Temps/Humidity question

[JLC]

Raj, I don't know the max temp before burning would occur, but I imagine it would not be anywhere near your goal temps. In other words, if you aim for a hot-spot of 94, then the occassional swing upward to 95 or 96 won't hurt your snake. But you'll always want to keep a close eye on the temps and equipment used to maintain those temps. I've seen and heard too many tragic stories because a thermostat went bad or some other similar failure.

[Eddie_Z]

I think that i will be alright. The cool side is at 76 but it is a 20 gallon tank & there is not a hide on the cool side. I just have her main water dish & a humidity pad on the cool side. There is a hide in the middle, where the temp is around 80 or 81 & then her favorite on the warm side. I have been watchin her & we hung out for a half an hour or so today. I re-arranged her stuff today cuz i cleaned the tank after we hung out & she seems really really happy. I think that things are going well. Do any of you think that re-arranging upsets them? Does it make them feel like they are almost in a new place again???

[Marla]

I'm very curious as to how you manage to have a temperature gradient of almost 20 degrees in just a 20 gallon tank. How and where are you measuring the temps?

[JLC]

I've got Shaggy in a 20gal long, and his basking spot is ~110 with a cool spot at the far side of the tank at 76...so a 20 degree spread doesn't seem that bad to me. Although, Eddie's tank looks like a 20 tall, rather than a 20 long...not as much floor space. It could be a misleading picture though.

As for rearranging the stuff...it can stress them out and throw them off feed for awhile. I've heard enough anecdotes about that to convince me it is so. But I'm also sure it depends on the "snake-onality" (as Randy once put it!) of your snake. Some are way more laid back than others and rearranging may not bother them at all.

[Eddie_Z]

Ya know what Marla, i have been trying to figure that out forever myself!! Like Judy observed, it is definately a 20 gallon tall, not wide. Initially i was using the acu-rite deal with the single probe & I became concerned that perhaps the probe was not working properly. So, I went out yesterday & bought another acu-rite digitial & put the unit near where i had the probe before & sure enough, the temp range is HUGE! I can't explain it! Right now, with a digital on both sides of the tank, the warm side is 95 degrees on the nose with 44% humidity & the cool side is 76.8 with 78% humidity!! I have no clue how my temps & humidity levels very so greatly over a span of about two feet of space but they do. And yes, I tried switching the units to make sure that they are both working & both had the same readings! Very curious indeed!!

[Marla]

That is very curious Eddie. What is your room temp? Maybe you keep it cool enough that it can easily draw your heat out. If that's the case, you should be able to stabilize it somewhat by insulating the tank. This is easy enough to do -- you can just cover the back and sides with cardboard, and if you want it to look nice, put an aquarium background between the cardboard and glass.