed to avoid injury to Kashmire, but have since read the threads here that if properly supervised and fed in his own enclosure, live should be ok.


I then tried to offer him a live fuzzy (no hoppers, but they had fuzzies, go figure). He refused that too, and again, the folks that I got him from said since he was eating hoppers, he probably didn't recognize the live fuzzy as prey.

I've had him 6 days now, so it could be he's still settling in, the temps aren't ideal, or the brown mouse was not something he recognized if he was used to white. I don't know. I have monitored his weight and it's stayed steady at 74 grams (he's about 18", as best I can measure). He is active in the evenings and I enjoy watching him drink his water. I just would feel so much better if he would just feed for me. That's why I want to make sure temps are regulated first (plus I don't want him getting a URI).

Thanks again for all your help!

Robin

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rabernet

Where in WalMart is the AccuRite themometers?

---

I found them on the edge of the housewares section over where the keep light bulbs/fixtures. Here's a picture of what I got.
http://community.webshots.com/photo/...88587077TxZMUz

Shikara is beautiful, I took a look at all your pictures. What sort of substrate are you using? Also, I see you have a screen top and it looks like plexiglass on one side. Is that correct? How do you keep your temps constant? I see a heat lamp, what's the other lamp? I really like your setup!

Robin

Thank you. I'm using the soil that comes in blocks. You soak the block in warm water and it expands. I have a wire screen top with a piece of 1/4 inch plexiglass that I can place over the cool side. In the past few days I've removed the heat lamp (was a 100w red heat basking bulb) and replaced it with a ceramic heat emitter. The other lamp (silver) is a 60w black light I use for a little extra heat and for night viewing. I have a homemade humidifier made from instructions on this site. I mist the tank several times a day as well. I also have an under the tank heater. Just started using the CHE and UTH on monday night. I'm still messing around with things trying to find what works for temp/humidity regulation. I live in arizona so I figured that the temps wouldn't be a problem. It's never dipped below 80 on either side. I'm very new at the snake thing too. Shikara was given to me on the 25th of last month. I'm thinking about changing the screen top with something else but I'm not sure what just yet. I'm not fond of the screen thing. The tank itself has a divided top for two slide in screens but the screening is missing from the frames. I think I'm gonna get a 1/2 inch piece of plexiglass with holes in it for the cool side but I'm not sure what I could use for the hot side that will withstand heat. Eventually I'll have the tank setup perfected and Shikara will be such a happy snake that he'll come out of his hide every hour on the hour and sing "Hello my hunny, Hello my baby, Hello my ragtime gal.." Okay, maybe that's a bit too far but you get the picture.

Coyotemoon,


Thanks to your picture, I printed it and went strait to Walmart after work and showed it to the guy in hardware and he took me right to it. Right now I have it sitting in the cool side corner using the stand, but also bought some velcro in case I change my mind and mount it.

I took the probe and stuck it underneath the warm hide. I also stopped at PetSmart and bought a 150 Watt infrared bulb for night time, and bought a thermostat. Right now, I still have the regular 50 watt basking spot light on the warm side to see if I can attain a good temp during the daytime (i.e. viewing time) and then switch out the bulbs at night to infrared. I'll start that a few hours before I go to bed so that I can determine if the thermostat needs to be on low/med/high to maintain a constant temp.

Right now I'm a little concerned about the warm side, because the probe is reading close to 100, but I just went and made sure the probe wasn't directly on the glass under the substrate (which it was) and will check again. The cool side is around 74.7 I've just moved the basking light to the cool side with therm on low and covered the warm side with the towel (boy, getting these temps just right is a lot of fun!) Humidity is currently at 57%.

Any other suggestions are still welcome. I also bought a small white mouse who is in a Critter Keeper with some food. When Kashmire decides to come out this evening, I'll put it in for about 30 mins. If he's not interested, I'll take the mouse back out and into the Critter Keeper and try again later.

I believe I red 8Ball said that even a hatchling can easily eat a small mouse. I've been going crazy trying to find live hoppers that the dealer said he was eating. I put the live fuzzy out of his misery today. Been without mom's milk since Sunday.

Thanks again for all your help! My boyfriend said he didn't want to look at the mouse until after Kashmire killed it. I told him the mouse's name was Dinner! LOL

Robin

You're welcome Robin. I knew there was a reason I took a picture of that. Also, not sure if it matters but I have my probes just above the substrate (soil about an inch deep). I have the one probe from the temp/hum gauge on the hot side with the unit itself on the wall of the cool side. The second probe is from another temp guage that I use to show the temp in my livingroom. I just ran the probe line under the soil along the edge of the tank and placed it just above the substrate in the center front of the tank. Probably gonna move it to the center back during the next cleaning though.

I think I might have to change substrates. I'm using coconut repti-bark which seems to be very dry (but doesn't mold easily when misted either. But it's so light, I wonder if it transfers too much heat. Right now with the towel over the warm side, infra-red 150 watt bulb set on thermostat as low on cool side, I'm staying right about 93 degrees on the warm side and 84 on the cool side. If I totally remove the towel, the warm side drops a little below 90, so I'm experimenting with how much of the screen I cover.


