Pics of my Ball and setup...

This is my 08 normal male. He was my birthday gift from Jan this year. We got him at Petco. I've read where some people have trouble with their balls not eating. I guess I'm lucky because mine eats like a shark. LOL. I don't have a scale so I'm not sure about his weight, but he measures about 25'' long.

http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t...Pset-up005.jpg

His setup is a 30 gallon fish aquarium with a 30-40 gallon ZooMed under the tank heater on the right side. I keep his water bowl and one of his hides on that heater. This keeps the water warm and helps with humidity, plus gives him a warm hide with plenty of belly heat. The hide on the left has no heat source. The bedding is aspen. The lid is a standard wire screen top I bought at the pet store. I currently have most of the lid wrapped in foil, leaving an open space for the heat lamp to sit.

http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t...Pset-up011.jpg

Is that an accurite probe on the glass measuring the hot side temp?

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

Is that an accurite probe on the glass measuring the hot side temp?

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Ditto.

I actually spent the first week moving the probe to different positions every day checking various temps. One day in the warm hide, the next in the cool side, etc... After I got all my temps right (with a little fine tuning) now I use the probe to measure the humidity. But no, the probe is not on the glass. It hangs down inside when the lid is on.

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Originally Posted by M&J in NC

I actually spent the first week moving the probe to different positions every day checking various temps. One day in the warm hide, the next in the cool side, etc... After I got all my temps right (with a little fine tooning) now I use the probe to measure the humidity.

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Hate to break it to you....but the unit measures the humidity, not the probe...

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Originally Posted by M&J in NC

I actually spent the first week moving the probe to different positions every day checking various temps. One day in the warm hide, the next in the cool side, etc... After I got all my temps right (with a little fine tooning) now I use the probe to measure the humidity.

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Temps will change, constantly. If your going to do it that way, I recommend checking all your temps at least every other day.

(I'm learning too!)

I could be mistaken but the probe doesn't measure the humidity its the actual display that measures it.

You should put the probe on the warm side and the display on the cool side so you know both temps at all times, and you'll actually measure the humidity in the tank.


edit: Man, I am so slow at typing.

That acurite should be IN the tank on the cool side 3-5" above the substrate. Mount it on the glass with some double side sticky pads. Also, I hope you live somewhere humid because an open top like that isn't going to work very well for him. That and he could get out on you one day...

If he's eating like you say though and his sheds are all 1 piece he's probably doing ok now, that is a much better setup than I had up until very recently.

We keep our house at a set temp all the time. After I made a few adjustments the first week the temps have not changed more than a degree or two in any one location. As for the probe, the features listed on the box said that the probe measured temp and humidity. That's why I bought it.

What are you controlling the UTH with?

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Originally Posted by M&J in NC

We keep our house at a set temp all the time. After I made a few adjustments the first week the temps have not changed more than a degree or two in any one location. As for the probe, the features listed on the box said that the probe measured temp and humidity. That's why I bought it.

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Is it the standard accurite unit that most people have? I was under the impression that it is.

Still, I would keep a probe on the hot side at all times just in case something happens.

I dunno, I'd have to see that box, I know my acurite reads humidity at the unit. If this is what you have then no, the probe only measures temp. Also, you NEED to have that probe right above the UTH since the probe is what measures the hotside and the unit itself does the cool side and humidity.

Like so:

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...tank_final.jpg

This way you KNOW exactly what is going on in the tank which is sometimes not what is going on in the rest of the house. Having the probe above the UTH on the glass or in the substrate also lets you know the UTH isn't getting to hot. You DO have a tstat or at least a dimmer controlling the UTH right? Most zoo-med units can hit 150 degrees unregulated... I hope this helps.

You don't want to keep the water on the heat pad, you want to keep it on the cool side.

No, you can keep it on the warm side at least part way to help out with humidity.

It is better during shedding to have a humid hide.

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Originally Posted by ScottyDsntKnow

Also, I hope you live somewhere humid because an open top like that isn't going to work very well for him. That and he could get out on you one day...

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Read her post:

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Originally Posted by M&J in NC

The lid is a standard wire screen top I bought at the pet store. I currently have most of the lid wrapped in foil, leaving an open space for the heat lamp to sit.]

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