!!! Tank heating help? !!!

[Justin Hatton]

I have a 75 gallon aquarium with full screened lid and have a 150 watt heat bulb and all other necesities...my problem is i cant get the temp past 85 degrees on the warm end and 78 on the cool end...she spends 90% on the cool end though...i am going to switch to a UTH and thermostat that way i can control the temp and because the lamp is killing my humidity...my question is are these temps fine and also what size UTH do i need...the ones at the shop here dont say what size tank to use em on...do you think a 12x12 inch one will be good or do i need to go to the next size up?

[Skittles1101]

75 gallons for a ball python is huge...is it full grown?? I suggest switching to the UTH and thermostat asap, it's much easier and less stressful for the snake. The hot side should be about 88-92 and the cool side between 75-80. How are you reading the temps?
Oh, and here's the caresheet, it goes into more detail
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet

Oh, and as for the size of the UTH, it should cover 1/3 to 1/2 of the bottom of the tank.

[Crazy4Herps]

A UTH with a thermostat will solve all your problems.

Your temps are fine for now, but 85 might be a bit too cool for digestion. Just wait to feed her until you get the temps up.

It depends on the dimensions of the tank, but you want to aim for something that is about 1/3 the size of the bottom of the tank, or a little larger. A 12x12 sounds about right for a 75 gallon.

[Ham]

75 gallons for a ball python is huge...is it full grown?? I suggest switching to the UTH and thermostat asap, it's much easier and less stressful for the snake. The hot side should be about 88-92 and the cool side between 75-80. How are you reading the temps?
Oh, and here's the caresheet, it goes into more detail
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet

Oh, and as for the size of the UTH, it should cover 1/3 to 1/2 of the bottom of the tank.

What can I say that Lady Gray hasn't already said?
You give great tips LGray23!

[Justin Hatton]

no she is aboout 18 inches long...only reason i got a 75 gal was cuz i got it with screen lid and nice stand for $40 but i have it crammed full with 2 cocnut hides, one on each end, i have a hide made from 3 rocks in the middle, a humidity hide in the cool end "should i move the humidity hide to the warm end?", lots of fake plants and vines some drift wood...she just ate yesterday morning and was in the warm end for pretty much all day yesterday and is now in the cool end...and i use a indoor outdoor digital thermostat and it also has a humidity reader on it also...i got it from walmart for $12 and i am getting the UTH and thermo asap...but how would i go about switching? do i just need to leave the lamp plugged in until the UTH heats up or would that make it too hot?...im new to snakes i just got her last tuesday

[Skittles1101]

What can I say that Lady Gray hasn't already said?
You give great tips LGray23!

Thanks

[Skittles1101]

no she is aboout 18 inches long...only reason i got a 75 gal was cuz i got it with screen lid and nice stand for $40 but i have it crammed full with 2 cocnut hides, one on each end, i have a hide made from 3 rocks in the middle, a humidity hide in the cool end "should i move the humidity hide to the warm end?", lots of fake plants and vines some drift wood...she just ate yesterday morning and was in the warm end for pretty much all day yesterday and is now in the cool end...and i use a indoor outdoor digital thermostat and it also has a humidity reader on it also...i got it from walmart for $12 and i am getting the UTH and thermo asap...but how would i go about switching? do i just need to leave the lamp plugged in until the UTH heats up or would that make it too hot?...im new to snakes i just got her last tuesday

If you keep the heat lamp temporarily, I'd get a lamp dimmer from Home Depot and plug it into that until you get the UTH and thermostat all together and running. If you plug the UTH in, I'd turn the lamp off.

[Justin Hatton]

ok thanks you and im just gonna start private messaging any questions i have to LGRAY...she always helps me out on all my posts, which have been quite a few in the past few days, she really seems to know what she is talking bout...as well as a lot of others on here...thanks to everyone...and if i just turn the lamp off while the uth is heating up wont that make the temps drop till the uth heats up...how long does it take to heat up?
and any other suggestions on the what size UTH

[Skittles1101]

Unfortunately, that tank is so large (especially for such a little snake) most "name brand" UTHs only go up to about 60 gallons (such as this http://www.petco.com/product/6353/Zo...k-Heaters.aspx)
The best I can give you for size is measure the bottom of the tank and divide it by 3, and that's how big the UTH should be. Hopefully they heat up that big ol' thing. I have zero experience with such large tanks. Wish I could help more.

As far as worrying about the temps dropping temporarily, it's okay, it doesn't take that long for it to heat up and I'd rather have him a little chilly for a short time than fried.

I'll help you ask much as I can, you can PM me anytime you need to, but I think if you have another question like this it'd be a good idea to post. There is a lot more knowledge on here from other members that I don't know, and I'd hate for you to only get one way of doing things when another way may work better for your situation.

[RetiredJedi]

Justin,
I have a glass tank and my humidity level sucked real bad. Last week I installed a UTH, got rid of the heat lamp and, am using just a regular light for day time. I covered three sides of the tank and did the screen top similar to THIS. The difference is I did the treatment to a piece of cardboard I cut to fit over the screen and did that to the cardboard and then placed the cardboard over the screen. I am so happy to report that the cool side stays at around 81 degrees - 51% humidity and warm side is around 90 degrees - 60% humidity. The only heat source is coming from the UTH. Like LG said your tank is a quite big. I also have two of the ACURITE digital readers and I bought ONE OF THESE to control the temp of the UTH. It didn't take long at all to get the temps up enough plus it was a good excuse to have him out of his tank and hang out with him for about 30-45 minutes.
After a week with this setup everything works really well and all of my temps/humidity are on track. He ate last night and seems to be real comfortable with his setup now and I'm not stressed about it either. The tank is in my daughter's room and if she turns her air conditioner on so that it gets really cool in her room I just throw a towel over the front of the tank for the night.