First snake! Have some heating issues...

[ApepApocalypse]

I got a lovely bamboo female, about 3 months old, on Saturday. Did a ton of research, picked a good breeder with healthy snakes, and had all tbe equipment.,Had previously set up my tank and made sure the temps/humidity was correct.... A month prior. It was warm at the time (ambient house temps around 75 f) and now that ambient house temps are at about 60 my tank is all out of whack. I have a 90 degree warm side, but the cold side hovers at around 72-75, as does the ambient air.

My current setup is a ten gal Zilla critter cage. I have a zoomed UTH with a vivarium electronics thermostat. Under the tank, probe between heater and glass. Followed the guide here to set it up. Works for the hot side, doesn't heat the rest. Two identical hides, one for warm and one for cold. Some fake plants and a skull for clutter (eyeholes are too small for her to go through). There's a water bowl on the cold side next to the hide, and I keep it clean and fresh. I got a CHE with a BN Link thermostat, which has helped the temps, (before they were in low 60s-bad) but now the humidity has bottomed (hovers around 46 when it was perfect 60 before CHE) even with the addition of some moist spaghnum moss. Using zoomed reptile snake bedding. Have a temp gun to measure, and a zilla hydrogometer/thermometer with probes in cage. I put tinfoil around the CHE after reading tips on this forum, which seems to have helped but not enough. I want the best possible home for my snake, and I'm really worried about not providing that. The breeder had also mentioned that she was a difficult eater with him, and having the wrong heat probably won't help that. She refuesed a f/t large fuzzy mouse on Sunday, which wasn't a surprise. The breeder said she'd been eating f/t hoppers, but the pet store I went to was out of hoppers. Plan on offering again tomorrow.

The snake herself has been sitting in the cold hide basically nonstop. No exploring, she darted into the cold as soon as I put her down and is always there when I check on her, although I have noticed substrate moved to uncover the glass on the hot side a couple times, so I think she's basking at night. Her behavior makes me worry about increasing the tank heat, since she's always in the cold. I was told at the pet store that she'd be fine since I had a 90 hot spot and she'd go there if she was,too cold, but temps were low 60s in the cold side and I read the opposite on here. 75 now. Thoughts? Is there something more I can do to help, or is she fine and I'm worrying too much?

[Waterman]

Definitely nothing under 75. I try to avoid under 77 honestly. The 90° on your hot spot...is that just the floor temp? Not much good will come if your hot spot is 90 but your ambient is for example 70. Might need to pick up another heat lamp and appropriate bulb. Or heat lamp and say 100w bulb but make sure to have a dimmer. Some have the dimmer wires right into them now. Check out amazon. Their cheaper (so are the bulbs). Also what are you using to take the temps? Temp gun for surface temps is ideal, and digital is best for ambient. Those stick on ones at petstores are worthless. I apologize if you mentioned what you used, it’s been a long day for me.

ditch the tinfoil. Yea it helps but there’s better options. Home Depot, get some of the pink foam insulation board. Wrap back and sides in that. Doesn’t look pretty but works. My temps are 10+ warmer wrapped in it. Also cut pieces to fit over the screen top, between any lamps you may be using. My burm is currently in a 40 gal breeder cage set up like this, heated by 2 heat lamps, one on warm end one on cool end, both controlled by a herpstat. I have no issues getting a 90 basking on the floor, 81 cool end temp. Does suck the living crap out of my humidity though. She’s on paper towel right now so not surprised.

humidity wise...not much your going to do with an aquarium type cage. They suck for heating (hence insulation with the foam board) and suck for humidity. And heat lamps don’t make it any better. Covering the screen top helps, along with misting (I put hot water...as hot as the tap will go into a spray bottle and mist the cages when I need to. I don’t mist the snake though). Effective but not ideal honestly. Best advice on that I’d have is think about switching your substrate. Coconut husk substrates are great for humidity. And they absorb liquid like crazy. Easy to spot clean, and absorb the odors. I currently use reptile prime for my boa, the burm I just got so he’s on paper towel...but I never have to worry about humidity. She’s in an ap cage though so that’s a lot of it. But I have used reptile prime in an aquarium with her before she got the ap cage and it worked well, couple with misting. If you switch to it, add a little hot water to the substrate before putting it in. Doesn’t take a lot. Mix it up well then add it. Reptichip is another popular coconut husk substrate. I haven’t tried it yet though. Bigger pieces. Reptile prime is more fine. Might try reptichip next.

