new to the snake game

Whats up every body this will be my first time owning a snake after all the reading and research i'm getting a BP. Now I set up a 10 gal. tank w/ eco earth coco fiber bedding, got a lamp w/ a 75 watt bulb, 2 hides, 2 thermometers, a humidity gage and water bowl.
I set it up in a room im not going to keep it in and its been up for 2 hours temps read hot side btween 85-90 cool side 75-80 is this good? Humidity is at 35%. I have not put water in bowl yet I know this could be a factor. Also should i move it to the room im going to keep it in to get a more real reading in the actual room it will be housed in? I know I shoulnt use tap water in the bowl can I use bottled water or what can I do about chlorine on the cheep?
Also I want to put deco ( just a little) like branches, Is it safe to use tree branches from out side or buy them. Any advise is appreciated.
Getting my new pet in 2 weeks going to an expo in nyc.

most branches are safe, i usually pick them up at the park and never had a problem.

tap water is fine, you can buy this stuff at any pet store called reptisafe, and it eliminates alkalis, chlorine, and other harmful additives.

also your humidity wont be really affected by adding water to your water bowl, but more or less you should add some aspen grass to your substrate or add a humid hide with some wetted down spagnum moss.

Oh and welcome to the forum!:gj:

Logs from outside should be baked in the oven for a minimum of 15 minutes.
I wouldn't recommend live plants because they're hard to maintain and may be poisonous.
Strip branches of any moldy bark that may be a breeding ground for bacteria
Tap water should be fine unless there's a high concentration of chemicals in your tap water
Otherwise, distilled or bottled water may be necessary

you can also put branches or whatever in the freezer for a day or two and that will also kill anything on them, if you are weary of puting them in the oven.

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Originally Posted by bkhorseman

Whats up every body this will be my first time owning a snake after all the reading and research i'm getting a BP. Now I set up a 10 gal. tank w/ eco earth coco fiber bedding, got a lamp w/ a 75 watt bulb, 2 hides, 2 thermometers, a humidity gage and water bowl.
I set it up in a room im not going to keep it in and its been up for 2 hours temps read hot side btween 85-90 cool side 75-80 is this good? Humidity is at 35%. I have not put water in bowl yet I know this could be a factor. Also should i move it to the room im going to keep it in to get a more real reading in the actual room it will be housed in? I know I shoulnt use tap water in the bowl can I use bottled water or what can I do about chlorine on the cheep?
Also I want to put deco ( just a little) like branches, Is it safe to use tree branches from out side or buy them. Any advise is appreciated.
Getting my new pet in 2 weeks going to an expo in nyc.

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I would certainly put the cage where you intend on keeping it and then monitor your temps. The hot side needs to be 90-94F and the cool needs to be about 82F. Ambient temps ought to be about 82F. Humidity needs to be between 50-60%. Putting the water bowl will bump your humidity, especially if you put it near the light.

Using branches from outside can be dicey but, as was mentioned, baking them in a low temp oven for half an hour is a good method.

I use tap water for my snakes, but if you want to rid the chlorine from it, just put the water in a large mouth container and leave it for 24 hours with the lid off.

Have you considered a UTH, regulated by a thermostat, for your tank? This would help immeasurably with both the heat and the humidity....

Yea you for getting things together before getting your snake!! :gj:

hey I bought a UTH today and some driftwood from petco
With the UTH should I use this w/ the lamp or alone?
Also bought some spagnum moss to help with humidity.
What kind of thermostat should be used and how does it work with the UTH?
:confused:
And thanx for all the info everyone

Reliable t'stats commonly used are Ranco, Johnson, Helix and Herpstat. I only have experience with Helix and Herpstat and they are both great!

Once you have the UTH running WITH the t'stat, you can determine if it is enough heat.

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Originally Posted by hawaiianice99

you can also put branches or whatever in the freezer for a day or two and that will also kill anything on them, if you are weary of puting them in the oven.

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Freezing doesn't kill everything.
Many organisms still thrive in winter months. :gj:

Make sure to put a good thermostat to control the UTH. It will get too hot otherwise. You can use the lamp for ambient heat if you need it, but if you don't, and you just want it for show, get a very low wattage bulb and turn it off at night. :]

Well I attached the UTH with a rheostat for temp control how long does it take the uth to heat the tank?
Will this help with the humidity?
And if I do keep the lamp should I use a lower wattage bulb?

UTH's will help with humidity because you don't have direct light sucking up all the moisture in the tank. I think the lower wattage bulb will suck up some of the humidity, but not sure on that. If you want you could try one of those frosted bulbs at like Wal-Mart or some place, because it won't heat up as much and suck up as much humidity. Plus it could make your set up look pretty cool with a little accent light over it.

How's the UTH working now? If the external temps vary by more than a degree or two (in the room where the snake is) the rheostat will need pretty constant tweaking....

the humidity is up at 75% and the temp w/ the uth is at 84 hot side 78 cool side is this ok? thats without the thermostat connected its been like that for 2 days.

Hot side needs to be around 90-94F and the cool side needs to be around 82F.
Also, humidity is a bit high...

ho w can i correct this

Watch the humidity for a while; sometimes a new set up will take a little while to settle when it comes to humidity.

Also,

One of the best pieces of advice I've gotten from this forum is to buy a laser temp gun. Lets you check for hot spots on the enclosure floor. Especially important when using a UTH. You can get a really good one from Sears for $48. Remember, the ambient temp in the enclosure is rarely the temp on the floor and in the hides where your BP will hang out most of the time.

Like I said its been like that for 2 days Uth without dimmer or thermostat how hot does the uth get and how long does it take to heat up?

Sorry, missed the part about it being up at 75% for two days. Do you have a screen top? If so, you can open a little more of it up to the air flow. Also, you can use a blow dryer to dry up some of the humidity, but be care full with that one cause you can dry it out too much...also don't have the snake in there when you try it.

My UTH took about 30 mins to get to full hot the first time I turned it on without the reostat. I had some hot spots in the 113 deg range on the enclosure floor. Thats with a terrarium liner and about two inches of repti-bark over the UTH.

Sounds like you need a bigger UTH or insulation around the tank or a different cage.....

im using coco fiber eco earth bedding with moss on top under the hides and around the water bowl humidity went down to 60% but temps still havent changed maybe to much substrate? I dont know. Im using a 10 gal. tank its got a screen top w/zoo med uth rated for 10-20 gal tank. Shouldnt that be enough? How do I go about insulating it? I'm getting my snake next week want it to be right for him/her.

I would try decreasing the amount of substrate or changing it over to aspen or even paper. Keep the moss though since you'll be battling humidity more :oops: