Tank layout and Temp

[KahleenB]

Hello all. Now that I finally got everything set up and I believe I am all good, besides the humidity at the moment. I just wanted to post a picture of the tank with the temperatures and make sure they are all where they should be.
I am a little nervous about either frying him or having him be to cold so I am CONSTANTLY checking the temperature. So these are the averages.

http://imgur.com/30vEm5R

The far right side of the tank (the coolest part) is 75 close to the glass.
The right side of the tank is at 77 (where I was told to measure the coolest side) **halfway between the middle and the end of the cage**
The ambient temperature sits between 80 and 82
The hottest part of the tank directly under the lamp sits at exactly 88.6

Are these temperatures okay?

The people at the pet store haven't been much help.

Thank you!

[C2tcardin]

Looks pretty good, a couple of quick questions though. Is the probe for recording heat, humidity, or both? If the dial on the back of the tank is your thermometer get rid of it in favor of an IR temp gun which can be bought on Amazon for between $20 and $30. You may want to cover the back of the tank at a minimum and I would say go so far as to cover the sides too. Your snake is going to feel exposed despite the two hides with all that open glass.
also, it's a little hard to tell from the photo but it looks like your screen top is uncovered? If so you will want to look up various methods of closing up most of it except for the area under the heat lamp. This will help immensely with your humidity issues and hold in some ambient heat as well.

Good luck, looks like a great start!

[M.P.C]

If you still have a mesh top. cover the whole thing in aluminun foil, cut out the opening for your light giving about a half inch gap all around, now make a small vent over the cool side of the tank and this should do wounders for your humidity, ill mist maybe once or twice a week with this method

[KahleenB]

The probe is for recording both heat and humidity. We spent extra money on it and it records amazingly.

What would you suggest covering the back and the sides with? We've been to a few pet stores in the area and they don't have reptile wall paper.

We are gonna be covering the top with tin foil today and we are hoping it will trap some of the heat on the cooler side (Which gets a little cool at night) and will trap humidity.

Now would you guys suggest keeping the one light shinning in during the day (the snake is in a very well lite room) or just keep the red nocturnal light on 24/7. On this site I read saying just keeping the red light makes things easier then changing it every day but on a few other sites it says its necessary to trade out the lights every 12 hours.

Thanks for the help

[Albert Clark]

Hi, I think the light from your windows will be sufficient for the bp's for daytime. The red light is good for 24/7 unless you care to swap out the bulb occaisionally for viewing. A dark colored construction paper should be good for the sides of the tank and the feeling of security for the animal. Did you buy a thermostat for the uth? That tank looks fantastic!