Need help setting up a 10 gallon tank

[MitsuMike]

You still need 2 tanks, you can't house BP's together. Yes SOME have had success but most have failed and one snake died or both. A 20 gallon that has a divider in it would work great. When they get older u already have the tank that a snake will live it's life in. And all you have to do is buy another instead of buying 2 new tanks and having the sell the old ones.

[anatess]

Okay here's the 10gallon set-up instructions:

1.) Turn the tank upside down and stick a Zoo-med UTH or similar (sized for 10-20 gallons) to the bottom of the tank towards one end. It should cover about 1/3 of the bottom of the tank from one end. If your UTH comes with a sticker, don't bother with peeling off the sticker. Use aluminum tape (found in hardware stores) to stick the UTH onto the tank. You will find that once that UTH is stuck to that tank, it is almost impossible to take out. You would need to take it out to move it to a bigger tank/tub.

2.) Turn the tank right-side up. Get an Indoor/Outdoor Digital Thermometer/Hygrometer with probe (the acu-rite brand can be found at Walmart for $12). Put the probe on top of the UTH inside the tank. Cover the bottom of the tank including the probe with an inch of substrate (Aspen is good and it's nice to look at, Cypress is good if you need to raise the humidity).

3.) Put one hide on top of the probe on the UTH side. The hide needs to be a "cave like" structure that only has one entry and small enough so that the snake can coil in there with the hide's sides touching the snake's body. Don't use those half-log things. Then put another hide of the same kind on the other end of the tank.

4.) Put a good-sized water bowl in the middle. If you need to raise humidity, you can put half of the waterbowl on top of the UTH. It is better if your water bowl is big enough so that the snake can coil in it. A big water bowl in a glass tank is necessary to provide humidity.

5.) Clutter up your tank with decorations - plastic plants, crumpled newspapers, etc. - so that your snake can move from one hide to the other without feeling too exposed. The decorations is what you would be looking at most of the time so go wild with it. The lesser empty air space, the better. Don't put anything that you can't wash off easily. You'll notice they'll get poop stuck on it sometimes, and shed stuck on it sometimes. Don't put anything heavy that can topple over. These bp's can be surprisingly strong.

6.) Cover 3 sides of the tank with construction paper/aquarium background/styrofoam/corkboard, etc. This provides added security and acts as insulation.

7.) Get a screen cover for your tank and get durable clips. Cover most of the screen with 3 layers of tin foil. Or you can get a piece of plexiglass. Just leave a half-inch space around the sides of the screen for airflow.

8.) Plug the UTH to a thermostat. The Reptiterm 500R ($30) is sufficient and it can hold 2 UTHs of the same size and manage it properly. Use aluminum tape to attach the thermostat probe to the UTH on the underside of the tank (outside). A lot of people also put the probe in between the UTH and the tank. Either way is okay. Plug the thermostat to the wall.

9.) Using your Indoor/Outdoor thermometer, lay the thermometer somewhere inside the tank on the cold side. Don't use any tape inside the tank - it could hurt your snake. So, just plop the thermometer on the substrate or lean it against the wall. Make sure the probe wire is buried under the substrate out of the way. Monitor the temperature so that the indoor temperature is around 80F and the outdoor reading (comes from the probe) is around 90F. The hygrometer should read between 50-60%. If it goes down to 45% it's okay. If it goes up to 65% it's okay. Just check that it doesn't go too far below 50 and too high above 60. You can raise the humidity to 70% if the snake is in shed.

10.) If the indoor thermometer reading (also known as ambient temps) is too low, you can add a heat lamp (red bulb or moon bulb) to raise the ambient temperature on top of the screen. The heat lamp will lower your humidity a lot. You will have to punch a hole on your tin foil/plexiglass big enough for your lamp. The lower the wattage needed the better. So, get one that has a dimmer so you can get a 75W bulb then lower it with the dimmer until you get up to 80F ambient temps. You might need to play with the water bowl, substrate, and lamp to get proper humidity.

That should be it. I think I covered everything. Oh, if you are feeding live, you might need to move your snake to a feeding container. The rat will find too many stuff to hide in, poop on your substrate, etc.

Here's a picture of my 10 gallon:
Please note that in this picture, the lamp looks like it is inside the tank but it is completely not... That's just a reflection of the lamp that I used to shine into the tank so I can get a picture without the flash going off and reflecting off the glass. The heat lamp, if needed goes outside the tank, on top of the screen. The heavy wood thing does not move. It is stuck between the sides of the glass and the floor. It "hovers" over the water bowl so that when the snake is getting a drink it does not feel exposed from above.


Hope this helps.

[Camarokidz28]

For a tstat, don't get the reptitemp 500r. It's a piece of junk.

[anatess]

P.S.

Get this set-up completed before you get your snake. It will be much easier to twiddle with it when there's no snake in there yet. Once you put the snake in there, leave him alone for a week before you start feeding him. Then after he has eaten, leave him alone for 2 more days, then you can start handling the snake and getting him used to you.

Good luck!

This set-up may be maintenance-heavy (have to take everything out to clean, then have to twiddle with the temps/humidity again everytime you do so) but it will give you lesser headaches with getting the snake settled and comfortable than just putting 2 hides and a bowl in there. And it is enjoyable to look at even when the snake is out of sight. Moving the snake to a bigger tank is easy, just follow the same instructions but with more stuff - bigger hides, more decorations, bigger water bowl... and the snake should switch over without problems especially if the new tank is set-up completely before he is moved.

