I just picked up a BP this week and I'm currently using a 18w x 18d x 24h glass tank that has a screen top and doors on the front. I bought a heating pad to put on the underside but the instructions warned me not to place it on the bottom if it was going to sit on wood furniture so I placed it on the side in the lower corner as suggested in the directions. I also have a 100w infrared heat bulb on the top of the tank. My concerns are that i'm only able to get the temp up to about 85 degrees, plus the light and pad are always on which seems like a bad idea. Should I just have put the pad on the underside as originally planned? Also with the footprint of the tank 18x18 it doesn't leave a lot of room for two hides or any variation in the temperature either. The other issue I'm having is humidity, about the best I've seen thus far is 40%. I have a nice large water dish and a nice branch in the tank but I'm concerned that this tanks overall design is not conducive to a BP's health. I have covered the front half of the top screen with foil in the hopes this will bring up the heat and the humidity, but so far no change. The big question is should I just switch to a 40 gallon tank and give him the proper space and temperature variations or do you think the tank will work for a little while till he gets bigger? I can get some pictures up later if that helps too.
Thanks, Jeff