sterilite containers

[kitedemon]

I guess I wasn't quite as clear as I could have been tubs have no insulating value. They will drop temps almost instantly when heat is removed. That means that you get inefficient heating there is no weigh to hold heat or to heat slowly. Tubs heat fast and cool fast that depending on the space can make ambient temps a bit interesting. That also makes it very difficult to build a GRADIENT although I am not sure you actually need one. I have absolutely noticed different behaviour when there is a good gradient. So not to be misunderstood a gradient would be at the hot spot 90º an inch off it maybe 89.5 a inch farther away 80 and so on my one conventional tank has a true gradient on about half a degree an inch. My rack has a hot spot of 90 and when you move off that it drops 5 degrees an inch so in 2 inches it hits 80 and holds there. That is not a gradient just a hot spot and cool spot. Tubs can solve a humidity issue but can cause a heating one, they are simply not better or worse just different. Tubs do really well in 80º rooms but not so well in 60º ones. Personally heating a whole room up in winter is very expensive (a herpstat a month more expensive) and seems a total waste of power.

If you don't believe me about the tubs not holding heat take a lid of any tub or heavy container hold your hand under it and check the temps take you hand away and check it again and see what the difference is. I just did this with a tub from the rack and got, 88.6 with my hand and 76.1 with out. They hold heat very badly My best enclosure drops 2 degrees an hour with out power. So 5 hours before I start seeing 80º, when i had tubs it was like 10 degrees an hour. Slow to heat =slow to cool. Fast to heat =fast to cool.

Ambient temps are very important they are under valued and not paid as much attention to as they should be. Snakes have long lungs (well ok long and short) The lung is a massive organ that runs 1/2 to 2/3 of the body. Cool air = cool core, no matter how warm the hot spot is if the air temp is cool the animal cannot get the core warm. The reverse is true. Tubs can be hard to keep the ambient temps controlled either too warm or cold, unless you heat the room to an acceptable ambient temp, 80 is the typically acceptable one.

I am not saying tubs are bad I am not saying better either. Just different tanks can be hard to keep humidity in but they produce a even heat and off set an uneven heat pad, they heat slowly but cool slowly too. You keep saying tubs are better and will solve all your problems the tubs won't solve your problems you solve the problems all you are talking about is trading one set of problems for a new set of problems YOU still need to solve them either way.

Tub, tank, rack, or enclosure it makes no difference, the person whom sets up the captive environment makes the difference, the type of enclosure does not.

Personally I place higher value of even 'gentle' heat and mass than humidity. I am ok with a humidity range of 50-70 but am unwilling to tolerate much more than a 1 degree range on temperature. (set at 90 89-91 I can live with) In my quite cool home tubs present a heating issue that the only solution I found was to toss lots of cash at it (heating dollars). That is in an old drafty house where it hits -25ºF sometimes in the winter and summer rarely gets over 89ºF Did you look at a sideways tank? it solves most ambient temps tank problems and humidity as well, with the same cleaning properties of glass. Tubs are an answer but not the only answer.