Cannot get temps up

[shelliebear]

I need some help.
I've been struggling in the cold winter to keep the temps in my room up.
Turning on a heat lamp only increases the ambient temps in the tanks of my snakes by a couple of degrees, and it's usually 60 degrees in my room without the space heater on.
If I turn my space heater on for more than a few minutes (which doesn't do much), then the circuit breaker for the upstairs electricity gets tripped, and I have to reset it.
Clearly it is too much electricity being used upstairs, so it is a fire hazard.
The space heater is 1500 electric power units, I forgot what they are...volts? hertz? Sorry, I can't remember.
Is there another option I can use to get the temps up that uses less of the electricity so it won't trip the circuit breaker?
I don't want to cause a fire, and I don't want to run the electric/heat bill through the roof.
Do ceramic heat emitters work? Could I install those in the tank? I know those suck up humidity, but I was thinking that if those work, I could get a warm humidifier for my room and humidify the whole room. (It's better for my lungs, since I have asthma.)
? I need help. I don't want my snakes to get sick. There has to be something that works, I'm just not thinking of it yet.
That's where usually you guys help, with the creative ideas.
Shellie

[llovelace]

Try running an extension cord(s) from downstairs

[mainbutter]

describe your setup.. is it a glass tank?

Temperature in your enclosure will be a function of insulation, ventilation, and energy(heat) output of your heating elements.

If I was trying to heat a glass screen top enclosure, I would use an under tank heater and a heat lamp with a 60+ watt bulb/CHE, and I would insulate 3 of the sides and cover most of the screen top with aluminum foil.

Humidity becomes a huge issue if you need to heat a tank greatly above room temps. Humid hides, wide water dishes, and heaps of moistened moss will help.

The issue of cold rooms is a good argument for rack setups for ball pythons. I use sterilite tubs for my snakes that are prone to humidity problems in the dry climate I live in.

[Black_Shark]

I need some help.
I've been struggling in the cold winter to keep the temps in my room up.
Turning on a heat lamp only increases the ambient temps in the tanks of my snakes by a couple of degrees, and it's usually 60 degrees in my room without the space heater on.
If I turn my space heater on for more than a few minutes (which doesn't do much), then the circuit breaker for the upstairs electricity gets tripped, and I have to reset it.
Clearly it is too much electricity being used upstairs, so it is a fire hazard.
The space heater is 1500 electric power units, I forgot what they are...volts? hertz? Sorry, I can't remember.
Is there another option I can use to get the temps up that uses less of the electricity so it won't trip the circuit breaker?
I don't want to cause a fire, and I don't want to run the electric/heat bill through the roof.
Do ceramic heat emitters work? Could I install those in the tank? I know those suck up humidity, but I was thinking that if those work, I could get a warm humidifier for my room and humidify the whole room. (It's better for my lungs, since I have asthma.)
? I need help. I don't want my snakes to get sick. There has to be something that works, I'm just not thinking of it yet.
That's where usually you guys help, with the creative ideas.
Shellie

I have the exact same problem as you do and here is how I fixed it:

I have all of my snakes (3) in a 4-shelf rack organized like so

Shelf 1: Heat Cable
Shelf 2: Ball Python
Shelf 3: Florida Kingsnake
Shelf 4: Cornsnake

Now, in order to keep ambient temps up in the ball pythons enclosure (its usually around 68-70 in my room if not lower) I ran the heat cable along the bottom of shelf 1 and completely covered it with duct tape. I then taped the front entrance of shelf 1 completely shut with duct tape so it will retain heat. Now, after about an hour of the heat cable warming up (on a dimmer mind you) the heat soaks through the wood and radiates down into the tub without sucking out the humidity. Voila! Instant climate control (Esp. with a good thermostat such as the Herpstat PRO)! Only affects Shelf 2 also.

Total cost:

Rack (If you don't have one): $250-300
Dimmer $10
Heat Cable: $16

Total: $276-326 before tax

Now, if kept in a tank my suggestions would be to buy a very cheap melamine shelving unit/drawers from target (20-30 bucks) find a tub that fits, put her in it and then run the heat cable along the top while making sure to cover the cable so no heat escapes. Or you could run the cable through the actual shelving unit and have it radiate inside of it.

