new BP, new set up, novice owner

[dragonboy4578]

You can get a decent digital thermometer/hydrometer at walmart for like 10 dollars. It is well worth the investment...

[stevebidw]

Looks like I had better invest in a temp gun. Thanks all.

[Skittles1101]

The digital thermometers are much more accurate than the analog, but I personally prefer the temp guns because my digital thermometer is also very off...not sure why. I live by my temp gun lol...and for $35.00 you can't go wrong.

[dragonboy4578]

All the digital thermometer measures is ambient temp in your enclosure. I don't use it to measure the temps in my hotspot.....

[Skittles1101]

Yeah I have one in mine for the ambient temps too

[Powerspythons]

Here's a link to the best digital thermometer I've ever used:
http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?...llow&cId=PDIO1

Also temp guns are great but they can also be inaccurate if they're not being aimed at the right surface type(ie. they were meant to measure surfaces with the reflectivity of something like a brown paper bag, and reflective surfaces like glass can make them read incorrectly)..just sayin'

Also, what are the ambient temps outside your tank?..cause sometimes it doesn't matter how hot your heat lamps or UTHs are if your room temperature is around 65* it's gonna take a lot of work to keep your ambient temps in your tank up high enough.

[stevebidw]

Here's a link to the best digital thermometer I've ever used:
http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?...llow&cId=PDIO1

Also temp guns are great but they can also be inaccurate if they're not being aimed at the right surface type(ie. they were meant to measure surfaces with the reflectivity of something like a brown paper bag, and reflective surfaces like glass can make them read incorrectly)..just sayin'

Also, what are the ambient temps outside your tank?..cause sometimes it doesn't matter how hot your heat lamps or UTHs are if your room temperature is around 65* it's gonna take a lot of work to keep your ambient temps in your tank up high enough.

Thanks for the tips. I'm still using two lamps overhead to maintain ambient temps. Both are black night lamps. 1 is a 75W that runs constant, the other is a 100W connected to a dimmer. I also have my UTH connected to a dimmer and purchased the digital thermometer as described above. I have the probe set directly over the heat pad.

I've got black contact paper on the sides and back. I've been checking temps several times a day and adjust as needed. Eventually I'll probably upgrade to a thermostat and heat gun but I need to replenish funds first before my wife kills me

I'm keepin' cool side around low to mid 80's, hot side upper 80's and heat pad low 90's. I bought sphagnum moss to help maintain humidity.

Still the only time he comes out of his hide is when i take him out. But hopefully with time he'll pop out of there on occasion.

Anyway, i tried to post pics but I kept getting error messages that the files were too big.

[Raf702]

1.) I purchased a BP on Friday afternoon. Its now Sunday evening and my BP has been hiding pretty much the entire time. Is there a good way to entice him to come out?

Don't entice him to come out of his hide, unless it's feeding time. Other than, trying to get him out of his hide will only stress him out. Let him come out of his hide on his own. A BP that is in his hide all the time is a happy snake. If he's always out of his hide and roaming, that's a definite concern. Which means a stressed snake, which is not good/healthy. Being that he's been in his hide for that long, is a good sign. Let him enjoy being in his hide, unless you want to take him out to handle him. My BP stay's in his hide all the time, only comes out when he's thirsty, or when's regulating his body temperature. And he goes back into his hide, or he'll peep his head out of his hide when he's hungry. Lol

2.) I purchased the Zilla deluxe snake kit from Petsmart. In addition to the kit i purchased a UTH. The kit came with two ceramic light fixtures. One has a 75W day bulb. The other has a 50W night bulb. The terrarium is a 20 gallon long. With this set up I'm having trouble maintaining ambient temps without running both day and night bulbs at the same time. i have covered the screen top with foil temporarily to try to maintain temps but I worry at night if I shut off the day bulb that the temp may get a little too low. What heat set up is actually best for a 20 gallon long terrarium?

You can stick with just the UTH, or both a UTH and overhead heat lamp. But you run into humidity issues with an overhead heat lamp. But that's easily fixable with adding a humid hide/moving the water dish to the uth, etc. I suggest not to use a daylight. Since BP's are nocturnal and rarely see sunlight. They won't benefit from the daylight it will just stress him out, since it's bright. He will be happy in paradise with just a night bulb/red infrared bulb. Make sure you have a thermostat to control the UTH, and a dimmer switch for the heat lamp if you decide to keep it. And from there you can adjust temps accordingly. And for sure cover up one side of the top screen with foil to help maintain/hold humidity.

Any and all advice is appreciated as I'm determined to get this right.

Don't forget, digital thermometers/hygrometers as well with proper substrate, etc.!
Good luck! Enjoy your snake! And keep us updated!