[MarkL1561]

Reptichip has worked great for me. You can get a lot relatively cheap. On Amazon you get 72 quarts for $30, not bad imo. Also just a small tip, place a hide over your uth to lock heat in on the warm side.


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[ballpythonsrock2]

I would till Sunday to offer again instead of today which is Friday I guess. I would wait 7 days to offer another feeding. Meanwhile you need to work at getting that cold end temp. up some. I would try to get it up to 80 or even 82. They definitely eat better when they are kept warm. Can I recommend this, can you get to a Petco and pick you up a Zilla night bulb (black light) or red night light (if you have too) 100 watt. Have it plugged into a thermostat and put the probe close to and just above the hide. Probably the cold hide which doesn't have the UTH under it. I think you will find the temp will go up and be better heated with the 100 watt night bulb.
That was my experience anyway. You will need a dome that can hold a 100 watt of even a 150 watt. but I wouldn't use a 150 watt till you see that a 100 watt isn't doing it. But you shouldn't have to get a 150 watt because a 100 watt should bring up the heat just fine. Make sure it is on a good working thermostat or it could get too hot you don't want that either. Then when you have it nice and warm then Sunday I would offer a nice warm 100 F. feeder. Thaw the feeder belly up in the room to provide smell incentive and once the belly is soft, then heat it (measuring with an infrared dot temp gun) with hair dryer to 100 F

PS If you don't have a hair dryer (which works the best) you can lay it (belly down) under the heat bulb to heat but measure it every minute with the infrared dot gun and get it out once it reaches 100 F and then put it straight in when the snake is in it's hide. If snake is out it is a bit harder to get it to eat especially at first when they are so young and timid. I try to have my feeder ready before my snake rises up and comes out which is best offered say 6 or 7 pm.

[ballpythonsrock2]

I would till Sunday to offer again instead of today which is Friday I guess. I would wait 7 days to offer another feeding. Meanwhile you need to work at getting that cold end temp. up some. I would try to get it up to 80 or even 82. They definitely eat better when they are kept warm. Can I recommend this, can you get to a Petco and pick you up a Zilla night bulb (black light) or red night light (if you have too) 100 watt. Have it plugged into a thermostat and put the probe close to and just above the hide. the cold hide which doesn't have the UTH under it. I think you will find the temp will go up and be better heated with the 100 watt night bulb heat instead of the CHE not in addition with.
That was my experience anyway.

And congrats! on your new pet. And welcome to the forum. There are different folks here with sometimes different opinions but hopefully we can offer solutions that can help you decide how you want to do things. Some folks here have lots of experience some of us myself included not as much but we all like to be helpful in the way we think best.

[ApepApocalypse]

Thank you all so much for the help! I got temps up to 82 ambient, which I'm so happy about! Foam board's gonna be great for when it gets really cold too. Ordering some Reptichip, have a humidifier in the room until it arrives as a temporary solution. My CHE does have a built in dimmer and I've been using that to adjust the temps, but it's been annoying getting it to work properly, so I'll grab one of those Zilla bulbs when I go to a different pet store to get her some proper sized mice. And I'll hold off on feeding until Sunday, probably better to use a hopper instead of a pinky. This forum and community has been amazing for a beginner keeper! I just might have to get another ball in a year or two now, haha. The more I learn about these snakes the cooler they get.

[ballpythonsrock2]

Thank you all so much for the help! I got temps up to 82 ambient, which I'm so happy about! Foam board's gonna be great for when it gets really cold too. Ordering some Reptichip, have a humidifier in the room until it arrives as a temporary solution. My CHE does have a built in dimmer and I've been using that to adjust the temps, but it's been annoying getting it to work properly, so I'll grab one of those Zilla bulbs when I go to a different pet store to get her some proper sized mice. And I'll hold off on feeding until Sunday, probably better to use a hopper instead of a pinky. This forum and community has been amazing for a beginner keeper! I just might have to get another ball in a year or two now, haha. The more I learn about these snakes the cooler they get.

Putting the bulb or CHE on a thermostat is more consistent and a lot easier in my opinion. I would rather have the thermostat do all the work.

Glad you got the temps up to 82 that makes me more hopeful for your snake eating Sunday.

[Zincubus]

Have you got one of these fabulous digital temp guns by the way ?




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