So now pricing is:

Dimmer: $10
Heat Cable: $16
Shelving (make shift rack): $20-30

Total $46-56 before tax

Now, if neither of the above is an option, you have a couple of other options to heat the tank.

Option 1: Buy a very small electric heater and place it close (not to close!) to the tank. Monitor surface temps to make sure they aren't hitting 100+ (I've seen those heaters put out heat thats 200+) and don't leave on any long trips.

Heater: $20
Thermometer (Probe for glass): $12

Total: $32 before tax


Option 2: Buy 2 CHE (you may be able to get away with 1 but I'm not so sure because of the low temps in your room), place on either end of tank, fiddle with em till you hit your desired temps, monitor temps frequently, wrap the outer tank in some kind of insulating material such as pegboard, etc and cover half of the screen top with foil, wood, pegboard (Basically an insulating material). Monitor temps as much as possible to watch for possible overheating.

CHE: $60 (1 is $30)
Dimmers: $20 (2 required)
Tempgun: $25 (RBI 205 I think it's called. Its on reptilebasics.com) Not required but recommended when aiming for ambient heat with CHE
Pegboard: $5-15 depending on location and store
Wood/Foil: $5-10 depending on which used/location/store

Total: Best Case (no tempgun): $50
Worst Case (No tempgun): $105
Ideal/Worst Case (includes tempgun): $130

Hope you get some ideas from this! Good Luck!

-Andrew

[shelliebear]

Thank you for the ideas!
I'm not able to put the snakes in tubs or a rack setup right now. My mom doesn't want them there. I have the tubs, but she wants them in tanks instead.
So they are in glass tank--one 20 gallon long, a 29 gallon, and a 40 gallon breeder. I have all of the screen tops covered in layers of duct tape and aluminum foil to help keep humidity in.
I have one of the snakes on newspaper, the other 2 on Aspen shavings.
Hot side temps with the heat mats on is typically 85-90 degrees (one tank is 85, one is 90). I have to go check the hot spot on the 29 gallon to find out what that is, but I'd guess 80-85.
How do I insulate the sides? That does sound like a fantastic idea.
I've tried running an extension cord to the living room and plugging the space heater in there. When I do that my sister's electricity in the room next to me gets shut off, as does the electricity running to the light over the stairs, near the front door.
Our house is old style and the electricity is very awkward, according to the electrician who came out a month or so ago and examined everything.
Umm...what else...Humidity is roughly around 10% if that. I keep spraying, spraying, spraying, but the lights I put over the tanks to try to keep the heat up dry it up minutes after I spray.
I'm afraid to spray without the lights on because it will be too cold.
I also have a fish tank (20 gallon tall) in my room. That is the reason the humidity is at %10. I'm lucky for that.
I'm worried to put the water bowl over the hot spots because then the snakes will be cold.
Thanks for all the help. I'm trying really hard, but I wanted some other opinions.

[Black_Shark]

Thank you for the ideas!
I'm not able to put the snakes in tubs or a rack setup right now. My mom doesn't want them there. I have the tubs, but she wants them in tanks instead.
So they are in glass tank--one 20 gallon long, a 29 gallon, and a 40 gallon breeder. I have all of the screen tops covered in layers of duct tape and aluminum foil to help keep humidity in.
I have one of the snakes on newspaper, the other 2 on Aspen shavings.
Hot side temps with the heat mats on is typically 85-90 degrees (one tank is 85, one is 90). I have to go check the hot spot on the 29 gallon to find out what that is, but I'd guess 80-85.
How do I insulate the sides? That does sound like a fantastic idea.
I've tried running an extension cord to the living room and plugging the space heater in there. When I do that my sister's electricity in the room next to me gets shut off, as does the electricity running to the light over the stairs, near the front door.
Our house is old style and the electricity is very awkward, according to the electrician who came out a month or so ago and examined everything.
Umm...what else...Humidity is roughly around 10% if that. I keep spraying, spraying, spraying, but the lights I put over the tanks to try to keep the heat up dry it up minutes after I spray.
I'm afraid to spray without the lights on because it will be too cold.
I also have a fish tank (20 gallon tall) in my room. That is the reason the humidity is at %10. I'm lucky for that.
I'm worried to put the water bowl over the hot spots because then the snakes will be cold.
Thanks for all the help. I'm trying really hard, but I wanted some other opinions.

