How long until ambient temperatures are reached?

[linzard]

I finished building my BP cage out of a Rubbermaid tub, it is a 10 gallon size. Its been about 4 hours now, the thermostat is set to 90 degrees (for the heating pad), but the cool side still seems to be too cold (73 degrees). I planned on purchasing my snake tomorrow but I want to ensure I don't need to purchase a different heating pad first... if anyone knows how long heating pads/tub enclosures take to reach these temps I'd appreciate the help.

[Crazymonkee]

You will need to up the temperature of the room the snake is in
Tubs get there temp from the ambient temp of the room

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[Ash]

It depends on what kind of heat pad you're using. I've used the zoomed heat pads as well as homemade flexwatt undertank heaters and heat rope. The flexwatt was extremely weak and never really brought the tank up to temp, but the rope and the zoomed pads worked really well, to the point where if I wasn't using a thermostat they might have done some damage.

If your hardware is the problem, you'll just need to switch it out for something stronger. It's possible that it's not getting any power for some reason, as well. Put your hand on it. Does it seem warm at all? 4 hours seems like a long time for there to be no difference. Make sure the probe for the thermostat is against the floor directly over the heat pad, too.

Also, those rubbermaid tubs are really bad at holding heat in the first place. It might just be radiating it away into the environment, especially if you're opening up the lid a lot to test the temp. You could go and buy one of those metallic emergency blankets. They insulate extremely well. Cut it up and wrap it around the outer walls and the bottom of the enclosure (heat pad on the inside, obviously) to help hold the heat inside.

[NYHC4LIFE8899]

It depends on what kind of heat pad you're using. I've used the zoomed heat pads as well as homemade flexwatt undertank heaters and heat rope. The flexwatt was extremely weak and never really brought the tank up to temp, but the rope and the zoomed pads worked really well, to the point where if I wasn't using a thermostat they might have done some damage.

If your hardware is the problem, you'll just need to switch it out for something stronger. It's possible that it's not getting any power for some reason, as well. Put your hand on it. Does it seem warm at all? 4 hours seems like a long time for there to be no difference. Make sure the probe for the thermostat is against the floor directly over the heat pad, too.

Also, those rubbermaid tubs are really bad at holding heat in the first place. It might just be radiating it away into the environment, especially if you're opening up the lid a lot to test the temp. You could go and buy one of those metallic emergency blankets. They insulate extremely well. Cut it up and wrap it around the outer walls and the bottom of the enclosure (heat pad on the inside, obviously) to help hold the heat inside.

you are full of some great info and nice little tips and pointers...cheers to you!!! Thnx for posting,lol

[satomi325]

I finished building my BP cage out of a Rubbermaid tub, it is a 10 gallon size. Its been about 4 hours now, the thermostat is set to 90 degrees (for the heating pad), but the cool side still seems to be too cold (73 degrees). I planned on purchasing my snake tomorrow but I want to ensure I don't need to purchase a different heating pad first... if anyone knows how long heating pads/tub enclosures take to reach these temps I'd appreciate the help.

How hot is your hot spot?
Just because a thermostat is set to 90, doesn't mean that's the temperature inside the tub.
If it's low, you might have to set the T-stat to a higher temp to achieve the correct one inside the tub. For example, I set my Herpstat to 94 degrees to achieve a 90 degree hotspot inside the tub.

And also, the heat pad will not affect ambient heat of the cool end.
It might influence a little, but not significantly enough. Especially if your tub is a stand alone tub and not insulated in a rack or something. Your cold side ambient will be whatever your room temperature is. So you can either try to insulate your tub or bump up the temperature in your room.

[linzard]

I have decided to build a sort of sing "rack" system out of PVC... with heat tape. The ambient temp of the room is pretty warm (75-77) but not quite what I want it to be for the stand alone tub. I think the Rubbermaid tub will do just fine once it's in a rack?