Heat lamp for tubs???

[Chloe._.hanson]

Hey guys I just recently got my first ball python, I’m keeping her in a tub until she’s older. But I’m having trouble keeping the humidity low enough in the tub. I tried using a smaller surface area for water bowl. But the humidity is just way too high. Right now I’m using a heat pad but I saw somewhere that a heat lamp helps reduce the humidity. I want to try a heat lamp but I don’t know how to properly set it up with a tub.

[gunkle]

First off. Welcome to the forum. This is a great place with a ton of info. Congratulations on your new friend. The more info you provide us the better the answers you will get.

Ok. So high humidity for a little while won't hurt. It's when your super high for days or weeks that you need to worry. How are you measuring humidity? Digital hygrometer or a dial gauge from the pet store? If it's the dial it's no good. Tubs are known for holding humidity very well. You can try drier substrate, what substrate do you have? Coco fiber of some kind? Aspen? Paper towel. Did you we it before putting it in? You can add a few more vent holes to allow more air to leave which will help dry it out. Put the water bowl on the cool side so it's not over the heat pad. Use a smaller water bowl. There's lots of things to try. Pictures of your setup and definitely your new pet would help us. We love snake pictures.

[gunkle]

Also you can use a heat lamp on a tub but you have to be careful of melting it. I use one for my daughter's leopard gecko as her room is too chilly for just a heat pad. I drilled a series of holes in the lid in a circular pattern and support the heat lamp a few inches above it. There is ever so slightly warping where the lamp is heating but not bad and you can touch it without getting a burn. Is not ideal but we are moving so I will do better one settled in to the new home. Also if your using a heat pad and a heat lamp that means 2 thermostats. Belly heat from the heat pad and ambient heat from the heat lamp are different.

[Chloe._.hanson]

The lady at my local pet store suggested repti-bark it’s what she uses with her ball pythons. The water bowl is on the cold side and I am using the hygrometer gauge. Idk what I can do.

[bcr229]

Swap out the repti-bark for clean newspaper as substrate. The natural wood substrates like repti-bark, coco, cypress, etc. are great because you can get them wet and increase humidity in tanks or larger enclosures with a lot of ventilation, but that's not needed in a small tub.