My poor angel got burned

[O'Mathghamhna]

Hey all--Just wanted to provide an update on my sweet girl. We are done with pain meds and she has eaten despite her burn and had a good pee since. We are still doing antibiotic shots every 3 days. She did shed right after the burn and some of the damage came off, but not all (I believe it will take about 2-3 more shed cycles). I want to thank everyone who extended advice on the burns and on my setup--I wasn't even aware the original hides were insufficient. I have since switched to the hides recommended, got a RHP (SO much better), and replaced the bedding with Reptibark to better hold humidity. Current temps measure between 88-92 on the warm side and 77-80 on the cool side, measured with a temp gun. She doesn't roam and enjoys her warm hide--she hardly ever comes out. Based on this updated setup, are there any other improvements I can make that y'all can see (ignore the temp on the Reptistat--I just had the enclosure doors open prior to taking the photo)?

*edit* The light in the tank is only on for about 6 hours a day, mainly so I can keep an eye on the tank and on the snek. It is also on a timer so it is off when the sun goes down.

Thanks so much again--y'all have made this transition easy by recommending the perfect products!

[Bogertophis]

So glad to hear she's healing up & you're getting the enclosure dialed in much better. BPs are harder to keep than many other kinds of snakes, since they need
warmer homes with more humidity. I'm guessing your home (heating & cooling) isn't regulated by thermostat, since you mentioned the wide fluctuations, so that
does present a challenge for you. A timer is a good idea, but a thermostat might be a better one?

[Team Slytherin]

Thank you for posting this! I’ve been wondering about this lately, as my scrub python is in a temporary setup with a perch VERY close to the grate. Even on a thermostat, I’ve wondered if it might still get too hot for him to bask so close. Sorry you’ve had to go through this mess!

[Albert420]

I have a spider that loves to explore, and I was scared of this happening so this was my remedy with my custom built enclosures. The night heat globe is in the enclosure secured inside a thick metal fire gaurd as seen in the photo, this is regulated by a thermostat to keep the ambient Temps at a constant and I have a heat Matt on the other side also regulated by thermostat for his hot side.

I hope this will never be a problem for me as the guard does get hot but I can keep my hand on it at all times without it burning my hand?? When I measured it with my heat gun it was 122 fahr, I have also placed brown paper bag in the corner between the gaurd and enclosure so they can't climb the gaurd like a stripper pole lollll.....

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[Vegan.Hiker]

I’m sorry to hear about your snake. I had a similar problem, my CHE lamps that site directly on my metal screen top that were heating up the inside of the metal screen top to over 400F (fixed this well before I added my snake) even though it was regulated by a thermostat (the brand of the terrarium just has a really thick metal screen which gets way too hot).

My solution was to get a 20 Long zilla screen cover and mount it upside down to the existing screen top to create about an inch space between the 2 screens. The zilla screen has much less material on it to heat up and according to my infrared gun (and my hand which I can hold on it without burning) shows that it doesn’t heat up past ~100F. I mounted them together with twist ties btw. There are pictures in my thread about my new enclosure if your interested in seeing it.

[O'Mathghamhna]

Thanks so much to everyone for sharing their experiences and fixes! I feel much better with the RHP, and it appears to be doing a fantastic job of regulating the temps in the tank now without getting scorching hot. Also, since doing away with the heat lamp, I just taped cellophane over that grate to retain humidity, and got great results that way.

Bogertophis, thank you for the recommendation--the weird thing is the house is on a thermostat! But the good news is this new setup appears to be working great, even with the fluctuations, so I will keep everyone posted if I encounter challenges.

Thanks again to all!