Last Minute Setup Questions

Hello Everyone....1st off this site has been wonderful for gaining knowledge and reading everyone's experiences. I do however have some last minute setup questions before my new BP arrives next week. I currently have a 20L PVC setup that I purchased at one of the local repticons. For heating, I have a 11 x 11 Ultratherm (14w) UTH taped to the bottom which happens to be a glass section about 9.5 x 8. Note: I haven't hooked up my Herpstat1 yet.

Without the substrate in the enclosure and after running the UTH for about an hour, I took some temperature readings (using temp gun) and I see mid/high 90s on the UTH side and mid/high 70s on the opposite side. Will the opposite side be an issue and if so any suggestions for getting it up to where it needs to be? I also purchased a hollowed out rock hide so I'm wondering if there will be any issues w/ the heat penetrating not only the substrate but the rock bottom. I'll test this.

Also, where is it recommended to put the Herpstat probe? I've seen suggestions on both in the enclosure as well as between the UTH and cage. I'm scared if it's in the cage there could be an issue if water is spilled. Should I attach it w/ regular electrical tape? Instructions say not to use Alum tape due to potential for false readings.

I'll be using ReptiChip in the future; currently have a bag of Coco Soft. Should I wet this before putting it in the enclosure and do I continue to mist it and the BP thereafter??

How often do you change out your substrate? Clean your hides, dishes, etc..?

Sorry for all the questions. Just want to make sure I'm prepared for my little guy :)

Here's some pictures of my setup. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...62b438b57e.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...78725f7d01.jpg


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On the topic of the probe, NEVER use tape of any sort inside the enclosure. We've had two people on her very recently who have ended up with injured and potentially dead snakes from them getting caught on tape and getting hurt. There's a sticky on the husbandry section on how to set up a glass tank, which even though yours isn't since you have the mat on the glass bit it might be of help to you :)
As for substrate, I've never used those ones so can't be of much help, but I clean out any dirty substrate (So wet, soiled) as I see it (I check every day), and fill up fresh water everyday and clean the water bowl once a week.
One thing I'm concerned about your setup is that your snake might feel a bit exposed; maybe get some fake foliage to put in to clutter up the space?
Good luck on getting your new beep!

Welcome, congrats on your soon-to-be-arriving new snake.

The tstat probe goes between the uth and the enclosure.

Just a few suggestions on the setup:

1) As said above, more clutter would be a good idea. A BP that feels safe and secure will be most likely to thrive, while a snake that feels scared or nervous will be more likely to refuse food.

2) It is often suggested to use 2 identical hides, one on either end. Snakes can be picky about which hide they use and will often sacrifice warmth or stay in a hide that is too warm because it's the only place they feel safe.

3) The rock hide is actually for fish and not the best choice, and the skull isn't a great hide either. Cool decoration, but not great for practicality.

4) The enclosure may be too big for a juvenile BP. Plenty of people have success with that size enclosure, but it can also be public enemy number one with new snakes.

Just food for thought, as there are more than one way to do things...

Good luck! Keep us posted and share some pics when your new snake arrives!!
Feel free to ask any more questions you may have.

Did you read did sticky? :https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-With-Pictures!

Good luck buddy, hope you get every dialed in.

Fully noted about needing some clutter. I just wanted to get the heat dialed in before filling out the cage. I'll throw some fake vegetation in before I house the snake.

Regarding having the hides, I thought the rock would work well because it seemed like it would secure the snake well enough. Since I don't have him yet (he was born in 2016 about 15" long), I wasn't sure how big/small to go. I guess I'll go w/ 2 of the 'boring' black hides.

20L was the size suggested by many so I'm hoping the enclosure is not too big.

The pinned stickies have been a lot of help but you tend to read and process a lot of info up front; sometimes forgetting or overlooking some details.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ckuhn003

Fully noted about needing some clutter. I just wanted to get the heat dialed in before filling out the cage. I'll throw some fake vegetation in before I house the snake.

Regarding having the hides, I thought the rock would work well because it seemed like it would secure the snake well enough. Since I don't have him yet (he was born in 2016 about 15" long), I wasn't sure how big/small to go. I guess I'll go w/ 2 of the 'boring' black hides.

20L was the size suggested by many so I'm hoping the enclosure is not too big.

The pinned stickies have been a lot of help but you tend to read and process a lot of info up front; sometimes forgetting or overlooking some details.

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As long as the temps are correct and you get the heating / thermostat fitted properly you will be fine .

As mentioned clutter is important to give protection and security - branches and bark pieces from the local woods and parks work well , as do fake silk / plastic plants / foliage from the local dollar shop .

Get a couple of digital thermometers like these ... You can choose to have readings in C or F with a click of a switch .
They're about 3 dollars off eBay / Amazon or any online site .

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...df8cf3561d.jpg

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Also try and get a digital temp gun as well ( 12 dollars off eBay / Amazon etc ) . They're great for random testing of the warm and cool areas and under the hides etc .

They're great for testing all kinds of temps around the house plus as a bonus my Lake Malawi Cichlids love chasing the red laser dot around their tank and our tiny Italian Greyhound chases the red dot around the lounge :)

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6c6447e81b.jpg
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Please don't waste any money on these stick on plastic dial thermometers shown below !!!
Nothing to do with Exo Terra as many companies make them but they just give a very rough idea of the ambient air temps which are nowhere near as important as the surface temps .
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...7f1bbc1e75.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

As long as the temps are correct and you get the heating / thermostat fitted properly you will be fine .

