Heat and Humidity concerns, pre-snake nervousness!

[Toxic Tessa]

Hey all! I am going to be getting my first snake, a pretty little boy Thursday -- and before I actually pick him up, I want to make sure that his new home is setup properly. I have read tons of care sheets and information pages, and have also combed this sub-forum. As of right now, I feel I have a good start, but I know what I have still needs a lot of work. I am 100% sure I am having a case of pre-snake nervousness. Haha.

This is what I have so far:


Cool <------------------> Warm
Tank is a 20gal, 30X12X12


At the moment I am really struggling with humidity and proper heat. Unless I mist, the humidity refuses to go above 40ish. I just covered the top of the tank with foil and am hoping that helps, and am currently testing the affect that different size containers of water have on the humidity (hence the Tupperware haha). In the picture I have carpet on the bottom of the tank, but I also have a bag of Aspen to try out.

I am also worried about having a proper temperature gradient. On the cool side the temperature seem to stay at around 74-76F, and on the warm the thermometer reads around 83F, and directly under the hide it is about 86F. Is this alright?

I am not sure just how accurate the readings are since I am using analog meters for now. However, I am planning to head to Walmart before Thursday to pick up a temperature gun and hopefully find a digital hygrometer along with a thermostat.

One of my major concerns is the heat and humidity. I work EMS and my shifts are 48/48 (twice a month) and and 24/48 hour shifts and I want to make sure that my enclosure is exactly how it needs to be, especially for those shifts where I am stuck at the station for 48 hours.


Any help on the humidity and temperature issue would be greatly appreciated! Along with any other pointers ya'll can give to a newbie.



I have set the temperature of my room to stay at around mid 70's in hopes of that helping to keep it from fluctuating.


One day... one day... I'll have a super awesome pretty enclosure! *Shakes fist.*

[Skittles1101]

Haha don't worry! Your enclosure looks awesome so far! The hot side could bump up a few degrees, but 86 isn't horrible. The foil should definitely help with the humidity. Relax, it looks perfect to me

[Toxic Tessa]

Haha don't worry! Your enclosure looks awesome so far! The hot side could bump up a few degrees, but 86 isn't horrible. The foil should definitely help with the humidity. Relax, it looks perfect to me

Thanks! I've been biting my nails like an expecting mother for the past three days trying to get things right. Any ideas on how to bump up the hot side? especially on the outside of the hide? I currently have a 6x8 UTH of unknown wattage, given to me by a friend who owned a snake a few years ago.

[Skittles1101]

It is on a thermostat or just going full blast? And are you using repticarpet stuff?

[Toxic Tessa]

It is on a thermostat or just going full blast? And are you using repticarpet stuff?

It's going full blast at the moment, I really want a thermostat but at the moment cannot afford one. Tuition and rent has sucked me dry until I get paid Tuesday evening.

Yup! Totally using repticarpet. I also picked up a bag of aspen bedding about an hour ago to test as well to see how it affects the humidity of the tank.

[Skittles1101]

The repticarpet is probably keeping the heat from penetrating, which is probably why the temps seem low. I think as long as the snake can't touch the bottom of the glass, which will be much hotter than 87 degrees, than it will be okay for now. Once you switch to aspen, just make sure you have a thermostat first because snakes are known to burrow and lay directly on the glass.

[Toxic Tessa]

I am hoping to have the thermostat and digital means of measuring temp and humidity before Thursday. Do you know any affordable and reliable thermostats? I am also considering getting a temperature gun instead of a digi thermometer.

[Reakt20]

I assume your snake is a ball python, correct? You never said what kind of snake it was. LOL

Thermostats on your UTH are necessary to control your temps. If you are worried about humidity or having problems keeping the humidity up in the tank, you might want to think about getting a humidifier. just as you've bumped up the ambient temperature, you could humidify the whole room. misting once or twice a day helps too if you don't take the humidifier approach.

[Toxic Tessa]

I assume your snake is a ball python, correct? You never said what kind of snake it was. LOL

Thermostats on your UTH are necessary to control your temps. If you are worried about humidity or having problems keeping the humidity up in the tank, you might want to think about getting a humidifier. just as you've bumped up the ambient temperature, you could humidify the whole room. misting once or twice a day helps too if you don't take the humidifier approach.

Whoops! I thought I mentioned I was getting a BP lol. I would go back and edit that in, but it seems that the edit button has ran off.

I considered a humidifier - but the one I saw was way out of budget for now, but it does seem like a future investment I will be needing to make. I was hoping the fact that I live in a humid state would help me, I guess not. Lol.

[Skittles1101]

I use these thermostats
Hydrofarm

Herpstat

Johnsons

I also suggest a temp gun, I LOVE mine!