Hmmm... part of your problem might be that you have your snakes in too large of tanks. BP's and cornsnakes both require a max of 20g tanks so the 29 and 40 are too large IMO. Might want to downgrade next time petco has a sale haha

Now, in order to insulate t sides, all you have to do is buy the pegboard and then wrap it around the tank while taping down the edges. Then your done. Simple yet effective.

Now the humidity is going to be an issue. 10% is WAY too low and will cause health problems down the road. My recommendation is to buy heat cable, wrap it around the entire tank, tape over every inch of the cable so the majority of heat is directed onto the glass which then radiates into your tank without sucking the humidity out, then cover the heat cable with the pegboard for insulation purposes, adjust with dimmer till desired temps are met. (Word of warning, make sure you know the temps on the glass because heat cable will get very hot!) Finally, put a humid hide into all the tanks and your good to go!

Edit: After installing heat cable, get rid o the darn lamps!

-Andrew

[OhhWatALoser]

I've been struggling in the cold winter to keep the temps in my room up.
Turning on a heat lamp only increases the ambient temps in the tanks of my snakes by a couple of degrees, and it's usually 60 degrees in my room without the space heater on.
If I turn my space heater on for more than a few minutes (which doesn't do much), then the circuit breaker for the upstairs electricity gets tripped, and I have to reset it.Clearly it is too much electricity being used upstairs, so it is a fire hazard.
The space heater is 1500 electric power units, I forgot what they are...volts? hertz? Sorry, I can't remember.

Watts is the word your looking for. What else is on the circuit? because for even a 15 amp breaker to trip (lowest allowed in a house) you still need 1800 around 1800 watts to trip the breaker, so you either have a faulty breaker or can that other 300+watts be moved onto another curcuit? also does the space heater have different power settings, most have a high, medium, and low. have you tired it on low or medium, it won't be using 1500 watts then.

Is there another option I can use to get the temps up that uses less of the electricity so it won't trip the circuit breaker?
I don't want to cause a fire, and I don't want to run the electric/heat bill through the roof. Do ceramic heat emitters work? Could I install those in the tank? I know those suck up humidity, but I was thinking that if those work, I could get a warm humidifier for my room and humidify the whole room. (It's better for my lungs, since I have asthma.)

Most heat per watt is going to be flexwatt, but since your house is 60 degrees, that may not be enough, tho in the right rack system I think it would be. so a CHE would be your next best bet, they produce more heat than light bulbs since light bulbs also produce light thus being wasted energy. you must have the CHE outside of the tank or risk your animal burning itself, those things get 400+ degrees, burn on contact.

Problem with the humidifier is that it may bring you to your original problem of tripping the breaker, a humidifier using a heating element to get water hot enough to turn it to vapor, they can use a good amount of electricity also. so it would be something to look into if you go that route.

I need help. I don't want my snakes to get sick. There has to be something that works, I'm just not thinking of it yet.
That's where usually you guys help, with the creative ideas.
Shellie

with just what you told me, I think your best option would be to get a couple uth, on on the bottom, one on the side, maybe one in the back also depending on how cold thing really are? make a warm corner thats 94 degrees, insult the sides that don't have uth on them to retain some heat on the cold side. see where that gets you. Never had to deal with house temps being that low. my girlfriend keeps this place at 70+

why is your mom against the racks so much? your 60 degree house temp make it really hard to get proper temps, a rack system would help a lot here.

[Elise.m]

For the humidity, is there a way you just mix some moss in with the aspen? Or even switch to cypress mulch? At least that will help a little bit... Not more than the 50% you need though.

Heat wise, I think insulating the tank is one of the best ways to go. And maybe even split the 40g into two 20g. It would be pretty easy to do if you could house whatever snake is in the 40g somewhere else for 24-48 hours. Just use silicone with a piece of whatever it is you want to separate the tank with. I'm not sure how good the pegboard is for insulating, packing foam would be a good idea too.