As mentioned clutter is important to give protection and security - branches and bark pieces from the local woods and parks work well , as do fake silk / plastic plants / foliage from the local dollar shop .

Get a couple of digital thermometers like these ... You can choose to have readings in C or F with a click of a switch .
They're about 3 dollars off eBay / Amazon or any online site .

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...df8cf3561d.jpg

------


Also try and get a digital temp gun as well ( 12 dollars off eBay / Amazon etc ) . They're great for random testing of the warm and cool areas and under the hides etc .

They're great for testing all kinds of temps around the house plus as a bonus my Lake Malawi Cichlids love chasing the red laser dot around their tank and our tiny Italian Greyhound chases the red dot around the lounge :)

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...6c6447e81b.jpg
-----



Please don't waste any money on these stick on plastic dial thermometers shown below !!!
Nothing to do with Exo Terra as many companies make them but they just give a very rough idea of the ambient air temps which are nowhere near as important as the surface temps .
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...7f1bbc1e75.jpg

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Excellent response. I bought the temp gun (TG-1) and Digital Thermometer from Reptile Basics. Do you see an issue if the non UTH area is showing in the mid/upper 70s? It looks like I can get the UTH area in the mid/high 90s.

No higher than 92F warm hide / side .

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ckuhn003

Do you see an issue if the non UTH area is showing in the mid/upper 70s?

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Cool side should be 82-84, according to this sticky:
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...Husbandry-FAQs

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ckuhn003

The pinned stickies have been a lot of help but you tend to read and process a lot of info up front; sometimes forgetting or overlooking some details.

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I know what you mean, so much info and we forget a specific amount...I would be asking myself: "What was that temp again?
So I started noting everything in this cards:
[IMG]https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...%2Fz1mq9Jt.jpg[/IMG]

I still haven't made the jump to anything digital myself for record keeping. I find note cards are still the easiest way to keep track of things in my collection as well!!

Thanks again for everyone's suggestions. I played with the temps again last night and it's starting to stress me out. Hopefully I'm overreacting....

Steps I took:

Taped the Herpstat probe (electrical tape on cord and not probe) to the underside of the glass area and covered with the Ultratherm UTH (using alum tape).

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...ce7312bea7.jpg

Set the Herpstat to 103 to achieve a warm spot of 93.1 (using temp gun). I put down minimal substrate (coco soft) which shows a temp of 85. The floor of the other side of the enclosure only reaches 75-76. Will these temps work? If not, any suggestions on how to raise them?

I didn't add any moisture to the substrate so it's very light and easily movable. So I would be afraid to increase the Herpstat setting because the snake would easily come in contact with the bottom of the enclosure and potentially burn.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...51bd3c5125.jpg

Any suggestions?


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Good progress. I think you temp of 93 is fine. (There are different opinions on this, some say 88-92 other 90-96) I keep mine at 92. Does the probe I see inside is from a Acurite? If it does put the whole unit inside so you can also get an ambient temp (some say don't let this ambient temp fall below 75, other say 80). And what is your humidity?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RickyNY

Good progress. I think you temp of 93 is fine. (There are different opinions on this, some say 88-92 other 90-96) I keep mine at 92. Does the probe I see inside is from a Acurite? If it does put the whole unit inside so you can also get an ambient temp (some say don't let this ambient temp fall below 75, other say 80). And what is your humidity?

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The probe is for the TH-100 Digital Thermometer that I purchased from Reptile Basics. The probe is basically sitting in the substrate over the hot spot area. I'm not sure how you keep it from moving once the snake and hides are in place. I don't have a probe for the ambient side. I was just using a tempgun to measure (75ish on substrate).

http://www.reptilebasics.com/thermometers/TH-100/

The humidity was hovering around 50% but I haven't put in any water dishes yet or wet the substrate. I assume that number will increase when I do. I'm also wondering if I should just scrap the small bag of coco soft and go w/ a reptichip or something else to help conditions.

Thanks again for the response.

I couldn't tell you, I'm using aspen. And Yes, as soon as you add the water dish your humidity will go up. You need a probe for ambient temp, it doesn't matter if you hot side in a toasty 92F(belly heat) but your enclosure is 65F and the snake is freezing. I'm thinking ahead for my winter months, I don't know where you live.

...forgot: I drilled a hole on the side of my tub and fed the probe thru it, then I hot glued the probe to the bottom. (I didn't hot glue the metal tip). I don't know if you want to do it this way.

Spoke w/ the breeder today and he recommended attaching a small UTH to the back wall of the ambient side to try and increase the current cool side which is hovering around 75.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ckuhn003

The probe is for the TH-100 Digital Thermometer that I purchased from Reptile Basics. The probe is basically sitting in the substrate over the hot spot area. I'm not sure how you keep it from moving once the snake and hides are in place. I don't have a probe for the ambient side. I was just using a tempgun to measure (75ish on substrate).

http://www.reptilebasics.com/thermometers/TH-100/

The humidity was hovering around 50% but I haven't put in any water dishes yet or wet the substrate. I assume that number will increase when I do. I'm also wondering if I should just scrap the small bag of coco soft and go w/ a reptichip or something else to help conditions.

Thanks again for the response.

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As regards the thermometer probe I use a 'hot glue gun' to secure probes or branches down in the vivs - the glue sets within seconds and is strong enough to withstand snakes but you can pull or cut it away if and when you want to .