??? Thermostat/Rheostat ???

[TheSnakeGuy]

I don't know if I need to purchase one of these. And are they the same thing? I have a 20 gal long terrarium containing a pair of 2 month old BPs. I have one normal and one Black Pastel. I have a small hide on each side and they each like their own. There is a 6x8" under tank heat mat on one side. It keeps my "cool" side at about 82. My problem is the other "hot" side. I have a 75watt red bulb suspended a couple inches above the screen top and it makes that side about 97 degrees. I believe this is too hot even though one of the snakes enjoys that side. I tried a 60watt bulb, but it only reached about 86 degrees. Is it too hot with the 75watt? And do I need to find a thermostat to reduce the temp closer to 90? Also where to get one for a decent price? I see some Japanese ones on eBay for 11$, but you can't ever be sure about those. Any advice is welcome. Thank you.


"Keep on herpin"

-TheSnakeGuy

[The Serpent Merchant]

First off, it is not a good idea to house 2 snakes together.

Here's why (thanks to LGray)

Here is my generic answer to questions like these:

Cohabitating reptiles even as the same species is not recommended. Insead of just telling you "no" I'll list the common reasons why.
1) Cannibalism, not common, but there are DOCUMENTED cases. This alone isn't worth the risk.
2) Stress. Even the most friendly snakes get stressed out, so why cause the stress? Snakes have no want or need to be with another snake unless it's for breeding purposes. Other than that, it's just an unwanted roommate that they can't get away from.
3) Space. They will constantly try to dominate eachother for the best spots in the enclosure, even if you have multiple hides, you'll mainly see them together in one spot. People usually see this as "cuddling". It's not cuddling, they are fighting over the best spot.
4) You wake up in the morning after feeding and there's a regurgitated mouse. Which one did it?
5) One gets sick, now both are sick. That's 2X the vet bills, 2X the medications, and 2X the stress.
6) You are told the new snake you bought is the same sex as the one you already have. a year later, you find eggs in the enclosure. You have not prepared, no incubator, no space for babies, and no one to sell them to. What do you do now? The pet store/vet/person sexed them wrong.
7) Quarantine. How are you going to quarantine the new snake away from your original one? As you gain more experience, you'll find that quarantine is a NECESSITY. You could get a perfectly healthy snake, or one covered in mite eggs that hatch 3 days after you bring it home. Now both snakes have mites. Snakes also can take a long time to start showing symptoms of illness, now you got your original snake sick because you didn't quarantine.

Those are just the more known and common issues with housing multiple reptiles. The list goes on. The only pro to housing them together is to save space in your house by only having one enclosure, but is it worth it? That is up to you. People that say "I house two together and they are fine", they are fine now but with them being housed together there is NO guarantee it will stay that way forever. The only way to avoid future issues is to house them separately.

A rheostat is a manual device to reduce the amount of power going to the heat source (think lamp dimmer) a thermostat uses a temperature probe to automatically adjust the power going to a heat source to keep it at a pre-set range.

Under tank heaters MUST be regulated by a thermostat, without one they can and will get hot enough to kill your snakes. Also they do NOT increase the air temperature in the cage so they don't work well for maintaining the cool side of the cage. Heat lamps are much better for this job as they actually increase the air temperature.

Heat lamps can either be regulated by a thermostat (preferred) or a lamp dimmer/rheostat.

Here are 2 good thermostats, stay away from the junk sold in pet stores.

Budget: http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTPR.../dp/B000NZZG3S

High Quality/Safety/Accuracy: http://spyderrobotics.com/home/products.html

Checkout this thread I wrote on this topic: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...t-Thermometers

[TheSnakeGuy]

My UTH is mostly covered by a large water dish, and I have 2 inches of fir mulch between the "floor" and the UTH. This keeps the temp at ground level at about 82. I constantly move my thermometers to check this. I guess I may need a second lamp to heat the air above it. I monitor it many times a day. It appears the people I live with keep adjusting the air temp in the house. Now my hot side under the lamp is at a perfect 91, so I guess I need at least one thermostat to regulate the lamp so the temp doesn't rise when the A/C is off. As far as housing them together, they don't even seem to notice each other. I never gave much thought to one or both getting sick because it's never happened to me. A few years ago I had a pair of 3 foot BPs housed together and they coexisted nicely for about a year. I don't believe my babies are stressed at all since they both ravenously enjoyed a meal today. I could convert my 10 gallon aquarium into a terrarium, but damn that's at least another 100 bucks to do. I may just find another home my normal. I don't know. I appreciate your input though.

"Keep on herpin"

-TheSnakeGuy

[iCandiBallPythons]

FYI I wouldnt skimp on a thermostat.This is the most important piece of equipment

[The Serpent Merchant]

Honestly I would just unplug the UTH, it isn't doing anything for your snakes right now, but it has the potential to be very dangerous. They can get up to 130 + degrees in a matter of hours. They really aren't something to mess around with.

[TheSnakeGuy]

I unplugged and removed it. We'll see what the temp does on that side. I may have not needed it at all. I think I still need a thermostat for my lamp though. It scares me to see it near 100 degrees on the floor level. I really don't want python jerky. Lol. Now I'm really considering converting my aquarium into another terrarium. I'm sure one heat lamp could maintain hot and cold sides in a small 10 gallon. I have a second ceramic light fixture. It's a shame my Petsmart carries the screen tops but not the locking clamps.

[The Serpent Merchant]

I highly recommend a thermostat for the heat lamp, even this cheap one will be more than sufficient.

http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTPR.../dp/B000NZZG3S

You really don't want any part of the cage getting above 95 degrees. it only takes 108 degrees to give a BP brain damage.

Instead of the locking clips you can always use bricks or pavers to keep the lid on.

[TheSnakeGuy]

Have you personally used that one before? I'm sure you have some high dollar stuff. I have seen some bad posts about the hydrofarm models citing their inaccuracy ? Is there anything you would classify as "a step up from that" without going crazy on price?

[The Serpent Merchant]

I am currently using a hydrofarm on my cricket breeding tubs. It isn't very accurate, but it is better than nothing.

A step up would be the Ranco Thermostat. These are far more accurate but still not nearly as accurate as the Herpstat

Ranco: http://www.reptilebasics.com/ranco-etc-111000-pre-wired

I use Herpstats exclusively for my reptiles. They aren't cheap but they are worth it.

[ironpython]

I'm no expert and I have.a limited budget for my hobby but I got a herpstat intro for my rack and have a 32gal. display tank on the top shelf. I heat all with 4inch flex watt heat tape. My probe is taped down directly on the heat tape with elect. Tape. I had to fool around with the temp. settings to keep the temps. In the tubs and tank within acceptable ranges but it has hi and low temp alarms and seems to work well. I check my temps with a fluker heat gun which gives me surface temps but all I have for ambient temp monitoring are those cheap tape thermometers for aquariums in the.tank. I need a thermometer with a probe but the tank and the tubs will ne different I'm sure. I guess I should put one in display tank and another in one of the tubs.

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