Seeking Advice for my BP Enclosure

[Herp Hugger]

Hi. I have tried to do my best to set up my BP's habitat according to all the advice I've been told and have read (here and from other internet sources). I have included a couple of pictures below. My main concerns are regarding temperature. I have a heating pad under the left half of the enclosure. You can see the two hides in the foreground and the water dish in the back right on the cool side.

I put a temp probe in several places and found that the temp on the left side gets up to about 85 F and the right side up to about 74 F. The temperatures were taken on the surface of the substrate (Aspen). I've noticed that my BP (a little over 2 months old) digs trenches in the substrate, I'm assuming to get to the warmer part of the substrate. Is this normal, or should the temp be 90-95F at the surface? Is my substrate too deep maybe? Should a heat light be necessary in addition to the UTH? I put a 40W red heat light on the left side which only helps a little bit at the surface but gets the temp up to 93F about half way up the branch. I was hoping not to have to use a heat light at all but the UTH doesn't seem to be cutting it on its own. Last question... should the water dish be on the cool side (where I have it)?

Thanks for helping out a newbie! ... so much to learn.

[bobbittle]

You should be checking temps down near the glass, not at the surface. Make sure your UTH is connected to a rheostat or thermostat, something so it's not running on full "on" position. I prefer water bowl on the cold side. If you're having humidity issues you could move it to the warm side to help.

[seeya205]

Also you may want to cover the back and sides to add security for your ball! I would also get the temp up to 90-94 on the warm side!

[Herp Hugger]

You should be checking temps down near the glass, not at the surface. Make sure your UTH is connected to a rheostat or thermostat, something so it's not running on full "on" position. I prefer water bowl on the cold side. If you're having humidity issues you could move it to the warm side to help.

That clears up a lot. The temp further down near the glass is around 94 F. So I think I'm OK. Is the heat lamp just a waste of electricity then?

[Herp Hugger]

Also you may want to cover the back and sides to add security for your ball! I would also get the temp up to 90-94 on the warm side!

Thanks also for that advice. I'll see what I can find to cover the back and sides.

[Kaorte]

That clears up a lot. The temp further down near the glass is around 94 F. So I think I'm OK. Is the heat lamp just a waste of electricity then?

It is mostly a waste of humidity. Heat lamps will suck out most of the humidity from the air making it near impossible to keep at the recommended 50-60%. If you can keep your ambient temps above 75*F without the light then just get rid of it. If not, you can either get another UTH on a dimmer for the cool side or get a low wattage heat bulb.