New enclosure - Shopping list

[Wiggy]

Before I place the order, I thought I should maybe get some opinions on anything I'm missing or see if anyone would advise against a specific product.

My enclosure will be a 36x18x22 aquarium (yes, aquarium, so it has a centre brace and the glass is about 3/8ths thick). It's what I have, and it's what I intend to work with. That's the only thing I have already. Some of the stuff I may have gone overkill with the Watts, etc. If I didn't know then I just went on the high-end cause I wanted to gauge a price estimate. Nothing has been purchased yet though.

My list:
Heat
- 11"x17" Exo Terra Heatwave Terrarium Substrate Heater

- 150W Exo Terra Ceramic Heat Emitter

- Fluker black 10 inch ceramic clamp lamp with switch

Temp Control
- Zilla 500W Temperature Controller
http://www.petsandponds.com/en/repti...p17644478.html

OR Zoo Med Repti-Temp 500R Remote Sensor Thermostat
http://www.petsandponds.com/en/repti...p16749870.html

- Zilla Terrarium Hygrometer Thermometer
http://www.petsandponds.com/en/repti...p17144050.html

- Zoo Med REPTITEMP Digital Infrared Thermometer
http://www.petsandponds.com/en/repti...p17644328.html

Other
- 2 pairs (so 4) Zilla Locking Screen Clips (are these reliable? Or are they flimsy/loose locks?)

- Zilla Screen Cover (36x18) (are these durable enough?)

Also considering a lamp stand for the CHE... But the Zilla clips say the lamp can be mounted to them?

I've included links to the products that have a little more variation between one and the next.

Hope I've formatted enough to spare your retinas.

I know I haven't included anything like substrate, water bowl, hides, etc. Those are somewhat more straightforward...

Thanks, I'd be lost without a place to bounce to for input, and I'd probably end up buying a bunch of stuff that would be useless to me.

[Spyderco1116]

Well first off there are one too many heat sources going on here. It will be impossible to keep humidity up (50-60% & 60-70% during shed) with all this heat hitting the tank. The heat mat is good and a thermostat. You want to shoot for about 88 to 92 degree hot spot. also provided ahide over the heat mat and one on the cool side. That being said you may want to purchase 2 digital thermometers or visit the Accu-Rite website. There you will find a digital thermometer with 2 sensor probes (measure hot and cold spot) and a hygrometer all in one. If you have to have a heat lamp then ok, but I would do away with the ceramic. What is usually your ambient temp in the room where he will be? Ever look into a radiator? Just throwing that out there. Being that you are using a fish tank you may also want to think about covering about half of the tank or even more with a damp wash towel. You don't want to get the humidity too high, but you don't want it too low either. A humid hide would also be good to place in the tank so the BP can retreat there whenever it feels the need to...

Humid hide: get a plastci container that big enought for the BP to get in (not too big), leave the lid on and cut a small hole in it. Then dampen paper towel or some moss and place it in there. That's it nothing to it. Hope I helped a little,. If I left anything out hopefully someone will add to this... Good luck!!

[Skittles1101]

I agree that all those lamps will cause some bad sheds unfortunately. I suggest (which will probably save you some money too) getting the UTH you chose, and getting a real thermostat. Personally, I bought the ZooMed reptitemp thing and it almost went out the window. It sucked. Some people use them without issue, but IMO it's just too much guessing. You can get a thermostat as cheap as $26 on amazon.com here I use three of these (along with a Herpstat, and a Johnsons, both are more expensive).

As far as the ambient temps, I do use a low watt lamp in the winter because I live in a drafty apartment in Massachusetts, BUT I use it with a dimmer. The plug in lamp dimmers are Home Depot or Lowes are only $10. It's always more than enough to heat as needed.

Hope I helped! I'm just giving my opinion, and things I've used and really didn't like. I'd hate to see you come talk about a horrible shed after wasting all that money I brought back A LOT of stuff when I first started.

Edit: Just wanted to add, I live by my temp gun as well. It was cheap and accurate. I got the PE-2 but the PE-1 is nice too.

[Wiggy]

I'll probably scratch the bulb then and just run the enclosure without an animal for awhile to see how stable the termpature is like that. If needed I can always get a bulb later before getting the snake.

I heat my apartment generously since it's included in my rent. I just didn't think the UTH would provide much warmth on its own. My experience with this sort of equipment is old and unreliable at best, heh.

Looking at that thermometer I see that the two probes are separate for temp and humidity, at first I skimmed and thought they read temps from two zones. your recommendation sounds more sensible with that in mind, I'll look into that, thanks.

Should also mention, people are saying "all those lamps". There's only 1 lamp on that list. I listed the housing and the bulb separately. Not sure if that's causing confusion?

Thanks for the heads up on the thermostat. That's exactly the sort of experience I was hoping someone would chime in with before I placed the order for anything and was stuck with it

[Jessica Loesch]

The UTH will provide plenty of warmth as long as you don't coat the bottom with tons of bedding.

Don't worry about the lamp if you have a nicely heated apartment, it'll dry everything up.

[Wiggy]

Hmmm I'm getting the idea that this is the same situation with reptiles as it is with fish... All these companies will make things like RO/DI systems or CO2 regulators, or in this case, thermostats and temp-guns... But you end up paying for the word "reptiles" or "aquariums" on the packaging, and the brand name, so 9/10 times you're probably better off spending the same money on something that isn't necessarily marketed for pets...

As tempting as it is to get everything in one order from one site located in Canada, I'm well aware that good equipment can last a lifetime, whereas finicky equipment will last maybe 6 months (if you're lucky) before it becomes relentless obsessive irritation

[JohnNJ]

Save yourself some time and money. Go to Reptile Basics and buy a heated rack and a thermostat. Throw in some paper towels and a water bowl. Add snakes. Done.

[babyknees]

Don't get the Zoo Med Repti-Temp 500R it doesn't have numbers on it just a gradient of colors.

[Wiggy]

Don't get the Zoo Med Repti-Temp 500R it doesn't have numbers on it just a gradient of colors.

Wow... That's pretty useless...

[babyknees]

Wow... That's pretty useless...

Yeah, don't you love how none of the sites that sell it tell you that?