New Enclosure/ Temperature Tips

Hello Everyone!
First post but just wanted to keep others' advice, tips or experiences with similar situations.
I am putting together a BP tank (No animal yet), Exo Terra 36" x 18" x 18." UTH with Thermostat on one side directly under a cork hide, background w/live plants, substrate mixture of coco fiber-reptibark-moss and will be of course putting in humid hide, water bowl, etc.
I am trying to get temperatures correct but am having a bit of trouble since its winter her in MN so the room is a bit cooler. I have the thermostat set to 93*, have a infared heat gun, surface temps 88-90.* Air temps under the hide mid 80s. During the day I also use a Zilla Micro halogen to increase ambient temps to low 80's on warm side. Problem is, the cool side usually is low 70's during day, high 60's at night. UTH/thermostat is operating 24/7. Ambient humidity is usually right around 40% between mistings.
Whats everyone's experience; will a BP thermoregulate on its own at night, or should I add additional low wattage heating on the cool side overnight?

Thanks in advance!
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...=w1259-h944-no

High 60s is really cold for a BP, especially if it happens every night. The poor thing will have to chose between frigid cold and too hot.

The UTH does nothing for ambient temperatures, and the halogen clearly isn't doing enough. You need another solution.

I'll tell you what I tell every new snake keeper. Toss the UTH and get a ceramic heat emitter (CHE). Plug that into your thermostat, set the probe correctly, fiddle with the settings a bit and, viola, you'll have a consistent temperature gradient appropriate for a BP.

Also humidity is a bit low at 40%, Might want a bigger water bowl or even a second water bowl.

Don't be afraid to ask questions, and don't listen to just me. There are lots of very experienced people on this forum that I learn from. We want to help.

Any special kind of BP you're looking to get?

If your temps are getting that low at night you'll need to run heat 24 hours a day.

I use the dark purple bulbs and run them 24/7. The heat lamp should also be on a thermostat.

Another trick is to wrap the enclosure in foam board insulation. I use 1/2" and it helps immensely with heat and humidity control.

I use two exo terras for my ball pythons. 36x18x12 and 24x18x12. Both insulated with foam board on all glass except doors. On the 36" along with the uth I run two matching light fixtures with 50w night bulbs on each side attached to a thermostat that control ambient temperature. I keep my room low 70's and tanks sit a consistent 80-81 degrees.

Like the others have said, you will need another source of heat. I have the exoterra 36x18x18 also and use an uth plus a radiant heat panel(rhp). The rhp keeps the ambient temperature where I want it and the uth keeps a hot spot. Both heat sources need to be on thermostats.

I have .5" foam insulation on three sides of the tank to help hold heat in. I cover the screen top with plastic wrap and then a towel to hold heat and humidity in. All this combined keeps the heat sources from running as often so it doesn't dry out plus it keeps the heat stable.

Just like everyone else suggested, only my choice is Zoo Med infrared heat bulbs. Not a fan of CHE’s I find they are worse for humidity (in my personal experience) and Good luck. Peace

you also need to get your humidity up to above 50% so keep that in mind.

Thanks everyone for the tips! A lot of good options!

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Originally Posted by JRLongton

High 60s is really cold for a BP, especially if it happens every night. The poor thing will have to chose between frigid cold and too hot.

The UTH does nothing for ambient temperatures, and the halogen clearly isn't doing enough. You need another solution.

I'll tell you what I tell every new snake keeper. Toss the UTH and get a ceramic heat emitter (CHE). Plug that into your thermostat, set the probe correctly, fiddle with the settings a bit and, viola, you'll have a consistent temperature gradient appropriate for a BP.

Also humidity is a bit low at 40%, Might want a bigger water bowl or even a second water bowl.

Don't be afraid to ask questions, and don't listen to just me. There are lots of very experienced people on this forum that I learn from. We want to help.

Any special kind of BP you're looking to get?

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Thanks! I actually currently done even have a water bowl in there yet. Waiting for it to come in the mail. So the 40% is just ambient between mistings. From past experiences, I don't like how quickly the CHE dries out the air. Ill try a few of the additional tips give and see if I can get it to work.
Eventually, I hope the resident BP to be some form of the Banana morph!

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Originally Posted by MattEvans

I use two exo terras for my ball pythons. 36x18x12 and 24x18x12. Both insulated with foam board on all glass except doors. On the 36" along with the uth I run two matching light fixtures with 50w night bulbs on each side attached to a thermostat that control ambient temperature. I keep my room low 70's and tanks sit a consistent 80-81 degrees.

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Do you use purple or red bulbs?

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Originally Posted by craigafrechette

If your temps are getting that low at night you'll need to run heat 24 hours a day.

I use the dark purple bulbs and run them 24/7. The heat lamp should also be on a thermostat.

Another trick is to wrap the enclosure in foam board insulation. I use 1/2" and it helps immensely with heat and humidity control.

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What wattage bulbs do you use? Also, where do you set the probes for the thermostat?

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Originally Posted by polst008

Eventually, I hope the resident BP to be some form of the Banana morph!

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Cool! Bananas are gorgeous!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by polst008

What wattage bulbs do you use? Also, where do you set the probes for the thermostat?

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The wattage varies by season. I'm in MA, so winters get cold and I use 100w bulbs. The rest of the year I run 75w for all but my hognose, 60w is enough for his little 10 gallon.

For the probes, they are dangled down the back and set in place just above the substrate.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by polst008

Do you use purple or red bulbs?

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I use the purple bulbs mainly for my sanity as the red would drive my crazy. It did take me some fiddling I use two 25w in a exo terra hood on the cool side and a 50w in a dome on the hot side with a thermostat probe hanging about 4 inches from the top pretty much dead center between the two. The 50w heats the warm end a few degrees warmer than the two 25w lights. So that also helps create about a 5 degree gradient between the two sides.

I have that same enclosure. Since our snake room is small (11x11) we bought an infrared space heater with a thermostat and it keeps the room, along with ambient tank temp, between 78-81 degrees. If you go this route, fair warning, grab a humidifier for the room too! The space heater zaps the humidity pretty quickly.

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I use 75 watt red bulbs on a dimmer, I’m able to dial them right to where I need. If you are using bulbs, I highly recommend using a dimmer. You can go with a higher wattage bulb, and turn it down. It will dramatically increase the life of bulb. I’ve had bulbs last two years easily. Peace