Thinking about switching from a glass tank to a tub.. questions!

[Andrew_a]

My lemon pastel female just developed RI, taking her to the vet Friday.. I know it's because of my husbandry. I'm considering just switching her to a tub. It's hard to manage her environment (20 gallon tank) in the way my apartment is set up and I think it'd just be much easier putting her into a tub, I think she'd be more comfortable as well. I know it's not exactly eye candy for me as she's very beautiful and I love seeing her out and about, but I want her to be healthy and happy.

I have a few questions:

1.) How do you heat a plastic tub? Just a single plastic tub that's not in a rack system without melting the plastic?
2.) What setup do you use in a single tub? (hides, substrate, water dish, thermostats, etc)
3.) Where should I keep the tub?
4.) What should I do with the lid? (Location of vent holes, etc)
5.) Is there anything else I need to know?

Thanks so much! I hope you all can help me with her road to recovery!

[The Serpent Merchant]

Tubs are great at holding in humidity, but are much harder to maintain air temperatures in. If your problems are temperature bases, I would stick with your glass tank or look into professionally made plastic reptile enclosures.

A tub setup is very simple. You will have a UTH (Under Tank Heater) attached to the bottom of one side plugged into a thermostat. The thermostats probe should be sandwiched in between the bottom of the tub and the UTH. A thin substrate layer 1/2" thick or less of your choosing (anything that works in tanks will work in a tub) In a stand alone tub I would recommend the same type of setup that I would in a tank. 2 hides and a water dish.

Don't put any holes in the lid, instead put them in the side of the tub.

You can keep the tub anywhere, just make sure it isn't in direct sunlight.

The bad thing about tubs is that the cool side temperature of the tub is determined by the temperature of the room that the tub is in. This means that you will have to keep the room 75 F or warmer 24/7/365.

[satomi325]

I have a few questions:

1.) How do you heat a plastic tub? Just a single plastic tub that's not in a rack system without melting the plastic?

A heating pad or heat tape hooked to a thermostat.

2.) What setup do you use in a single tub? (hides, substrate, water dish, thermostats, etc)

Personally, I just have newspaper, hide, and a water dish. THG heat tape hooked to a Herpstat 2 Thermostat.
However, you can decorate a tub just as much as a display tank.

3.) Where should I keep the tub?

You can put it where your tank is currently.
I suggest putting it in a location where the room temp doesn't fluctuate much.

4.) What should I do with the lid? (Location of vent holes, etc)

Nothing. As long as it's not air tight, you don't need holes in the lid. However, you can put holes into the tub itself. I personally do 1 or 2 row holes that are spaced one inch apart from each other around the tub. The holes are melted with a soldering iron ($4 at walmart).

5.) Is there anything else I need to know?

Tubs do well for humidity, but doesn't do well if your room is too cold. It's more difficult to maintain heat if your room is 70-75 degrees or below.

[smalltimeballz]

Since my rack system is made of shelves attached to my closet wall & I have a bad foundation I keep lids on my tubs. So I guess I can help a little. Also, my qt tub is solo & just slightly different. I use the thg heat tape (taped to the shelves for my "rack" and for the qt tub, its taped to the bottom of the tub on the outside [just remember to tape the thermostat probe to it first lol]) with thermostats. For the water dish, I use 5" ramkiens for sub & adults (3" for my eventual hatchlings) that you get in the baking dish isle. For hides, juvies&sub adults& adult males I use whatever is cheap & plastic that will fit in the tub. Tortilla warmers look nice. Just have to cut a hole in them. For my big girls, I use small cat litter boxes. My substrate is newspaper because its free (my dad delivers The Horse Gazette, a local equine newspaper, & he gives me the back copies). For vent holes, I heat up a meat fork & stab the short sides just 4 times. It keeps up the humidity just great. For a stand alone tub, I would recommended 2 hides or to drape a towel over one side of the tub. I use the Hefty brand 34qt for juvies to adult males & 50qt sterilites with the wheels popped off for my big girls. Hope that helps.