Temperature/humidity worries

[MsMissy]

UTH's should always be on a thermostat. If you can afford it, get a herpstat as was suggested above. If money is tight, amazon sells one called a hydrofarm. They work nicely until you can upgrade.

[Banana]

UTH's should always be on a thermostat. If you can afford it, get a herpstat as was suggested above. If money is tight, amazon sells one called a hydrofarm. They work nicely until you can upgrade.

Thanks. I just ordered the hydrofarm from Amazon and will hope it does the trick until I can afford the herpstat. While I wait for it to arrive should I just plug and unplug the heater every few hours depending on temps?

[CrystalRose]

If you don't want to have to plug and unplug all the time you can get a dimmer cord from somewhere like home depot. It will allow you to turn the power down on your UTH to keep it at a more comfortable level until the thermostat comes in.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lutron-Cr...N#.UftgW5LVAu4

[KMG]

Plugging and unplugging the uth is not a good way to control the uth. I'm glad you bought a tstat.

You said your snake was smart and stayed in his hide and not over the uth. Does that mean you only have one hide and its on the cool side?

You need to have at least two hides and one should be over the uth.

Also just a tip. A dimmer can work in a pinch but should not be relied on to run a uth. The problem is they do not respond to the environment so if the room gets really warm the dimmer does not adjust and it with make it to warm for the snake. Or if the room gets cold it will not increase the power and the hotspot will be to cold for the snake. Also if you have fluctuating temps in the room you will find yourself constantly adjusting it.

[Banana]

Plugging and unplugging the uth is not a good way to control the uth. I'm glad you bought a tstat.

You said your snake was smart and stayed in his hide and not over the uth. Does that mean you only have one hide and its on the cool side?

You need to have at least two hides and one should be over the uth.

Also just a tip. A dimmer can work in a pinch but should not be relied on to run a uth. The problem is they do not respond to the environment so if the room gets really warm the dimmer does not adjust and it with make it to warm for the snake. Or if the room gets cold it will not increase the power and the hotspot will be to cold for the snake. Also if you have fluctuating temps in the room you will find yourself constantly adjusting it.

His hide is in the middle. I worried about putting one over the hot spot since it's so hot. His water dish is on the cold side. I tried posting a pic of the setup but the app on my phone is just not having it today.

[KMG]

Once you get the tstat get another hide and put it over the uth.

[Banana]

Thanks for all the advice guys. Got too worried/frustrated waiting for the order from amazon and went out and found a temp regulator for the UTH today. There is a really great exotic pet store close to where I live and for the most part they've been very helpful. I got really frustrated today though when I went there and actually found what I needed to control the UTH heater, just to be told by an employee that I was wasting my money and that "ball pythons are the easiest pet to take care of. Just get a 50 watt bulb and quit worrying about the rest". Whatever. Maybe it's overkill but I've got the UTH on a regulator set to 93 degrees with an additional thermometer probe to make sure it's doing its job. Also have therm/hydrometer on hot side with additional hide and therm on cold side. Got some moss for humidity and a couple climbing sticks and a nice big pool and my baby is much happier with his ride all pimped! Happy Phil!

[KMG]

Sounds good.

Though it is true you can use only a bulb to heat the enclosure and hotspot I don't like to. I prefer to have two sources. Having two allows me to worry less about going away and what may happen when I am gone.

Its not wasting money its giving you and your snakes the best chance of thriving in the hobby. I would still keep the hydrotherm when you get it and use it as an emergency back up.

[Banana]

Actually not a bad idea since it was $30. Thanks for the suggestion, I will probably do that. I'm starting to understand the theory behind just coughing up the money for the better equipment to begin with because I think at this point I've wasted a ton on crappy thermometers and incorrect lighting.

I know BP's are some of the easier snakes to take care of, which can be some of their appeal. I kept a BP alive for 13 years when I was a kid/teenager with the limited knowledge that I had. But what I'm realizing now is that there is a difference between keeping a BP alive and having a thriving, happy animal. I guess it was just frustrating to me that I was there willing to spend the money to do it right and he insisted that I was just being silly. I thanked him for the advice and went ahead and purchased what I thought was right based on what I had read and been given advice on. To each his own, I guess

[Banana]

There he is, enjoying his new hot spot hide