Cold Side in Tub Set-up

Everything for my tub finally came in! :) I'm getting my lil bloop in a few days which is really exciting!!!!

In the meantime I'm adjusting my set up to have perfect husbandry and after a day everything is great except for my cold side temperature. My warm side is consistently 90 degrees, but my cold side is only around 77-78 degrees, which is lower than I'd like. How would I go about heating it? Could I set up some sort of insulation?

Bonus question: I'm using a 15 qt tub because I felt the 6 qt was way too cramped up. If I have crumpled up paper towels/newspaper/extra stuff in it, the extra space won't stress out the snake right?

hi! i am using a tub as well and i had the same problem as you. when you say temperature, you mean the hottest point your snake could touch, right? 90 should be what the temperature is UNDER the substrate, not above the substrate or the ambient temperature. to measure this your best bet is an infrared temperature gun, you can get on on amazon pretty cheap.

i put a heat pad (connected to a thermostat) on my hot side, but my cold side was still too cold. to fix this i had to get another heat pad and another thermostat for the cold side, and set it lower than the hot side. i live in a state where it can get very cold, so this may not be necessary for you.

and yes, using a larger tub is fine as long as you fill it up with extra stuff such as fake plants in order to make your snake more secure. test it out, and if your snake is stressed out or not eating that is when i would get a smaller tub.

hope this helps!!

I have another heat mat and thermostat for my cold side as well :) Just bear in mind it won't raise the ambient temps, only where you put it.

Thanks guys! I don't know if I'll get another heat mat just yet (since it's getting hotter where I live) so I guess I'll just stick with my temperatures for now and see how the snake fairs. ^_^

Try using a CHE (ceramic heat emitter) to raise your overall ambient temps. Just get a dome for it, hook it up to a tstat or I have mine on a dimmer and I just measure my temps as it runs to see how low or high I should set it. These only produces heat and no light. Kinda like a mini space heater that saves money and lasts longer than your average heat bulbs (that produce light&heat.

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Originally Posted by jbzapanda

Try using a CHE (ceramic heat emitter) to raise your overall ambient temps. Just get a dome for it, hook it up to a tstat or I have mine on a dimmer and I just measure my temps as it runs to see how low or high I should set it. These only produces heat and no light. Kinda like a mini space heater that saves money and lasts longer than your average heat bulbs (that produce light&heat.

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In a tub set up?

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Originally Posted by Bmocken

In a tub set up?

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I don't see why not. The dome isn't directly on top of the lid. It's suspended. It's like if you ran a mini space heater in your room except it's just directed toward your tub.

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Originally Posted by chickenooget

Thanks guys! I don't know if I'll get another heat mat just yet (since it's getting hotter where I live) so I guess I'll just stick with my temperatures for now and see how the snake fairs. ^_^

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Your cool side temps are probably fine since you want a gradient temperature. My cool side is between 77-80 ambient temps and I have to use a room heater for now to achieve those. Bp has zero issues so far and regulates his temperature by moving from hot spot to cool. Once I set up his new enclosure I'll be using a diff method to keep the ambient temps right.

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Originally Posted by jbzapanda

I don't see why not. The dome isn't directly on top of the lid. It's suspended. It's like if you ran a mini space heater in your room except it's just directed toward your tub.

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Make sense. I had pictured someone cutting a hole in the lid and putting it over the hole and it just didn't sound right.

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Originally Posted by Bmocken

Make sense. I had pictured someone cutting a hole in the lid and putting it over the hole and it just didn't sound right.

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Haha, now that would just suck for the humidity, wouldn't it? I can see where the confusion came from lol.

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Originally Posted by jbzapanda

Try using a CHE (ceramic heat emitter) to raise your overall ambient temps. Just get a dome for it, hook it up to a tstat or I have mine on a dimmer and I just measure my temps as it runs to see how low or high I should set it. These only produces heat and no light. Kinda like a mini space heater that saves money and lasts longer than your average heat bulbs (that produce light&heat.

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Possible yes. Degree of difficulty for the average person to execute safely, high. I would not recommend this for a tub set-up.

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Originally Posted by JodanOrNoDan

Possible yes. Degree of difficulty for the average person to execute safely, high. I would not recommend this for a tub set-up.

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I understand! Coming from my perspective: my snake is normally housed in a 20G long, but since I'm going to be away for 2 weeks, he's in a tub b/c he's going to be watched by my friend who also has reptiles. Also running the space heater was getting a little pricey so I tinkered with the CHE and it's working well so far.

But I do understand the risks if the CHE isn't controlled. When I first got it I let it run and it was producing temps well over 300F.

Yikes so my temperatures are actually averaging 71-74 now so I actually need to do something about it now ^^; My hot side is still consistently 90 though. I have a small space heater I could use, but do I need to hook it up to a thermostat?

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Originally Posted by chickenooget

Yikes so my temperatures are actually averaging 71-74 now so I actually need to do something about it now ^^; My hot side is still consistently 90 though. I have a small space heater I could use, but do I need to hook it up to a thermostat?

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Yes, if it starts pushing the ambient up above 84. I think in your case it would be much easier and safer to place another heat pad and thermostat on the cool side.

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Originally Posted by JodanOrNoDan

Yes, if it starts pushing the ambient up above 84. I think in your case it would be much easier and safer to place another heat pad and thermostat on the cool side.

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Gotcha. I'll let it run for like an hour and if the temp's too high I'll follow your advice. Thanks :3