New cage

Ok, I am getting ready to put the substrate in my tank (it's a glass one) and I had seen somewhere that it was a decent idea to put newspaper under the substrate. I'm useing the coconut husk stuff...Bed-a Beast? Something like that. Anyways since it is supposed to be a bit moist to help with the humidity, should I still put newspaper under it, or just leave it in there by itself?

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Originally Posted by tweets_4611

Ok, I am getting ready to put the substrate in my tank (it's a glass one) and I had seen somewhere that it was a decent idea to put newspaper under the substrate. I'm useing the coconut husk stuff...Bed-a Beast? Something like that. Anyways since it is supposed to be a bit moist to help with the humidity, should I still put newspaper under it, or just leave it in there by itself?

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Placing newspaper underneath your substrate could be ground for bacterias to grow if not change regularly.

I use coconut husk with my ball pythons and do not put newspaper underneath, but that's my own personal decision

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Originally Posted by Holbeird

I use coconut husk with my ball pythons and do not put newspaper underneath, but that's my own personal decision

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Is it difficult to clean, or to keep clean?

Not difficult at all to me! Now don't get me wrong, before using coconut husk I was just using newspaper (blank when i could get my hands on it and printed when I couldnt) and it's not as easy as that, but it's still easy, and it looks a lot better in my opinion.

Ok, another question. :P I just want to get this right before I actually put a snake in the tank.... I got the warm side up to 91-93, but that is right on the glass....on top of the substrate it's said 87. =/ And my cool side is 75 or something. I have a UTH and a CHE, but the CHE is kinda small (65 watts) partly to keep it from killing my humidity, partly b/c that's all the pet store had :P If I switch the tank around and make what is the warm side now, the cool side, and get a bigger UTH or some of that Flex tape stuff, and put the CHE over that, would that help my temps? And where do you get the Flexwatt(?) tape, or something along those lines?

Oh, taking a UTH off the tank will ruin it, won't it?

I wouldnt measure the temps off the glass it should be measured off the substrate or under the substrate. Also i would get the cool side temp up to about 82, and the warm side up to about 92. Also how are you using to measure temps/humidity?

Here you go this might help you out...
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=32800 :salute:

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Originally Posted by juddb

I wouldnt measure the temps off the glass it should be measured off the substrate or under the substrate. Also i would get the cool side temp up to about 82, and the warm side up to about 92. Also how are you using to measure temps/humidity?

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I have to disagree. Measure your temps from the glass. Most BP will dig up the substrate to get to the temp that they want. If the temp is too hot on the glass you could burn your snake...

I use a CHE to increase the ambient temp of the enclosure -- so putting it on the cool side and using it to bring the substrate up to 80f would be good.

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Originally Posted by AkivaSmith

I have to disagree. Measure your temps from the glass. Most BP will dig up the substrate to get to the temp that they want. If the temp is too hot on the glass you could burn your snake...

I use a CHE to increase the ambient temp of the enclosure -- so putting it on the cool side and using it to bring the substrate up to 80f would be good.

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I misunderstood, I was thinking the glass sides of the tank... sorry :)

Ah! Thank you! I moved the CHE and so far it seems to be working out really well. I have the temps on the warm side with the UTH at 92 on the gless (and sorry about that I wasn't real clear...I did mean the glass under the substrate) and the temps on the cool side were at 81!! :carrot: I still have to get the hides and a branch so I figure I will still have some tweaking to do when I put those in, but for now, the temps seem pretty stable, and so does the humidity :sweeet: :w00t:

Ah, I was excited earlier and forgot to ask, right now I have the UTH on one side, and it's keeping it right around 90 (about 93 on the glass) and I have the CHE on the other side and it's keeping the top of the substrate aobut 83 or so...I got a herpstat (something like that) to turn it down a bit, but when I bought my snake, the lasy said that it wasn't really very good to have the heat sources on different sides. She told me I should have all the heat on one side. Is my set up ok or do I need to move things?

Sounds like you're doing well! Dopy salesperson! :rolleyes: How can you have a temp GRADIENT, if all your heat sources are on the SAME side?!????


Whatever combo or tools you need and use, the important things to remember are 82-84* (cool) and 92-94* (hot) w/two identical hides and humidity of 50%. The temps and humidity need to remain stable (thru the thick and thin of herping....;) ) and as long as snakey uses the hides and doesn't do the snake olympics b/c of stress, the rest is all personal preference.

Keep in mind, the more furniture you put in your setup, the more things you'll have to take out and CLEAN and SANITIZE!!! So K.I.S.S is a good thing. :)

When he poos, sheds and eats regularly, you know you've got it all dialed in. :D

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Originally Posted by sweety314

When he poos, sheds and eats regularly, you know you've got it all dialed in. :D

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Exactly!

I have found that most chain pet store workers don't have a clue on how to take care of a reptile.

I have a 30 gal breeder, and keep a fairly cool house, so a second uth on a separate thermostat was necessary for me. I put a layer or two of newspaper down first, then the probes (one for the thermometer/hydrometer, one next to that for the hot side thermostat regulator? and another for the 'cool' side uth mat), then an inch or so of substrate.

Whether I use aspen, cypress, dirt/bedding, or even reptibark, I use the newspaper underneath. One, it keeps my large adult from burrowing straight to the glass (not that he's a digger), and two, so that when he urinates, I can easily see the spread of wetness. A slight overlap in half folded sections of paper allows for a half clean instead of a full (which is done monthly anyways, but dang if it don't seem like he wants to wait and pee until the DAY after I've cleaned it all out ;)

Folding the mess up with the newspaper helps with most of the cleanup..I use a dust pan to catch the corners and some zoomed disinfecting spray as well.

Just remember, at the glass your temps may be 80-90, but on top of the substrate it could read much lower, depending on the type of substrate, and the room temperatures.