Heating

[Dark Lady Kat]

So after reading several threads on here and combining my knowledge already for the new permanent habitat that is finished for the most part (we just have to mount the doors) I wanted to get an opinion the 4x2x2 enclosure that will house each girl (yes each has her own habitat) will be fairly cluttered with miscellaneous decorations to be removed as they grow. My home temp stays around 68 occasionally it gets up to 70 and often at night drops to the low 60's (we like it cold) we have set up the new habitats to have 2 heat lamps for ambient temp as well as a 50 watt halogen as one of them for the hot side we also are considering running heat tape over the entire bottom with a sheet of plexiglass over it connected to a thermostat set at 80 to ensure belly heat stays a minimum 78-80 the substrate is a aspen and coco husk combo 75%coco husk and 25% aspen to keep humidity up only about 1 - 1 1/2 in thick

The structure itself is constructed of solid birch 3/4in sheets and 1x2 in trim and frame support the roof is perforated mdf to allow ventilation front and doors is trimmed plexiglassthermometers and hydro meters there are three thermometers one each side with a probe mounted at the lowest possible point and one in the center mounted near the top just for ambient temps. hydro meters one on each side mounted about half way up the structure on the warm side is where the feeding box is so that the basking spot under the 50w halogen is only 14 in from the light which is maintaining a keen 91 degrees for more than 24 hours now on the hot side underneath the basking spot also is only reaching around 70 the cool side heat lamp is only heat the ambient air the floor area is also at about 70 degrees which is why we are considering the heat tape all the way across the enclosure

so with that said and as much information I can think of that will be needed for assessment let me know what you think of running the heat tape all the way across the bottom on an 80 degree thermostat

recommendations, gripes, criticisms, and overall 2 cents all welcome this will be the first habitat I have built myself and plan to build many more in the future so all input is welcome We hope to move our girls to their new homes by the end of the week after a 48 hr full set up temp check

[The Serpent Merchant]

First off, I wouldn't mix aspen and co-co husk, that is just asking for mold issues.

If your substrate layer is that thick don't bother with the heat tape idea. Heat tape can't heat through substrate layers that thick safely. You need to keep substrate layers no thicker than 1/2" when using UTH's.

I honestly would look into a radiant heat panel, or making the cage shorter. All of that internal volume is very difficult to heat.

You said that the cage is 24" tall but the heat lamp is only 14" from the basking site. Is the heat lamp actually inside the cage? If so have you screened it off so the snakes can't come into direct contact with the bulb?

[snakesRkewl]

My only criticism would be that it's way, way, way, too big of an enclosure for a ball python, maybe get a boa or retic or other large species of monitor?

[Dark Lady Kat]

First off, I wouldn't mix aspen and co-co husk, that is just asking for mold issues.

If your substrate layer is that thick don't bother with the heat tape idea. Heat tape can't heat through substrate layers that thick safely. You need to keep substrate layers no thicker than 1/2" when using UTH's.

I honestly would look into a radiant heat panel, or making the cage shorter. All of that internal volume is very difficult to heat.

You said that the cage is 24" tall but the heat lamp is only 14" from the basking site. Is the heat lamp actually inside the cage? If so have you screened it off so the snakes can't come into direct contact with the bulb?

we can definitely look at thinning out the substrate and not mixing it those are easy fixes
the basking spot is a mounted platform 14 in from the roof the heat tape would be mounted inside the cage between 2 sheet of plexiglass and substrate placed over it
radiant heat panel?? mounted inside the habitat and where?

[The Serpent Merchant]

To the ceiling of the cage:

http://www.reptilebasics.com/rbi-radiant-heat-panels

So are the heat bulbs inside or outside of the cage?

[Dark Lady Kat]

My only criticism would be that it's way, way, way, too big of an enclosure for a ball python, maybe get a boa or retic or other large species of monitor?

other than height how is it to big for a female ball python full grown and is there a such thing as too big other than just more for me to clean will it damage them in any way to have a larger home sorry if I do not sound grateful for the advice as I am even criticisms but to say it is too big and then not give me reasons health or security wise that it is not ok to have a large enclosure seems a lil unfair

[Dark Lady Kat]

To the ceiling of the cage:

http://www.reptilebasics.com/rbi-radiant-heat-panels

So are the heat bulbs inside or outside of the cage?

outside mounted on top of the roof with screened holes cut through the roof

[snakesRkewl]

other than height how is it to big for a female ball python full grown and is there a such thing as too big other than just more for me to clean will it damage them in any way to have a larger home sorry if I do not sound grateful for the advice as I am even criticisms but to say it is too big and then not give me reasons health or security wise that it is not ok to have a large enclosure seems a lil unfair

Ball pythons live in small holes in the ground, I doubt you'll find any of those holes 4x2x2 in size, so it's unnaturally large for the species.
Good luck heating it appropriately and keeping humidity over 50%

I understand the ideal of more is better, but it's not with ball pythons

[Dark Lady Kat]

Ball pythons live in small holes in the ground, I doubt you'll find any of those holes 4x2x2 in size, so it's unnaturally large for the species.
Good luck heating it appropriately and keeping humidity over 50%

I understand the ideal of more is better, but it's not with ball pythons

I do understand that it is unnaturally large from their hole in the ground however they also naturally live wild and free to roam where they choose. On humidity I have that taken care of with the ultrasonic mister that is set to go off every 4 hours for 30 secs and it works beautifully in a 40 gal breeder tank and its set to go off every 8 hours for 30 secs in that and maintains 56% humidity on a constant basis
Along with multiple hides and shorter climbing objects which my girls are quite fond of atm the habitat also includes a feeder section secluded from the rest of the cage that is 1x2x1 for feeding her in although it sounds like a lot in the end I will post pictures it is going to be less space than you think a 40 gal breeder tank is recommended for an adult ball python and those are 3/1.5/1.5 approx so the overall area being added isnt much larger than that especially when you take into account the sectioned off 1x2x1 feeder area

[Dark Lady Kat]

To the ceiling of the cage:

http://www.reptilebasics.com/rbi-radiant-heat-panels

So are the heat bulbs inside or outside of the cage?

I actually hadn't heard of the heat panels but I will look into buying those in the near future as that would probably be the more permanent solution. Do they emit light or just heat I didn't find any info on that. Also would that be enough to keep the belly heat up as well as ambient the other thing we where looking at was intillemats it is a substrate heater designed to go inside wood habitats or under glass water resistant and can be thermostat controlled

Ultimately would it be wise to heat the overall substrate and bottom area of the habitat as well seeing as I like to keep my house cold