Newbie.... feedback on my Habitat please

[ThuSandman]

Hey all.... My wife gave this little fella for Father's Day. So I've been reading as much as I can in hopes to do him justice. I now have his 'home' setup and was just wondering how it looked. Originally I only had the one hide in there and that was about it. Poor guy.... but now I added the other hide, some plants and a bigger water bowl in case he wants to soak a little. He seems to really like it now. Temp is pretty much staying at about 84. Got the lamp and UTH heater on the right side. He seems to favor the left (cooler) side now, since I added the other hide over there. I'm still working with the humidity.... I try to keep it above 60 but sometimes I catch it trying to drop on me. That's the main struggle I'm having. I have tin foil on the top, except for where I have the light shining in. Should I maybe cover it all and have the light just shine in from the glass? Here are some pics.

Current setup


Peeking out from his new hide on the 'cool side'


Before the renovation... when he was a 'poor snake' with only one hide

[xdeus]

Looks good! I have a couple comments/suggestions though... The new hide looks a little too big for him which might be why he prefers the cooler side. They like small, tight, confined spaces that they can curl up in and feel around them. The new hide seems a little too exposed. Also, have you measured the temps in the cool hide? With the UTH and lamp on the same side, it seems like the cool side might not get warm enough.

[atp151415]

UTH can definitley get to HOT without being controlled

other than no thermostat the setup looks awesome!

[ThuSandman]

I purposely didn't tape the UTH to the bottom of the tank after reading some things in here. I have now put a towel under it to press it up against the bottom though. The rack is vented so not too much heat buildup on shelf. I figured it it was too hot inside I could remove towel and that would move the pad away from the glass bottom cooling it a bit more.

Just got out a thermo and checked. With the towel pressing the pad to the bottom the temp read about 97 in the hot area. no wonder he is likin the other side! I'm going to move the towel out and see what it drops to.

I turned the overhead heat lamp off..... while checking
Ambient on the wall is about 80. Temp inside the cool hide is about 78 it seems. So it seems ambient is about 2 over hide temp... and now I'm checking the 'hot side' after it's cooled off a bit. Crappit. It's still like 92. I will pull the pad out and put it on the underside of the rack. Since it's got holes, the heat should still get through and hopefully drop a little more.

The hide does look rather large, but just inside and to the left is a cubby hole he likes. Curls up and seems quite content. Those are his two spots. Do you think I should still get some tiny ones? I was planning on putting a dowel rod in between the two so he could climb on it. I see what you mean about exposure... I think I may turn them 1/4 turn so it cuts him off more.

Thanks for the advice and help everyone!!! I NEED IT!

[xdeus]

I didn't realize the UTH wasn't being controlled. The towel might work temporarily, but it may end up insulating the UTH and making it either fail or cause a fire down the road. I would strongly suggest that you get at least a rheostat (lamp dimmer) to regulate the UTH temps, but preferably you should use a quality thermostat. You can pick up a Johnson or Ranco for around $70 which might seem like a lot, but it's peanuts if you consider your snake will live for 20+ years.

[ThuSandman]

With it under the grate/shelf, the temp is at about 85. I will get a thermostat soon. I'm tapped out right now. Just had a couple unexpected bills. Maybe I'm just being a bit paranoid.

Does anyone use just a heating pad (controlled naturally) and keep theirs at the right temps? Do i have to use the overhead lamp?

[TheKingInYellow]

Why didn't you attach the UTH to the glass?

[ThuSandman]

Why didn't you attach the UTH to the glass?

I thought I had read somewhere in here that they were almost impossible to get back off when you needed to replace one. I'm going to have to get a rheostat or thermostat so will probably peel back small portions of tape and stick on there then.

What about a Repti-Therm 500R ? Anyone use one of those?

[TheKingInYellow]

I have two running UTHs on my un-occupied new tank. They seem to be okay, but without a numerical display, you need a good way to check the temps. I bought an IR tempgun, adn between the two it's a pretty good combination.

As for removing the UTHs? I imagine a razor will work on it just fine, maybe some isopropyl alcohol to take off the sticky residue and you are good to go.

[starmom]

Congrats on the new snake!!
You do need a thermostat; there is no getting around that.

Also, those little dials you have way up at the top of the tank are useless. Not only are they reading temps and humidity at the top of the cage (where your snake isn't) but they are also very inaccurate. A good choice would be a digital thermometer/hygrometer. Accurite makes one and is available at Lowe's, Wal-mart, etc. for about 12 dollars.

The theory behind a hide is to give a dark hiding place for the snake to escape to and feel safe and secure. The hides you have, while pleasing to the human eye, are not very good for ball pythons. They really need a small and private place to be.

Also, snakes like this don't soak. They do like to drink though! A smaller water bowl would do nicely!!

Lastly, humidity just needs to be kept at about 50-55%