Having some issues

Ok. Now im having some issues with temp and humidity. Temp for one is that is gets pretty warm here and the ambient temp gets in the mid to upper 90's during mid day. That is effecting the cool side of the tank. The humidity drops when the temp goes up. this morning the humidity was 60% but by mid day its 40% and dropping into the evening. Ive tried misting, a humid hide, covering the lid with plastic wrap a brick soaked in water. nothing seems to help. Any suggestions from those who live in arid enviroments

Plastic tub. I'm going to have to sit down and put MORE holes in mine again, because the humidity is still holding a bit too high. And this is in Tucson...dry dry dry.


As for the temperatures....you say the whole room that the tank is in is reaching the mid 90's? Ouch! Do you have a cooler room in the house you could move it to? Other than that, the only thing I can think of is to get a fan going in there...and make sure whatever windows in there are as closed off to sunlight as you can make them.

Judy said it best. The only way to lower the ambient temp, is to lower the ambient temp of the room. Once that temp is lowered, you may see a slight increase in that humidity as well. Also, like Judy said, if your ball is in a glass enclosure, try moving it into a plastic tub, much easier to regulate environmetal conditions.

Make sure the tank is in a room that doesn't get above 80-82 degrees. Switch to shredded coconut bark substrate (it comes in a compressed brick) and mist every 2-3 days to keep it damp. Cover 2/3 of the lid with 3 layers of tinfoil and 2 layers of black duct tape. It will keep in heat and humidity.

Ok then. What size plastic container should I get. Any recommendations. its roughly 16-18" and how should i rig up the UTH. That wont melt or damage a plastic container?

A UTH won't melt the plastic as long as you have it set on a thermostat. I use plastic tubs in a rack but also have a few stand-alone tubs with UTH's and never have problem. For a smaller BP, I recommend a Sterilite 1846 tub. Put a few hides in there and he/she will do just fine.

at 10 this morning PST the temp is currently 82 and humidity 53%

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Originally Posted by Gaius Marius

at 10 this morning PST the temp is currently 82 and humidity 53%

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You do realize that your snake needs a thermal gradient? ... ball pythons require a range of temperatures to thrive ... 82-84 on one side of the cage, 92 - 94 on the other .... 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Being animals that rely on external temperatures to regulate their internal physiological functions (metabolism, respiration, digestion, immune system, etc) .... correct temperatures are CRITICAL to your snakes well being ... without the temps listed above, the snakes internal systems can become compromised resulting in potential illness or even death.

Get yourself a digital thermometer and whatever heating supplies that you need to set your snake up with the proper temps.

As far as humidity goes, a properly constructed humid hide should be all you need ... if it doesn't work, you did it wrong. ;)

Good luck.

-adam

I do realize that. Thats why im gonna give the plastic tub a shot. since the afternoon increases both the warm(er) and cool(er) sides to low to mid 90's its time to try something different. I have a sticker thermo and a digital thermo. As for a humid hide im not quite sure how to build one. I used a plastic container lined with dampened news paper. I have yet to check the humidity in there..I also couldnt find the accu-rite digi thermo/hygro thingy :|

Where are you keeping the cage? Do you not have A/C in your house? I'm having a hard time understanding how the temps could rise so much on both ends of the enclosure if it's inside your house. :confused:

No A/C thats the problem and common in N. Nevada. Dont ask me why no A/C however i did invest in a rubbermaid tub last night. A 31 Qt and I will see how that does. I keep the cage downstairs in the living room as that really is the coolest place. I could try the bathroom or something but upstairs is much warmer (heat rising and all).

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Originally Posted by Gaius Marius

No A/C thats the problem and common in N. Nevada. Dont ask me why no A/C however i did invest in a rubbermaid tub last night. A 31 Qt and I will see how that does. I keep the cage downstairs in the living room as that really is the coolest place. I could try the bathroom or something but upstairs is much warmer (heat rising and all).

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Ohh makes sense.. I grew up in Az, so I totally understand what you are going through, it is sooo easy for a house to get that warm by itself in those hotter states.

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Originally Posted by Gaius Marius

As for a humid hide im not quite sure how to build one.

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Get a small rubbermaid or equivalent and add some damp sphagnum moss. :)

I grew up in Phoenix and its nowhere near as hot here as it is there but still hot enough without the A/C. As for my humid hide i used an old baby wipes container (cleaned thoroughly with small amount of bleach and soaked in hot water) and lined it with damp newspaper. that dries out too fast though :| ...Im at a trial and error stage. I think i need to invest in a thermostat for the UTH. Any suggestions on that?

News paper will dry out really fast. Most breeders(the good ones) will advocate using spagnum moss instead. As for tstats you have choices. Helix and Herpstat are considered to be among the best. Which is best depends on whom you are talking with. Ultimately the choice is yours. :)

those two brands look fairly expensive (future investment)...I might be able to build my own or find one cheaper from lowes or Home depot or something

Good thermostats do run a bit expensive, but they're worth it. I use a Ranco thermostat, spent $75 on it.

If you want to spend less, buy a ReptiTemp 500R thermostat at PetSmart or PetCo. It doesn't have automatic number settings, you have to adjust a dial to get it to hover at the right temp (judging from your themometers). But with a day or two of trial and error, you can get it set just right and it will work perfectly. I used to use one when I had a tank.

Now that I know you don't have air conditioning, I get what you're talking about. That's odd that they'd build houses in a hot state like that without A/C, it's like they want you to suffer. We live in central Texas and I'd die if we didn't have A/C.

If your enclosure is really getting that warm during the day, I'd turn the heat sources on only at night to make sure it doesn't drop too much. During the day I'd turn them off so he doesn't get too hot.

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If you want to spend less, buy a ReptiTemp 500R thermostat at PetSmart or PetCo.

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For a few $ more you can get a Ranco or JC. I had one of those Repti-temp stats fail after 8 months of use, it heated my cage up to about 105 degrees when I caught it. The snake was OK, good thing I was home when it happened.

I already mentioned the Ranco, they run about $70-$80, then $10-$15 for shipping. I brought up the ReptiTemp as an alternative if he didn't want to spend the $70 on a Ranco.

not a matter of wanting to spend the money its having the money for it at this moment. something that will be reliable for a couple months would work until i get the money for the stat.

for temporary use , you could wire up a dimmer switch to a heat pad. better than nothing. you have to adjust the dimmer and check temps with a thermometer alot. this would be a last resort, stats like ranco,johnsons controls, helix and herpstat are better. can you get a window ac for the house/room? a small 5000 btu 120 volt model should run you less than 100 bucks.


vaughn

i plan on getting A/C but only for the upstairs which if that would be the case it will go up there. The temps and humidity seemed stable in there since switching to a rubbermaid unfortunately i need to have that gradient so i need to do something instead of having one constant temp. I also need to invest in a better digital temp/hygro that has two probes so i can monitor both the warmer and cooler side of the tank. I couldnt find one the other day at wal mart so i bought a little one that did both for the time being. Im gonna try to pick up a stat asap so i have something to mainly control the UTH ( I can make that the warm side) im leaving that off during the day since i have no real way of keeping an eye on the UTH temp yet :|