First Post, Confirmation on heating

[romeosidvicious]

I got my first BP today, we already have 2 corn snakes, and am setting up his tank. I've been lurking and reading for about a week here and would like confirmation on my setup. I'm using a Exo-Terra small low tank, a ceramic heating element on a dimmer to maintain ambient temps as our house hovers around 72, and a UTH on a thermostat to give a hot/basking spot. The ambient, just above the substrate, directly under the heating element is about 81F, the farthest corner from the element is 75 but that's directly in the corner and most of the tank is 76-81F depending on the distance from the element. My thermostat hasn't arrived yet so for the next couple of days Steve ought to be alright with those ambient temps.

When my Hydrofarm thermostat comes in I am planning 90F on the glass, under the substrate. I use hot glue to attach the probe as well as a probe from a digital thermometer so I know the thermostat is working correctly. To maintain humidity, which isn't hard in Houston, I have the water bowl under the heat lamp and the humidity seems good. I currently need more "plants" as all I have is a hide on the same side as a the heating element, on which Steve has been happily hanging out after exploring his new viv. The spot where he's hanging out registers 78.5 so I am guessing he's nice and happy. I expected him to hide like the corns did when they were new but he seems happy out in the open.

So my question is really, am I doing this right?

[The Serpent Merchant]

Welcome to the site!

It sounds like you have the basics down.

If you want a confirmation on what you are doing, I wrote up this thread that shows how I set up glass tanks step by step with pictures:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...With-Pictures!

[Archimedes]

Sounds like a great arrangement for your new buddy! Only suggestion I have is to provide more cover, even in the interim between now and your shopping trip for new plants. If he doesnt like his hide yet he won't use it, which may be why he's seeking cover in the plant. Crumpled up paper does wonders for a new addition while they're getting used to the world.

Congrats and welcome"

Sent from my Huawei Y301A1 using Tapatalk

[romeosidvicious]

Thanks for the replies! And Aaron, I missed that setup thread, that is very helpful. I'll move the heat lamp over the center of the tank, that'll provide much better ambient overall. With the corns I hot glue both the digital thermometer and thermostat probe to the bottom, inside the tank. Is this a bad idea for BPs?

[The Serpent Merchant]

Thanks for the replies! And Aaron, I missed that setup thread, that is very helpful. I'll move the heat lamp over the center of the tank, that'll provide much better ambient overall. With the corns I hot glue both the digital thermometer and thermostat probe to the bottom, inside the tank. Is this a bad idea for BPs?

The general conscious is that it is safest to have the probe on the outside of the cage. That said as long as it is secured and you check it regularly it can be safe to have it on the inside of the cage. (I wouldn't go more than a week without checking it, and preferably as often as possible) the worst that can happen is the probe gets pushed off the heat source by the snake and the thermostat no longer can control the heat source. Most thermostats will then run the heat source at full power (as if the heat source was plugged straight into the wall) but there are a few high quality thermostats that have extra software that can detect this occurrence and shut off the heat source/sound an alarm.

[romeosidvicious]

I'll look in to higher quality therms. I'm using Hydrofarm right now and they are 1/0 for sure. I've had issues with foil tape, UTH, probes and the UTH peeling off so I went the hot glue route. I can't imagine a snake pushing the probe off and I check them at every feeding. Although corns are different than balls so I'll likely try the tape method again. Maybe more tape this time. The UTHs I have don't have the channel down the middle like the one in your thread and are pretty stiff. Or maybe I'll find a US dealer for something similar to what you used.

[The Serpent Merchant]

I'll look in to higher quality therms. I'm using Hydrofarm right now and they are 1/0 for sure. I've had issues with foil tape, UTH, probes and the UTH peeling off so I went the hot glue route. I can't imagine a snake pushing the probe off and I check them at every feeding. Although corns are different than balls so I'll likely try the tape method again. Maybe more tape this time. The UTHs I have don't have the channel down the middle like the one in your thread and are pretty stiff. Or maybe I'll find a US dealer for something similar to what you used.

Just don't use tape inside the cage!

[NYHC4LIFE8899]

On warmer days or when my heats going in my apt I keep temps around 86-88 on the hot side and keep UTH at about 85-87 and that helps me keep the humidity on avg around 30-40 on the reg. if my place is colder then I'll raise UTH temp to around 90-93

[romeosidvicious]

No tape ever. I pretty much use hot glue for everything that one of my snakes could come in contact with. I read horror stories on cornsnakes.com when I got our first snake and was looking for advice on setting up his viv. I doubt I'll have problems with humidity, Houston is known for being, well, humid. I will a hygrometer, I have it already it's just part of the probed thermometer and I'm waiting to get the UTH before disturbing Steve in his new home.

[The Serpent Merchant]

No tape ever. I pretty much use hot glue for everything that one of my snakes could come in contact with. I read horror stories on cornsnakes.com when I got our first snake and was looking for advice on setting up his viv. I doubt I'll have problems with humidity, Houston is known for being, well, humid. I will a hygrometer, I have it already it's just part of the probed thermometer and I'm waiting to get the UTH before disturbing Steve in his new home.

Sounds good.

Living in Orlando I usually don't have too many issues with humidity either.