I need terranium tempurature assistance!!!

Hello to all who may read this,

I am having trouble with getting the temp. and himidity right! I set up my tank just like the help forums suggested. And it helped some for the heated side but I can't get the cool side cool. what temp should it be and how can I get it there and stay there?

As for the humidity the only way it goes up is if I mist the tank but then that dries up too fast and returns to low humidity in no time so what can I do?

You'll have to describe your setup in detail to get the kind of help you're looking for. I know you said you set it up like the "help forums" suggest, but I've no idea what that really means. There's so many different ways to achieve the same goal.


Glass aquarium? How big? What kind of heating source are you using and how is it placed? How are you controlling the amount of heat it puts out? How are you measuring the warm and cool sides? What ARE your temps that you are measuring? And what does the average humidity usually sit at when you're not misting? Oh...and what kind of substrate are you using, and how much of it?

Do you have two enclosures for your two Ball Pythons, or is it just this one? And is the snake you just purchased in quarantine away from your other snake?

Wow That is alot of questions ok lets see the temp for hot is ok i can make it between 88-93 the humidity is usually in 30's tho without the misting I am using a basking lamp above heated side and pad below. I have a 20L tank with 100% fir bark i dunno how much I really just filled the bottom of the tank all around bout an inch high. I took the other snake back to petco and washed everything.

oh and yes glass terranium and I have a dimmer thermostat to regulate the lighting

I use a digital thermometer on both sides and the thermometer on heated side also measures humidity too the temps usually read 87 on cool side and 93 on heated side with humidity at about 30 something %

I have a pic of the glass tank before I made a few adjustments! I changed a few things to hold in better heating for the heated side!

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...01-07_1955.jpg

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...131#post590131

if your getting 87 and 93 temps, those are ok if you ask me, gotta get that humidity up though, unfortunately your gonna have to mist 2 times a day to do it, one of the drawbacks of a glass setup, i have a 30gal long and i have the same humidity problem, just gotta put in the extra work :rockon:

strange if i have my water bowl right under the heat lamp, so the snake can bask and soak at the same time my humid stays at a perfect 65%. for sheds i just keep misting the tank so that the himid stays at 75%. that light is extremly bright m8, you might wantt to get a dimmer, it hurt s my eyes to look.

aslo 1BP per tank/rack/tub. they dont like company.

Water bowl at the hot spot and cool end will help raise the humidity. Relative humidity in an enclosure is a function of water surface area. If you have more surface area, you'll have more humidity. You WILL need to cover the top though, to keep the moisture in, otherwise you'll have to humidify your whole room (which really isn't unpleasant at all).

I know from past posts that you have more than one snake, and the newest one may be sick. Are you housing these snakes together?

I have a thick stoneware water dish with vertical sides and a dark blue finish on the inside (I think they are common cuz I've seen them in photos here). I keep it on the cool side but its right under the heat lamp. The dark blue inside absorbs the radiant heat well and warms the water up a bit. I also used to keep it on the warm side over the UTH and then the water would be lukewarm to the touch. Either way, it helps with humidity and I haven't run across anything to suggest its bad in any way.

If I remember right, one of the snakes went back to the pet store because it was not healthy. So...as I understand it, there's just one snake in that tank.


Fixing the tank....get a lower wattage and dimmer bulb...preferably something blue or red. Ball pythons really don't like brilliantly bright lights shining in their tanks, even during the day. And if you go with blue or red, you can leave it on at night as well, so the temps remain steady 24/7.

I think your overall temps are too warm. The warm side would be ok, but the cool side needs to be cooler...so if you drop the temps on the warm side, it should also help drop the temps on the cool side...aim for 80-90....or even drop the warm side a bit more to get the cool side closer to 80. I'd be more comfortable with a gradient of 80-87 than 87-93.

You might be able to achieve this without using the lamp at all. And if you can get rid of that lamp, you'll have a much greater chance at maintaining a higher ambient humidity without excessive misting.

From the looks of your tank set up if you lower the wattage of your bulb. Put it over the water dish and cover part of your tank with a towel or other cover you may solve your problem easily.
! itll raise your humidity. Needs only to be around 60-65 percent not 90% . @ lowering the eattege of your light will make it easirer for the tank to cool on the Cooling side...
Also put your lamp on the end. Not as far to the middle of the tank as you have it.

i wouldnt use a towel bc the water will get absorded in it and act make ur % lowere use cardboard or cover it with foil that will cause the hum to bounce back

doing thios will raise ur temps though so idk