Concerns of a New BP Owner

[ckuhn003]

Ok, so I worded the fluctuation badly. I have to adjust my stats at least once a day, because of the temperature of my house. The cool side is usually fine and shuffles between 75º and 80º but can sometimes dip below 70 or rise above 80 depending on the house. I also have a huge window that affects my room temp. I will be moving soon to an environment with a much more stable temperature, thankfully, but until then my room is the only place for him.

The hot side is the bigger problem. It's true that it can fluctuate about 10º a day, but not all at once! That would definitely be a shock. It only wiggles about 5º up or down at a time. But again, because of my house, I usually have to adjust that side once a day. (I only set it one more degree above or below- that's enough of a change to fix it, usually.)

Hopefully that makes more sense.

From the sounds of it, you're not taking the surface temperatures of your tank which is what you need to be concerned with. You can achieve this by using a temp gun. I say this because I don't think your house temperatures are going to influence huge 10 degree swings in surface temps; especially if you have a working thermostat controlling your heat mats. It sounds like you may be using a regular thermometer to take air temps inside your tank. Does this make sense?

[smakemom]

From the sounds of it, you're not taking the surface temperatures of your tank which is what you need to be concerned with. You can achieve this by using a temp gun. I say this because I don't think your house temperatures are going to influence huge 10 degree swings in surface temps; especially if you have a working thermostat controlling your heat mats. It sounds like you may be using a regular thermometer to take air temps inside your tank. Does this make sense?

I actually have a thermometer on either side and the probes are against the surface of the tank, covered by the substrate. What you say makes sense though.

[vivi]

What thermostat do you have and where's the probe?

[smakemom]

What thermostat do you have and where's the probe?

I use two vivosun digital heat mat thermostats (the ones shown here: https://www.amazon.com/VIVOSUN-Therm.../dp/B015F4VFGI)
The probes are directly under the hides, beneath the substrate.
I use these thermometers: https://www.petsmart.com/fish/heatin...ml?cgid=300121
And this hygrometer: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[jmcrook]

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[smakemom]

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I have the thermostat probe inside the tank, is that the issue? Everything else matches my setup.

[jmcrook]

Probe should absolutely never go inside the cage for a UTH. Could have something to do with it. Goes outside between the heat pad and the bottom of the enclosure because inside it can get moved, peed on, water spilled, etc and will change the temperature regulation and could result in burns, fire, etc


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[ckuhn003]

Probe should absolutely never go inside the cage for a UTH. Could have something to do with it. Goes outside between the heat pad and the bottom of the enclosure because inside it can get moved, peed on, water spilled, etc and will change the temperature regulation and could result in burns, fire, etc

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Bingo! I think this is your answer here to your wild temp fluctuations. Hope this helps you get back on the right track.

[Bogertophis]

And if the enclosure is dipping to 70* on the cool side, that's TOO LOW. The 'cool side' for a BP should be about 78-80*,not below 75*. Sensing a chill can make snakes
refuse to feed, & for a BP, it doesn't take much anyway, to make them refuse. But hopefully when you get your thermostat probes set up correctly, this won't keep on
happening.

[smakemom]

Thank you all so much! That’s probably definitely the issue. I will fix that right away!