What the "ideal" temp. Humidity is fluctuating between 52 and 54%.

Robin

PS, I LOVE this Accu Temp!

Oh, and Kashmire is enjoying the Accu-Temp too, it makes a nice hide on the cool side for him (he's behind it right now).


I feel so much better (and safer) sleeping at night with that bulb as opposed to the regular basking light. I'll switch to regular basking during the day when I'm home, but will keep infra-red for all other times.

Robin

From what I've learned 92-95 on the hot and 82-85 on the cold are good temps. Between 50-60% humidity is good. I mist the soil several times a day because the heat emitter and UTH dry it out. I keep a close eye on things and haven't noticed any mold. The heat buld you're using what brand is it? The fixture it's in is it rated for 150w's? I had an ESU Reptile Red Heat Basking Bulb 100w in an 8.5 inch fixture (don't know what wattage it was rated for, it was given to me) and had it on day and night. This past sunday the bulb blew up. Thankfully Shikara wasn't hurt but it scared the crap out of me. I think that the fixture might have been the problem but I've been told that the bulb I had was not a good product.

It's a Flukers lamp fixture, in the yellow box. Says that sockets are rated up to 150 watts for incandescent bulbs. I just looked at the box for the infra-red bulb, and it's actually 100 watt by ExoTerra, the Heat Glo. The thermostat helps to manually control the reflector spot bulbs with a combined total wattage of 150 watts (100 watts would be the most on that, since I'm simply changing out the bulb). Thermostat is made by Zoo Med and called a Repti-Temp Rheostat.


He refused dinner, but now that it's just the infra-red and most of the other lights are off, he's cruising his enclosure (just as I'm getting ready to go to bed and can't enjoy him)! LOL

Robin

When I first got Shikara he would cruise around his tank in the evenings. I would stay up real late just watching him. Of course I guess it helps that I don't work and get to sleep in if I want.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Coyotemoon

In the past few days I've removed the heat lamp (was a 100w red heat basking bulb) and replaced it with a ceramic heat emitter.

---

What was the reason for changing to the ceramic heat emitter? Was that because of your explosion, or to regulate temps better? I'm thinking I might need to take back the 100 watt and get a 50 watt, I kept adjusting the towel on the warm side to keep the temps from getting TOO high on the warm side and let some of the heat out (and that's with the thermostat set on low with the 100 watt infra-red). My humidity dipped into the low 40's over-night, so I misted it this morning, and of course, Kashmire had turned the Accu-Rite over. The velcro may come in use to mount it on the glass! LOL.

He was the most active he's been since the first day I got him when he was checking out his new "digs". So, I think he was pretty happy with the heat regulation and the new infra-red lamp.

Still turned down a mouse.....<sniffle>

Robin

Serveral people had suggested the CHE to me. Especially after the explosion. So I though I'd give it a try. So far it's working great. During the night time hours when I do sleep the temps go up a bit but the humidity drops to right at 40%. From what I've read on here, as long as the humidity doesn't go below that and stay there it should be ok. I mist the tank evering morning when I get up (which is typically around 11AM). I'm thinking of getting a cheap plastic/rubber raincoat from the dollar store and cutting it up to use on the top of the tank. Might hold in the humidity better.

How long have you had Kashmire? I had Shikara a week before I tried feeding him. To tempt him and get him out of his hide I set the the box the rat was in on top of his tank. He shot out of that hide like an arrow. I don't feed him in his habitat. I have a 10 gal tank for that. This was I can monitor better.

Today is Kashmire's and my 1 week anniversary. So, I know I'm being obsessive/compulsive over him and probably over-thinking things. He'll feed eventually, I just get so envious when I read others bring their babies home and they eat right away. And I look at my little guy and go "what's wrong???".

I know all balls are individuals and no two will behave the same, but still! LOL For a worried mom like me, why couldn't Kashmire be like those who eat right away? I wouldn't worry so much if he was bigger, but he's just a baby!!!! LOL

Robin

Robin

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rabernet

Thermostat is made by Zoo Med and called a Repti-Temp Rheostat.

---

Thats a dimmer not a thermostat... just thought id let ya know:)

Well Darnit! My newbie"ness" is showing, huh? Here I was thinking I was doing good! It's still a good tool to have though, right? Right? LOL!


Robin

Coyote, you can use Glad Press N' Seal, SaranWrap, or even cut up a black trashbag and tape it to the majority of the screen. You can cover the entire lid, leaving smallish triangles cut out at each corner, and a circle cut out that is a bit bigger than your lamp(s). Hopefully that can help save you some money and it won't be "as" hard keeping temps and humidity up in a glass tank.

To keep more heat in, you can cover three sides(except for front) with ConTac Paper covered cardboard. ConTac paper is the patterned pretty stuff that is stuck onto kitchen shelving. There are alot of different patterns, so hopefully you could find something you like.

Becky,

Thanks for the great ideas that I can use too!

Robin

I use refletix on my glass cages now and it is amazing how much heat is actually shot back down in the cage with it... Its kinda pricy but is good stuff:)

Where do you get it? I don't see it on your site. Thanks!

Robin

You can pick that up at home depot in the insulation section....