Enclosure too cold.

[PotatoePythons]

3 weeks ago, I got a regular female baby bp. Shes been eating like a beast, has not rejected a meal, and is currently in shed. The only problem right now is the temperatures shes in. On the second week that I've had her, I bought a etekcity temp gun, and it works great, but it keeps reading that the temperature is at 85, or lower. I have a 20 gallon enclosure setup with a zoo med 10-20 gallon heat mat, controlled by a Exo Terra thermostat that can control 100 watts. At first i had it set to 91, as i was only using 1 inch of substrate, but the next week, when I got the temp gun, is started reading temperatures at around 81-82 degrees, so I bumped up the temperature to 93, and the temp gun was still reading similar temperatures, only when i set the thermostat to 94 did the temp gun start reading things like 85. I was a bit happier, but i wanted it to be higher, as ball pythons need a hot spot at around 90. One thing i noticed, is that the thermometer/hygrometer that I have, is reading that the heat mat is at around 96-98 degrees Fahrenheit, so dont get me wrong, the temperature of the surface where my bp is laying should be way higher than 85 degrees Fahrenheit. One time my thermometer was reading that the heat mat was 101 degrees Fahrenheit, I forgot to read the temperature with the temp gun, but I definitely knew there was something up with either the thermostat, or the thermometer, except I'm not 100% sure of it. While shes in shed right now, I'm keeping the humidity around 75%, and misting it down 2-3 times a day, so during this week, the temp guns been reading really low temperatures at around 75 degrees, but I'm thinking only because of the damp things in the enclosure after misting it, for example, all of the fake plants are really wet, and the substrate is a very tiny bit damp, but it dries quickly (by the way I've been using zoo med Eco Earth) and i know that its not THAT cold in her enclosure. I live in San Diego, its autumn, its pretty dry, but i dont know why it would be that cold with the heat mat at 98 degrees. Keep in mind that when I was talking about misting my enclosure, I've only started doing that THIS week, and that the cold temperatures, have been happening since the beginning of week 2. Please correct me about the misting part if im wrong, and if this information is necessary, Id like to point out that outside of her enclosure is around 71 degrees Fahrenheit. Before I started misting the enclosure, the cold side would stay at around 75 degrees Fahrenheit. By the way, im 12 years old, and i did not impulse buy my snake, I did 5 months of research before buying her.

[JRLongton]

Both your thermostat and heat gun are correct.

The issue is that the heat of the UTH needs to penetrate the bottom of the tank and the substrate to reach the surface, where you are measuring the temp.

The substrate is insulating the heat mat. So, naturally you need higher temps to penetrate through an inch of substrate. If you were to dig away layers of substrate and take temp readings, you'd notice that as you go deeper into the substrate it'd get warmer and warmer.

I have a BP on a UTH right now. My thermostat reads 97F, but her surface temp is only 90F, as measured by the heat gun. So I lost 7F in heat on its transfer to the surface.

With ambient temps as low as yours, I'd probably opt for a CHE, or RHP. Its much easier to get a good temp gradient that way.

[bcr229]

Are you taking the temperature over the UTH on top of all the substrate, or are you taking the temperature of the glass over the UTH after you've moved the substrate out of the way? You should be taking the temperature of the glass as ball pythons will burrow. Just put a very thin layer (around a quarter inch) of substrate over the glass and put the hide over top.

If your room ambient temp is 71*F the glass tank will leak a lot of heat; glass is a poor insulator and the heat mat does not add a lot to the ambient temperature inside a tank. A heat lamp or ceramic heat emitter (CHE) will increase the ambient. A CHE is more expensive but usually lasts longer and works more efficiently so it's cheaper to run. If you use bulbs buy several because they usually blow at the worst possible time.

Misting an enclosure can also crash the ambient temperature for two reasons. First, tap water can be pretty cold, and second, evaporation uses heat energy so increasing the humidity by misting will cool the air in the tank. You can keep the humidity in the tank by covering the top with aluminum foil - just leave an opening for the CHE or heat lamp.

[CALM Pythons]

If im understanding you correctly your measuring it wrong. You need to take the temp of the glass not on top of the substrate. The snake can Borough to get that heat so you would not want the substrate at 90 because if it burrowed the glass would be much hotter and it could burn him. Check the temperature of the floor on the glass above the heat mat, get that to 89-91 and your all set.


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[PotatoePythons]

thank you all for the helpful tips, however, my thermostat does not read the temperatures, I have a separate digital thermometer/hygrometer that also comes with a probe, and I have it underneath all of the substrate and above the UTH. Also, If the case is that the glass must be around 89-91, than I would not need a CHE, because my ambient temps seem to be fine, theyre in the low 80's, and at the other end of the tank, its about 75 degrees Fahrenheit.