For those with glass tanks in cold areas.

How do you manage to keep your tank warm all winter?

Right now I have a 10 gallon tank with a heat pad and lamp on the hot side, no heating devices on the cool side. although the top is covered with tinfoil/duct tape. The warm side stays fine, and when I get my Herpstat next week it should be perfect all winter. I'm worried about the cooler side. Since my place gets significantly colder in the winter due to very poor insulation and crapy heat, the tank will lose alot of heat through the glass.

Although it's a small tank I have seen the cool side drop to as low as 77 while the hot side is in the high 80's (Once I get the Tstat I'll keep it above 90). This happened last night since the nights are starting to be pretty cool now.
I'm hoping when I get my tstat my cool side will stay at 80-82 since I will be able to keep the hot side more stable at night. If not do any of you use heating devices on the cool side also? or If you insulate the tank what do you use? (I've heard of using corkboard, but I'm looking for other ideas as well)

Home Depot sells sheets of 1/2" and 3/4" foam insulation. You can cut it to fit all of the sides of your tank and that will help alot. Also, getting a piece of plexiglas to fit the screen part of your lid will help too.

If this doesn't work, you may need a space heater to keep everything above 80.

Thanks, I may try that. I just thought of something else also. Hopefully, with my tstat I'll be able to keep the warm side hide above 90 using only the UTH. Then I could use my lamp on the cool side to raise that sides temp slightly. Anyone see a problem with me doing something like that (I bet I'll still need the insulation though).

If your house gets that cold, you'll definitely need the insulation. It's only $7 or $8 anyway, so it won't hurt. Glass isn't a good insulator by itself and you'll be struggling to maintain the temp of the glass(it will leech heat out of the tank to get to that temp, and the cold room will just leech it out again).

You may also just want to switch to a tub for the winter and see how that goes. Your snake would probably appreciate the security and you will appreciate the simplicity and ease of use.

Hmm, I never thought of that. I like the glass tank b/c of the appearance, but I obviously want Rocky to be alright. I'm assuming I could just move everything from the glass tank into a tub to help him adjust better and make things easier for me. Trying the lamp on one side and the UTH heater on the other wouldn't hurt though, right? I probably try that first(with insulation of course). If that fails, I'll be searching for tubs. Thanks for your help.

I live in a basement in Canada and all I do is turn the heat on...

It's an automatic thermostat so it shuts off and turns on to keep the right room temperature.

I haven't had any problems yet... I'm just waiting for a big snow storm to knock the power out again for a week and then we will see what I do then...

Heres my 2 cents since i will be in the same situation this winter, i'm using an infrared heat light (might swap to a ceramic so i don't see a light going on and off) on a seperate thermostat and i'm insulating the sides and back of my tank. Also I positioned the heat light closer to the middle of the tank instead of just on the warm side. I tried a rheostat with the heat light but i don't like it, I can't regulate it enough so best bet is with a seperate thermostat.

Keep in mind that overhead heating (both infra red and CHE's) are killers of humidity. My home can be a bit cooler too, and I use tubs with UTH's and everything stays nice and toasty inside without compromising my humidity.

I have a 20 gallon glass tank. Cardboard on the back and sides, and on top as well. I have my uth on the cool side, with a basking light on the warm side. So far so good with my temps. 82 on the cool side and about 94 on the warm side. My only problem is my humidity wont stay high enough

I insulated a glass tank AND ran a space heater in a cold room last winter and it was a constant fight. You'd better REALLY like your display setup to keep up with a setup like that.

IMHO, if you have to keep the enclosure in a cold room, you're best bet is too look into plastic caging like RBI, AP, Herpenclosures, etc, these cages retain heat and humidity better than glass many times over, otherwise, in the event of a power outage or anything like that, you are truly risking your snake's life in a setup like that.

Well, I went to Home Depot and bought some insulation. It's made from some sort of flexible and dense foam like substance with foil on the outer layer. I put it around the tank leaving one side open. I've also moved my lamp to the cool side of the tank. So far the temps are much more stable than they were last night at this time. It's supposed to pretty cold tonight, so I'll keep everyone updated. I hoping the humidifier that I have in my room and a mist bottle will help with the humidity.
At least tubs are cheap (I think?), in case this doesn't work out.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BigCeC43

Well, I went to Home Depot and bought some insulation. It's made from some sort of flexible and dense foam like substance with foil on the outer layer. I put it around the tank leaving one side open. I've also moved my lamp to the cool side of the tank. So far the temps are much more stable than they were last night at this time. It's supposed to pretty cold tonight, so I'll keep everyone updated. I hoping the humidifier that I have in my room and a mist bottle will help with the humidity.
At least tubs are cheap (I think?), in case this doesn't work out.

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Sounds like a good plan. I wasn't trying to discourage you, just sharing my experience as I've been there, done that, wasn't fun. You may get different results - everyone's situation is different - just keep a close eye on the temps.

elevatethis,
Don't worry, you haven't discouraged me at all. I was looking for everyones opinions, realizing that they would all be different.

Anyway, for those that have been following along...
I ended up putting a second layer of insulation around the cool side of the tank last night. The temps and humidity were fine when I went to sleep, and this morning they still were; 91.5 in the hot side hide/ 81.2 air temp (taken on the cool side/ 79.7 in the cool side hide/ humidity 53%.

I have the Acu-Rite on top of the cool side hide with the probe inside of it. I thought I'd mention (since I'm under the impression most of you use one
Acu-Rite to measure the cool side air and the hot side surface) that there is always a difference of 2-3 degrees between the cool side air an the actual surface temp in that hide. At night the hide is usually cooler than the air, and when the day bulb is in, the hide is usually warmer than the the air temp (weird huh?).

Now I don't want either of the two cool side temps to drop below 80, but what I've found is that using my space heater for 5-10 minutes heats the cool side temp 2-4 degrees and with the insulation it actually holds that temp for along time. Long story short, it's working well so far. Although the dead of winter is going to be the real test.

Yep, same here. I live in Colorado, and after those 4 blizzards we had last year I'm getting a bit nervous about my snakes in their tanks. Right now I have cork outside their backgrounds and on the sides, but after reading this I think I'll go out and pick up some of that insulation for both tanks today. Also going to get a second thermostat for the BP cool side UTH (its on a reptitemp borrowed from the corn tank now) and a space heater for the bedroom for extra peace of mind (and to help my desert-raised BF stay warmer).

Thanks a lot for putting up this thread...it's just what I needed to keep my babies warm this winter. Here's hoping for NO blizzards this year!

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Originally Posted by Argentra

Yep, same here. I live in Colorado, and after those 4 blizzards we had last year I'm getting a bit nervous about my snakes in their tanks. Right now I have cork outside their backgrounds and on the sides, but after reading this I think I'll go out and pick up some of that insulation for both tanks today. Also going to get a second thermostat for the BP cool side UTH (its on a reptitemp borrowed from the corn tank now) and a space heater for the bedroom for extra peace of mind (and to help my desert-raised BF stay warmer).

Thanks a lot for putting up this thread...it's just what I needed to keep my babies warm this winter. Here's hoping for NO blizzards this year!

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Here's exactly what I used...
Foil and Foam Insulation

I'm not 100% sure this is all I'll need, but it's definetly helping and very easy to put on as well. The foil part goes on the outside, the inside is a gray foam which sticks right on to the tank very easily, no tape no glue.