Temp help?

[missm00g00]

First of all, THANK YOU in advance for any help you can give me. A little background: I’ve recently come into the care of a 5 mo old banana ball named Lola. I felt pretty prepared to care for her because I kept a ball python when I was in my early teens, but now I feel absolutely terrible as to what I may have made him suffer through based on the advice of my local Petco. Lola is currently in a 20 gal glass tank while I’m waiting for a TGR rack with Freedom Breeder tub expected Mid-April. I have two AcuRite thermometer/hygrometers, with probes placed at each end of her enclosure. I have 2 UTHs, 2 CHEs, lights, and thermostats available to work with. I’m currently waiting on a temperature gun to make its way to my house.

But what I’m running into is really just an issue of what temps she should be at, how to best read them, and the ideal mix for getting her there. From what I understand we should have 90° on the hot side, with overall ambient temp not falling below 80°? Should the probes for the thermostat be placed inside her enclosure or under the UTH? On top of the substrate or at the bottom? What’s the best way to get an ambient temperature reading?

I feel as though I’ve read so much information here recently that it’s really starting to conflict.

[Jon0807]

I'm fairly new to BP's but I hope my experience can help you. I currently have mine in a 20 gallon long also and I'm only running 1 UTH and 1 CHE. The probe for the thermostat should never go inside the enclosure cause your snake can dislodge/move it which can give the thermostat a wrong reading and burn your BP. Most recommend to have it between the bottom of the tank and the UTH. I have mine taped under the UTH but I recently discovered that the tape came loose which caused the probe to have a small gap between it and the UTH. The hot side went up to 99. Thank goodness the top of the paper towels where my BP usually lays was only 87. For the CHE, I have it on a dimmer and a thermostat (for redundancy and safety) with the probe just dangling by the CHE. My BP likes to get caught in the probe wires if I attach them to the wall so I try to not use wires in the tank when possible. I have a probeless Acurite that she knocks over but it still works well and she doesn't get caught up in anything. And the best way to measure the hotspot is with a temp gun. You'll love that thing once you get it.

[Alter-Echo]

Temp guns work well for measuring hot spot and general floor temp, but for ambient air temps I use a digital thermometer made by zoomed that has a probe that can be attached to the tank side via suction cup. A hot temp of 90f is good, but cool side temps can go down to 77-76f with no real issue, just no lower than 75f

[gusanr14]

What are your temps right now? Thermostat probe should always be outside of enclosure. I also use zoo med thermometer. Mine is working perfectly fine but I guess there are many people who gets the crappy one. Anyways, even accurite thermometer is gold enough to read ambient.


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[Zincubus]

I'm fairly new to BP's but I hope my experience can help you. I currently have mine in a 20 gallon long also and I'm only running 1 UTH and 1 CHE. The probe for the thermostat should never go inside the enclosure cause your snake can dislodge/move it which can give the thermostat a wrong reading and burn your BP. Most recommend to have it between the bottom of the tank and the UTH. I have mine taped under the UTH but I recently discovered that the tape came loose which caused the probe to have a small gap between it and the UTH. The hot side went up to 99. Thank goodness the top of the paper towels where my BP usually lays was only 87. For the CHE, I have it on a dimmer and a thermostat (for redundancy and safety) with the probe just dangling by the CHE. My BP likes to get caught in the probe wires if I attach them to the wall so I try to not use wires in the tank when possible. I have a probeless Acurite that she knocks over but it still works well and she doesn't get caught up in anything. And the best way to measure the hotspot is with a temp gun. You'll love that thing once you get it.

Maybe consider hot gluing the probe to the underside of the tank rather than tape . The glue can be gently pulled or cut away if /when required


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[missm00g00]

Wow thank you so much for the info. I’m so glad I found you guys as a resource!

The ambient is 78-80 and the hot side is 88-90. I understand the thermostat probe shouldn’t be in the enclosure, but should the thermometer probe (on the hot side) be inside between the glass and substrate?

I’m also afraid of her cool side or the ambient being too warm, and her not being able to regulate her temperature properly. At what point is it too cool?

[Zincubus]

Wow thank you so much for the info. I’m so glad I found you guys as a resource!

The ambient is 78-80 and the hot side is 88-90. I understand the thermostat probe shouldn’t be in the enclosure, but should the thermometer probe (on the hot side) be inside between the glass and substrate?

I’m also afraid of her cool side or the ambient being too warm, and her not being able to regulate her temperature properly. At what point is it too cool?

It's a common worry for many ..
As long as the warm surface temp is correct and at the other end the coolest temp isn't too cold then in theory the snake will be able to choose ( thermoregulate) himself .

The worst thing is when there's a warm end BUT the coolest part of the cooler end is TOO warm ... and that's when they start to get real active as they try to escape to simply cool down.


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