[anatess]

For a tstat, don't get the reptitemp 500r. It's a piece of junk.

I beg to differ. I've used one for 2 years. It's not a ranco but for 2 tanks with the same size UTH, it works just fine.

[RichieBoo]

go on utube and put in Ralph Davis Reptiles..he goes step by step on 10 gallon set up..

[MitsuMike]

I beg to differ. I've used one for 2 years. It's not a ranco but for 2 tanks with the same size UTH, it works just fine.

Yea I mean it's not GREAT. It's no herpstat or anything. But it's a decent on/off thermostat that keeps temps in my quarantine tubs just fine.
Ok I would rather have a "piece of junk" than nothing at all or a light dimmer.

[Nick_bp]

Okay here's the 10gallon set-up instructions:

1.) Turn the tank upside down and stick a Zoo-med UTH or similar (sized for 10-20 gallons) to the bottom of the tank towards one end. It should cover about 1/3 of the bottom of the tank from one end. If your UTH comes with a sticker, don't bother with peeling off the sticker. Use aluminum tape (found in hardware stores) to stick the UTH onto the tank. You will find that once that UTH is stuck to that tank, it is almost impossible to take out. You would need to take it out to move it to a bigger tank/tub.

2.) Turn the tank right-side up. Get an Indoor/Outdoor Digital Thermometer/Hygrometer with probe (the acu-rite brand can be found at Walmart for $12). Put the probe on top of the UTH inside the tank. Cover the bottom of the tank including the probe with an inch of substrate (Aspen is good and it's nice to look at, Cypress is good if you need to raise the humidity).

3.) Put one hide on top of the probe on the UTH side. The hide needs to be a "cave like" structure that only has one entry and small enough so that the snake can coil in there with the hide's sides touching the snake's body. Don't use those half-log things. Then put another hide of the same kind on the other end of the tank.

4.) Put a good-sized water bowl in the middle. If you need to raise humidity, you can put half of the waterbowl on top of the UTH. It is better if your water bowl is big enough so that the snake can coil in it. A big water bowl in a glass tank is necessary to provide humidity.

5.) Clutter up your tank with decorations - plastic plants, crumpled newspapers, etc. - so that your snake can move from one hide to the other without feeling too exposed. The decorations is what you would be looking at most of the time so go wild with it. The lesser empty air space, the better. Don't put anything that you can't wash off easily. You'll notice they'll get poop stuck on it sometimes, and shed stuck on it sometimes. Don't put anything heavy that can topple over. These bp's can be surprisingly strong.

6.) Cover 3 sides of the tank with construction paper/aquarium background/styrofoam/corkboard, etc. This provides added security and acts as insulation.

7.) Get a screen cover for your tank and get durable clips. Cover most of the screen with 3 layers of tin foil. Or you can get a piece of plexiglass. Just leave a half-inch space around the sides of the screen for airflow.

8.) Plug the UTH to a thermostat. The Reptiterm 500R ($30) is sufficient and it can hold 2 UTHs of the same size and manage it properly. Use aluminum tape to attach the thermostat probe to the UTH on the underside of the tank (outside). A lot of people also put the probe in between the UTH and the tank. Either way is okay. Plug the thermostat to the wall.

9.) Using your Indoor/Outdoor thermometer, lay the thermometer somewhere inside the tank on the cold side. Don't use any tape inside the tank - it could hurt your snake. So, just plop the thermometer on the substrate or lean it against the wall. Make sure the probe wire is buried under the substrate out of the way. Monitor the temperature so that the indoor temperature is around 80F and the outdoor reading (comes from the probe) is around 90F. The hygrometer should read between 50-60%. If it goes down to 45% it's okay. If it goes up to 65% it's okay. Just check that it doesn't go too far below 50 and too high above 60. You can raise the humidity to 70% if the snake is in shed.

10.) If the indoor thermometer reading (also known as ambient temps) is too low, you can add a heat lamp (red bulb or moon bulb) to raise the ambient temperature on top of the screen. The heat lamp will lower your humidity a lot. You will have to punch a hole on your tin foil/plexiglass big enough for your lamp. The lower the wattage needed the better. So, get one that has a dimmer so you can get a 75W bulb then lower it with the dimmer until you get up to 80F ambient temps. You might need to play with the water bowl, substrate, and lamp to get proper humidity.

That should be it. I think I covered everything. Oh, if you are feeding live, you might need to move your snake to a feeding container. The rat will find too many stuff to hide in, poop on your substrate, etc.

Here's a picture of my 10 gallon:
Please note that in this picture, the lamp looks like it is inside the tank but it is completely not... That's just a reflection of the lamp that I used to shine into the tank so I can get a picture without the flash going off and reflecting off the glass. The heat lamp, if needed goes outside the tank, on top of the screen. The heavy wood thing does not move. It is stuck between the sides of the glass and the floor. It "hovers" over the water bowl so that when the snake is getting a drink it does not feel exposed from above.


Hope this helps.

[bman123]

good luck showing them off, you won't see them 90% of the time. All they do is hide during the day and come out when your asleep.

[xfactor831]

go on utube and put in Ralph Davis Reptiles..he goes step by step on 10 gallon set up..

i did but he was using a light and a heating pad and i was wondering if that was too much for just a 10 gallon which is why i came on here to ask.

thanks anatess this really helps a lot. I was wondering how do i tape the UTH to the tank? do i tape the edges? or just put the tape in the middle?