New and need help with keeping my 55 gal tank warm please.

[GIRLCHILD3]

I am in Maine and I'm afraid I don't keep my house warm enough for my BP. I got him to "rescue" him from my brother in-law who was keeping him in a filthy tank which he kept escaping out of. Anyway my house is starting to get cold around 65 in the day and 60ish at night. The tank is only around 75 during the day and I noticed it got down to around 70 at night. This is what I have for a set up: 55 gal fish tank with a metal screen top which is 80% covered with tin foil. (1) 100 watt ceramic bulb light which sits right on top of the cover on the right side. (1) large heat pad (for a 55 gal tank) on the lower left side of the glass. (1) small heat pad on the bottom of the left side which I keep his water dish on. I have put styrofoam (sp?) insulation on both of the smaller sides and most of the back (I left the spot behind the heating pad open). The styrofoam does not seem to be doing anything as the temperature did not change. The tank is on an enclosed wooden stand. Also I have aspen on the bottom of the tank about 1 - 2" thick. The ceramic light and heat pads are all plugged straight into the wall so I assume they are running at full blast. I have a Zilla thermometer/hygrometer which says 76 right now. It is 65 in the house right now.
Poor Rudy (my BP) has been in his hide all the time for the last 4 days (as far as I know). I have had him since 9/14 and he has been eating 2 adult mice every week since then. Prior to this week he would get more active when he was hungry and he would poke his head out of his hide when he heard me nearby.
I feel terrible and I want to do the best I can for Rudy but I cannot afford to raise my heat up 10 degrees. Nor would I want to live in a house that was 75 degrees. I live in a mobile home and I have a large kerosine heater that heats my whole house so putting him in one room and turning that rooms heat up to 75 is not an option either. Especially since I just have the one snake.
I do have a smaller tank (20 gal long I think). Would it be best to keep him in that for the winter?
Thanks so much.

[rperry03]

The heat pad running 100% will burn him!
Unless I missed it, how big is he? just wondering for the 20l tank. A 55gal is tall and is very difficult to heat

[RestlessRobie]

Well I would also think a smaller tank would be easier to keep the heat in. But if the 55 is the way you want to go I would ADD foil tape to the tanks side of all the Styrofaom to reflect heat back in. I would also cover 3/4 of the tank with a peice of Plexi with the foil tape on it to also reflect heat in. I Drilled a few holes in mine for ventilation. This will help keep the heat and humidity in a lot better. JUST make sure no tape is in the tank as this is very bad if your snake gets stuck on it.
Here is a thread about the tank top treatment similr to what I did
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...tment-Tutorial
Hope this is helpful

[RestlessRobie]

Oh forgot you do also need to get a thermostat for the heat pad if you dont alreay have one. I have seen heat pads get up to 130f unregulated before and this will burn your snake

[Skittles1101]

+2 on the thermostat. UTHs are not meant to raise ambient temps, and the floor temps you are running it at can burn him severely. I live in MA, and in the winter I use either a CHE or a low wattage lamp on dimmers in order to raise needed ambient temps. I read temps with my temp gun (on the surfaces) and with digital thermometers. I suggest getting a smaller tank honestly...since you are using a high wattage CHE and a UTH on full blast, both of which are very dangerous. How are you reading these temps?

[tcutting]

The way you have it setup is actually pretty good; however given you are in Maine and winter is on its way and you can’t control the temp of the individual room he is in, i would suggest keeping him in the smaller tank. As stated the UTH is not designed to raise ambient temps, but rather to provide good belly heat. And depending on the way you are setup, substrate, etc you can run a risk of harming the snake if you don’t have a thermostat.

Personally i have a second room that i keep at 75 ambient temp and have lamps/UTHs for additional heat for my snakes and it has served well for me thus far. But really just move him into the smaller tank it is easier to control the temps/humidity in a small enclosure.

[GIRLCHILD3]

Thank you so much for all the help. Rudy is about 4' long BTW.
I am going to set him up in the 20 gal tank tomorrow and see if I can keep him warm that way.
I did not realize that the pads would not increase the ambient temp and I put it on the back side of the tank so he would not burn himself on it. The one under the tank is covered by his water dish so he cannot lie directly on it.
I do have a thermostat and I will use it when I switch tanks.
I will try some of the other suggestions like the reflecting tape if I find that it is still too cool in there.
I'll keep you posted on my progress.

[snake lab]

Glass in fish tanks have no insulating properties.

[Maixx]

Stick 1/2 inch ridgid foam insulation to sides and back.

[RetiredJedi]

Here's a crappy video of the treatment I did to the top of ours. I've added an Ultratherm UTH to it and a few more things in the tank but temps and humidity are great.