Quote Originally Posted by anatess View Post
Hi Shadows, welcome!

On the bolded statement above... if you put your palm under your armpit - that's about 96 degrees. That's just a tad bit too hot for the substrate. If you feel the floor under the substrate that will be hot if your substrate is luke warm. It is probably over 100 down there. A ball python can burrow under the substrate or move the substrate around, so that he has a chance of sitting directly on the floor of your tank. Therefore, we usually advice to keep the floor of the tank no more than 95 degrees by using a thermostat or rheostat to adjust the UTH output.

Your set-up sounds good. The only thing I would suggest in addition to what is mentioned above is corkboard or thick dark paper wrapped around 3 sides of the tank - this adds to the feeling of security in the environment and also acts as insulation to keep the ambient heat in the tank more stable. Also, it would be great if you can "clutter up" your tank a lot - especially since you have a tall tank. You might think about putting some plastic/silk leaves hanging off the sides of the tank to drape over the open areas to add to the feeling of security.

Hope this helps.
I do plan on getting a rheostat or thermostat to regulate that temp. Just haven't gotten one yet. I check it frequently and have the substrate pretty thick. So far Sorcha doesn't dig down in the substrate.

I do have fake plants and clutter in the tank. I also have a decorative background on it as well.She doesn't seem overwhelmed by the size of the tank and seems to enjoy being able to climb.

My main concern at the moment is decided between a CHE or and infrared bulb for my heat source. Trying to determine which is best before I buy something. She's in the warmest room in our house which is also where my iguana's walk in cage is (7ft tall, 4ft deep and 5ft wide!) The lights we run on her help keep the temp up pretty good in that room. The humidity in there is also good as that is where I house all of y tropical plants. Everything and everyone gets misted often.

Between CHE and infrared heat what would you suggest for an aquarium set up like mine?