getting temps and humidity right

[Razzle]

I just set up my tank and i cant get the cooler end to 80-84 and the humidity is at 39. I'm using a UTH and a 75 watt infared heat lamp connected to a repti-therm 500R. Should i use other lower wattage lamp for the other side? I don't have my BP yet, I was hoping to have the tank up and running before i get one.Any suggestions would be appreciated

[Kagez28]

this should help...
http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=32800

also do you have a thermostat controlling the UTH. if not i would recommend one of those. with a UTH just plugged into the wall it can reach temps that are very dangerous to your snake. for a temp solution you can use a rheostat, which is basically a lamp dimmer.

hope this helps

[bearhart]

I replied to the thread in General

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...131#post590131

[Tat&Tu]

I am having the same problems and I followed the directions of the tutorial link that is posted here already! So what do I do now to get the temp on the cool side to stay at 80-84? At night the temp drops too low and day it goes up to high? I'm lost and need suggestions!

[BostonMacK]

You could try adding a second UTH, possibly smaller to the cool side of your tank. Like already stated connecting your UTH to a stat/dimmer is a must. You don't want to fry your snake. Do you have a dgital thermometer to read your temps? If not what are you using? As far as humidity levels go, what are you using for substrate? Do you have the majority of your tanks cover covered up to help keep humidty in? I use cypress for substrate and it's very good for keeping your himidity levels up.

Once you get everything dialed in you will be fine. It's no fun in the beginning but it pays off.

[Tat&Tu]

ok I will get a second UTH for cooler nights but what do I do on hot days I can't get the temp down? I use digital thermometers and yep most of top is covered and has reflective bottom surface too! I have dimmer already. And where do I find this cypress I have fir bark now and some aspen too in a bag I haven't used it tho!

[Tat&Tu]

Will the UTH fry a snake thru the substrate tho? And how much substrate am I supposed to use anyways?

[bearhart]

I should make it clear that a thermostat is what is recommended. A dimmer is considered acceptable, but not ideal.

I use a dimmer so I'll tell you about my setup.

I have been able to get consistent, correct gradients. But, it takes a little practice to get a feel for it. Also, I usually tweak the adjustment minute amounts once or twice a day. Whenever you are adjusting the dimmer, make only small adjustments at any one time and give the enclosure at least 20 mins to re-stabilize before adjusting again. This is especially important when you are first starting out with it and don't have any real idea how things will react.

With regard to safety: The ideal would be that, with your UTH fully on, you can place your hand on the bottom of the glass and hold it there. It can feel hot but should not actually cause pain if held indefinately. My basis for this recommendation is that when I first started I had an always-on UTH that passed this test (luckily for my snake). The temperatures weren't controlled well but (also luckily) my snake wasn't too shy to come out and cool off if he got too hot. Sometimes he would burrow down to the glass and sit right over the UTH. It was an unhealthily hot temperature but at least he never got contact burns. My point is you should make sure that, in the worst case scenario where your UTH is left fully on, your snake is not going to be burned. As long as you are keeping an eye on things you should be able to notice the problem and correct it long before he experiences any sort of long-term health risks.

I've had pretty good luck connecting my two UTH's and one heat lamp all to one single dimmer. I was able to get the temperatures to be relatively correct because I have a large UTH on one side and a small UTH on the other. Also, over the small UTH I have a heat lamp. In order to get it all to work out right I had to also bump up the heat lamp to 100W. The nice thing about it is that usually I find that all of the temperature points in the cage tend to drift together (usually in response to room temperature). With a single control I can heat or cool the whole environment. You could also use multiple dimmers. Also, make sure you have enough temperature reading points to let you know that everything is right. Temperatures in the cage can change quite a bit over just a few inches. I think you need at least three temperature readings.

I use the "Credenza" 300W Lamp Dimmer from Lutron
http://www.lutron.com/lampdimmers/Default.asp (shown in the upper left)
I purchased it from Home Depot for about $12

[randomdaydream]

*rant rant rant* I have been struggling for awhile now with what my baby girl is in right now, getting the humidity and heat right. It's a very odd container that her previous owner gave me and decided to try and make work. I should take a pic and post it, it's so weird looking!

Good luck with your temp & humidity! Sorry, I have nothing helpful to add.

[Tat&Tu]

So what will the thermostat do exactly can u set a temp or something and it will keep it there?