Greetings from Africa!

[Bundu Boy]

Thanks for the comments all.

Hey Nick - The digital thermometer is pretty accurate so I'll be using that to be precise. I'll look at getting a digital hydrometer further down the line.

Franky - Great minds think alike.... I''ll be topping my knowledge for sure

[Bundu Boy]

Nick, I've just gone through every post you've ever made at BPNet. No where is there one where you got your butt handed to you (as you put it) over something to do with a dial thermometer. If I have missed something, please provide me with a link to that thread.

Since you are a relatively new member I will remind you once again, as you've had to be reminded twice now by Moderators, that we do NOT encourage bringing issues from other forums here to BPNet! Neither do we encourage or allow our members to be rude to each other when they give advice on husbandry issues. If this occurred here, please bring it to staff's attention - if it occurred elsewhere, it belongs there.

Looks like Franky is....on the BALL (Heh, I'm sure you've never heard that one before)

For sure Nicky, if there's a reason why you fell foul of these dial meters, then pray tell...

[rabernet]

Hey Raber

Thanks for the advice.

I'll raise the UTH to increase the temp on the warm side. The cool side may be an issue though. I've just measured it at 75F and this will definately get lower as the room temp goes down in the evenings.

How important is it to have the cool side at 80F if Samson feels it is too cold would he not park off somewhere between the 2 sides to get the cooling he needs?

if need be I can get a smaller UTH for the cool side which would hopefully keep the temp up at around 80F.

Also what side of the tank should the water bowl be on? I'm thinking of putting it in the middle of the tank where it would get some heating from the UTH.

You really don't want your cool side to drop much less than 77 degrees, as you want to keep your ambient temps in the low 80's if at all possible.

Not sure if you mentioned it or not, but a UTH should be controlled by a thermostat or dimmer, because they could get too warm.

Samson "might" park himself in the warm side if he's too cool, but if your hides are not identical on each side, he may choose a favorite hide (security) over thermo-regulating.

I do keep my water dish in the middle of the warm and cool sides.

Another alternative is to use a plastic tub, rather than a glass enclosure - they tend to hold heat and humidity easier than glass does.

[Bundu Boy]

Oh poop!

Right now Samson has 1 hide, a half coconut, and he takes up about half of it. I actually bought a really nice rock hide today which is a bit bigger on the inside than the coconut.

After just reading faq and seeing your comments I've noted that 2 hides of the same is preferred, or at least 2 hides that fit snug. I've got really nice pebbles outside, how's about if I boil them and then put a few into the hides to decrease the hide space?

Here's the new hide, it'll look super in the tank

[rabernet]

I'd just watch him and see if he prefers one over the other. Another inexpensive alternative is to buy some plastic plant saucers and solder out some entrances - sort of like the one in this picture:



Here's the baby:


After these pictures were taken, the green hide was replaced with an identical saucer.

[Laooda]

Hello and welcome to the forum! There's a world a great people and knowledge here!

[Bundu Boy]

Hey Laooda

[cassandra]

Welcome to b-p.net!

I'm one of the few and loud "glass" people here, so the aesthetic of a nice looking vivarium for my pet snakes is important to me, as it sounds like it is for you. =)

I'll echo what everyone else has said and get two identical hides. My favorite manufacturers for pleasing looking hides that are easy to clean and work well for BP husbandry requirements are Hagen and Zilla, especially Zilla's "rock den" series. I have my corn snake, ball python and boa constrictor all with Zilla rock den hides and all 3 pretty much live in them. =) I would assume you should be able to get these in your local good reptile shop.

The half log hide is crap. Pitch it. =P

Our BP is now in a 4' x 2' x 2', up from her original 20L, but the arrangement is pretty much the same:


You'll notice that the mouths on these 2 hides are different. I got another hide, identical to the one the right with the smaller door, and replaced the gaping one because even tho the first two were similar, Cleo never went into the one with the big door.

Have a look at the link in my sig for more info on my suggested glass viv setup and lemme know if you have more questions. =)

[Bundu Boy]

Nice tank there

My tank is a reptile tank with 4 glass sides. Sliding doors on the front and has a mesh entrance point in it's roof. It's a nice unit and very secure
I see that yours has just the front visible. Must be less stressful for your little one....

[West Coast Jungle]

Welcome to BPnet.

Snakes are addicting. I predict you may soon have another