New Pastel - Tank Heat/Humidity Setup

[monk191]

Just brought our new Pastel baby, Leonard, home last night (First time snake owners).





Having trouble keeping the Temp/Humidity up in our 10G Tank. We have a Zoo Med UTH taking up about 1/3 of the left side bottom, controlled by a ReptiTemp 500R. At the max heat setting, it is only getting up to about 85° in the left hide (Didn't know we were supposed to put it on the bottom of the tank), with about 78° on the right side. Ambient room temperature outside the tank is 70°. Humidity is 51%. We need some ideas on how to get heat up.

A couple things we are planning on doing. We are going to get the flexwatt tape (Will buy two feet of the 11" version), hopefully that will put out a little more power. PMed Argentra about the Foil Treatment. Also, we will put foam core along the two sides. We already have a thick background on the back of the tank.



Anything else we can do to bring up the heat a little bit? Here is a pic of the tank. We picked up Leonard at East Bay Vivarium, which is a very highly rated vivarium in the SF Bay Area. They had us use this substrate, which seems to be something like a newspaper mulch. Said it would keep up humidity very well. We have an inch on top of the bottom of the tank. Would it help to take some out?

The one thing I am nervous about. We want to leave him alone for a couple of days, so reaching in there and moving things around now does not seem like the best idea. What would you do?

Thanks for the help,
Brandon

[stratus_020202]

Well, those half logs aren't really the best for him/her. He needs something the can curl in, and touches on all sides. You can go to walmart, or the dollar store, and get some cheap cereal bowl then cut holes in them.

For humidity, what does the top of your tank look like? If its a screen top, just cover it with some towels, and dampen them a little. I use two washcloths and dampen half of one of them. Seems to work fine.

Not sure about the substrate, it looks like care fresh. Someone else can tell you about that.

Are you measuring your heat on top of the substrate, or below it. You should measure it right on the glass. You don't want that glass to be more than 95 or hotter. Snakes can burn easily, and he can get to the glass, so you want it to not be harmfully hot.

Let me know if there is anything I missed. AND that pastel is GORGEOUS!! Welcome!

[cinderbird]

Firstly, gorgeous snake!

Secondly, help with your set up

You want to ditch those half log hides. Ball pythons like smaller tighter fitting enclosed hides.

You say you have him in a 10gal glass aquarium?
- Insulate 3 sides (2 sides and the back) with foam board or another type of insulation. This will help stabilize temps.
-The reptitemp500R is a glorified rheostat, not a thermostat.
-You may want to get a new heating element and put it on the bottom of the tank. 2 feet of 11'' flex is WAY too much for a 10gal. An UTH should only cover 1/4-1/3 of the bottom and not much more.
-Humidity: there is a great sticky around here for modifying the screen top of an aquarium to better hold humidity.

If you change stuff around, just give him another week to settle and get used to it.

[Kaorte]

An Idea for fixing your temp problems...

So you have one UTH on the vertical glass side of the tank? Ok well you can keep that and use that for your cool side. Get another UTH (same size) and put it on the bottom of the other side of the tank. This will be your hot side! Make sure both are connected to the reptitemp. Put the probe for the thermostat on the hot side (on the outside of the cage). Then connect the cool side UTH into a dimmer and then into the thermostat. This will give you some individual control of your cool side temp and will allow you to dial it down to 80-82. 70*F ambient won't really slide to well with your new darling.

I hope that made some sense

[monk191]

Thank you for the replys.

Just to clarify, the UTH is on the bottom, just the left side of the bottom. Sorry for the confusion.

I will get some new hides, those logs are too big too, take up too much room.

So if I get the flexwatt, I can use the UTH as a second heat source on the side of the tank perhaps? Good idea.

[Kaorte]

Thank you for the replys.

Just to clarify, the UTH is on the bottom, just the left side of the bottom. Sorry for the confusion.

I will get some new hides, those logs are too big too, take up too much room.

So if I get the flexwatt, I can use the UTH as a second heat source on the side of the tank perhaps? Good idea.

Yeah if you can get it off.

What are you measuring temps with? What kind of thermometer and does it have a probe?

[stratus_020202]

You can but it would have to be on a dimmer, just to keep it cool. That way you can turn it down with the dimmer, and use the rheostat to control both heating devices. Just make sure the flexwatt is only covering 1/3 of the tank. The little one still needs one side around 82 and another around 92. Did i mention she was beautiful!

[monk191]

I picked up the Acu-rite Guage with the Probe. The probe is sitting in the hot hide on top of the substrate right now. (Will move it down to the glass under the substrate soon, but don't want to disturb him for a couple of days).

What flex-watt would be best to use on the 10 gallon. The 11"?

Thanks,
Brandon

[Argentra]

PM received and reply sent.

Yes, get new hides! Nice small tight ones for a young snake. This is what one of my 10g tanks looked like back when my girl was smaller:


It IS possible to have two hides, a good water bowl and decor in a 10g. It's also very possible to have a good temp gradient. Tho many non-tank people seem to doubt this.

The ReptiTemp is not a bad t-stat for people who don't yet have the $80 for a better one. It's not just a glorified rheostat, as I've tried using rheostats in this very temp fluctuating apartment and they failed miserably, but I have 4 ZooMed stats that have never done me wrong.
Sometimes, you get a unit that doesn't bring the heat up enough (I end up marking them and using them for corn snakes or BP cool sides). If I were you, I would either return it with the request of a replacement, or get another thermostat for the warm side and use the ReptiTemp for the cool.

With new hides, the foil on the screen, insulation on the glass and possibly another thermostat things should level out quickly for you.

Oh, and as far as Flexwatt for a 10g - 11" is probably too much. You want the heat to cover 1/4-1/3 of the bottom, and a 10g is 22" long, 10" wide. I would probably go with the 4", but you can email or call Rich at Reptile Basics and he can give you great great help! He is Da Man when it comes to heating.

[JohnNJ]

Don't throw away those half log hides. I put mine on top of the tank to keep the cats off.

JohnNJ