pm herp cages and heat light?

[0mega9401]

i just bought a pm herps cage "plastic cage" (( 36" x 24" X 12)) now i put an under tank heater in there and my ball stays in his hide constantly i dont think he gets enough heat in there and i live in jersey and its cold... like really cold and my room is kinda cold.

now should i put a heat light inside the tank ive seen a beardie breeder do it but the cages were a little taller. so should please help.

[Demon280z]

A Beardie is not a snake.. You can limit the Beardies ability to reach the lamp but that's not the case with your BP. Putting a lamp in the tank is not a good idea at all.

The best thing would be to use a space heater to heat your room. You could also add another UTH on the cool side set to appropriate temps.

When you say that you don't think he is getting enough heat, I assume you aren't measuring the temps.. How are you controlling the UTH and measuring temps?

[0mega9401]

i have a low wattage uth that doesnt get too hot and i have a temp gun around here that i will be using to take his temps when i find it. i have to say i keep the room at 72- 75 in the summer it gets really hot in here like 80's

[Demon280z]

So you have no idea what his temps are at??

You need to have a probe over the UTH for monitoring as well as a Thermostat or at least a dimmer to control temps. How do you know it's not "too hot"? A low wattage UTH can still get too hot and what if it fails?

How are you monitoring humidity?

[0mega9401]

because last time i set it is when i had my temp gun and i set for 72-75 max on the uth on a dimmer hummity is fine at 70-80 i mist in there often. (( humity gauge ))

[Demon280z]

72-75 is his hot side? That is way too low. It should be 88-94 on the hot side.

Also, 70-80% is too high for average humidity. It should be between 50-60% unless he is in shed, you can bump it up to 70-80%. If you are measuring with a stick on gauge, it is probably not even correct.

Go to Walmart and get an Acurite Thermometer/Hygrometer for about $12. Place the probe over the UTH and mount the body on the cool side about 6 inches above the substrate.

[DutchHerp]

Sounds like someone didn't do their homework before getting a snakey...

I'd like to see pics of your setup, to see if there's anything else we can help you (and specifically your Ball Python) with.

[sum182]

yeah, a set-up pick would be helpfull, and you should really monitor your temps. I didnt for a while and realized that its something that needed to be done. its not that expensive to do so stop being lazy!!! lol. (magically when i put my probe in my temps were 90-77, almost right on! lol)