Okay here is my new Glass tank setup with Pics

[firedoug]

I purchased a BP on Tuesday this week from a local reptile petshop and they, did not follow the BP.net level of excellance when it comes to the setup they directed me to purchase. I got a 75w infrared heat lamp, pine bedding, log hide, dog bowl.

After spending more time than I will admitt reading books and BP.net info, I think I have a much better setup for Heimlich (my juvinile BP). I know your all thinking that why did you not wait and get educated first. Well I did spend a month reading before the purchase looked at 5 different shops, and thought I had a good handle on what I was looking at. Some of my troubles came from all the conflicting info out there both online, and pet store experts. When purchasing Heimlich and his set up, I questioned many of the items they put together for me, but they always seemed to have an answer. So untill I emersed myself in snake owership, and aquired a few items it did not make total sense.

So here our some of my details of my BP setup. I followed the BP husbandry guide and took a few other suggestions I found on this site.

I have a 40 gallon Critter cage with 2 part screen top and 30" basic black stand. Because I live in So. Cailf. I was concerned about earthquakes and wanted to secure the setup up to the wall to prevent damage and free roaming snake in my home. I installed velcro earth quake strap to the wall stand and bottom of tank.



Here is the straps installed to the wall before the tank has been placed in position.





Here is the inside of the tank looking down. 2 ZooMed 40 gallon UTF, 2 home depot dimmers mounted under tank with velcro so I can make adjustments to each UTF independatly one will be hot side other other cold, Acurite Temp/Humdity guage with probe hot glued to top of hot side UTF inside tank, the wire I used a dab of hot glue to keep it secured on bottom of tank.



Under side of tank looking up.



I then routed the Home Depot Dimmers from the UTH to a Zilla 1,000 watt thermostat, this is the same as the Alife brand... I could not find a ZooMed Thermostat anywhere in my area. The Zilla was $49 @ Petco. It is working like a charm. I first adjusted the Home Depot Dimmers to a max of 95 degrees and 82 degrees for Hot/Cold side UTH. Then there are plugged into the Zilla Thermostat. Once I got the UTH temps stable I then plugged in the Zilla and set the themostat dial to the point where it would shut off... Easy as can be... Now the my Acurite themometer on top of the hot side UTH is ranging from 94.8 to 95.2 as the Zilla cycles on and off about every 5 minutes. My infrared heat gun reads very close to the same temps as I monitor. I hot glued the Zilla temp probe on the bottom of the Hot Side UTH outside the tank. So far I am very happy with this configuration. I have the cold side all the way off right now as it is very warm in SoCal this week.



All my wires are zip tied and mounted to the stand with zip tie mounts that have sticky tap on them.... worked out very nice and clean no visable wires.



Here is Heimlick checking my work, he approved of the temps.... Hot side right on @ 95 Cold side 84.4 and Humidity 59%



Heimlick checking out his new decor... He seems to approve.

So far things are working like a champ.... I don't need the cold side UTH in the summer but I wanted to install it now so I did not have to do another tear down. I thought it best to use to UTH for a 40g tank since I am using the dimmer method to keep the ZooMeds from hitting their max temps, for safety on my BP. Come winter I think this is going to be a sweet setup.

One finial note my humidity is perfect now, with the infrared heat lamp I could not get my RH up to any higher than 40 with 80% of the screen covered with vinyl plastic sheeting. Now it is holding steady @ 60. Also the pine is in the trash and Heimlick is chillin on Aspen bedding.

Thank so much for everyones help on setting my gear up you guys are a great community. I hope some of these pictures help folks visualize the husbandry setup.

PS I am trying to get this posted as fast as I can, because I need to meet the family for dinner... so I hope this reads ok.

Doug

[Patricia]

[ItsMichael805]

It looks pretty good, and where did you get ur thermometers?

[firedoug]

Picked up the Acurite at Wal-Mart for $12.00

[dc4teg]

nnnnnnnnnooooooooooooooo you cant use pine bedding
no pine bedding

[dc4teg]

no one else caught the pine bedding, wow thats a big mistake waiting to happen

[waltah!]

no one else caught the pine bedding, wow thats a big mistake waiting to happen

That could also be shredded aspen.

[Argentra]

Not only did I catch that the pine bedding has been tossed now, I also caught the tape!

NO tape of any kind inside the tank. Period. If I misread that part, I'm sorry. That was a lot of info to take in.

Anyway, there are a few other points:
1- Cover the back and both sides of the tank with a solid background ASAP. Then, because glass does not hold heat well, you might do good to add some cork board insulation.

2- From what I saw, you only have 1 good hide. You want to make sure you have two identical hides with a single opening, i.e. no half logs, that are dark and snug. Dollar store bowls and plastic plant pots are great hides.

3- You must add more 'clutter' in there. Greenery, low branches, whatever you like but fill in that extra space.

[likebull1]

nnnnnnnnnooooooooooooooo you cant use pine bedding
no pine bedding

X2 Def no pine

[waltah!]

I also think you could add some more foilage to fill it up a bit. That should help your bp feel a bit more secure. I would also add another hide.

Adriana, I think the tape you are referring to is on straps on the outside as well as the zip ties(outside). Temps may not be an issue during the summer, but maybe having an option of adding something (foil or acrylic) over the lid to help you out in the winter would be good.