Most simple setup

[Craigaria]

First post! First I'd like to say thanks for the great forum and all the awesome info on this site!

I am battling a ten gallon tank setup right now. Just like everyone else, I can't find a happy medium with temps and humidity.

here is my setup
10 gallon glass tank
eco earth bedding
UTH (without thermostat, I know, I have one on the way and have been monitoring religiously with my temp gun)
2 hides one on each side
water bowl in the middle
screen top covered in aluminum foil with 1" gaps on the sides
heat lamp 75 watt over the cool side (hole through foil)

i have been monitoring temps with a stick on temp/humidity gauge and a laser temp gun.

here is my problem. If I keep the heat lamp directly on top of the screen to get the temps right, it drys the tank out an hour after misting with a spray bottle. If I back the light off and aim at an angle, I can keep the humidity at 50-70 percent but the temp falls too low, misting 2-3 times daily. It is not helping that we are having 30 year record low temps right now either....

i have decided to sacrifice humidity tonight in order to keep the temp up, but I'm getting tired of playing this constant adjustment game. I feel like I'm checking and making changes every 10 minutes to keep things in check.

is there a better way? For those of you that have low maintenance set ups, tell me the secret. I'm willing to ditch my current equipment and start over. I have searched and found plenty of threads about setting up aquariums like I have, but not much about the setup the "ideal", low maintenance enclosures.

thanks in advance! Craig

[akskeeper]

You can soak wash cloths or a towel In hot water and place it over your screen top leaving enough room to place your heat light cover the rest of the top with the towel soak the towel till its almost dripping as hot as your hands can stand I had the same problem with my guy and it seems to work I just do it once mabey twice a day as needed hope this helps

[akskeeper]

Remove the foil while the towel is on there it will hold the humidity in completly cover top make sure towel is not touching you heat light

[Mr. Misha]

Welcome to the forum Craig!

I've been exactly where you are. Having a glass tank is a big pain. I suggest switching over to a PVC terrarium (I use animal plastic tanks). PVC tanks look good, priced well and also keep both heat and humidity very well.

Here's a link: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=165571

With your current setup I highly recomend getting a accurite thermometer with a probe. Put the probe on the glass where the UTH is so you know how hot the glass is.

Also get a lamp dimmer for the UTH right now (they're about 10 bucks) so you can adjust the temps.


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[I-KandyReptiles]

I'd suggest getting rid of the tank. You can see just how troublesome they are to maintain heat AND humidity.

PVC enclosures are absolutely wonderful and still allow for a display-like look.

With reptibark, I could maintain 50% humidity WITHOUT having to mist.

[Xtina]

I agree with those above...started with a tank, and after about 6 weeks felt like I was losing my mind - constant, constant tweaking. Since I've gotten my AP T8 it's been stress free. Even the cleaning is easier overall.




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[PitOnTheProwl]

Most "simple"............... rack and tubs

[Craigaria]

Who sells the AP t8 and how much are they. It's looks nice but big for my 2 month old firefly.

[Craigaria]

Never mind, found their website. Thanks!

[patientz3ro]

Most "simple"............... rack and tubs

I still love my glass, but this is impossible to argue with.

The biggest, and possibly the only real problem I can think of with a "plastic" setup is that unless you're using a storage box with a lid, it can be pretty expensive up front. The really nice "display" types like AP tend to be a little big for a young snake as well, in MY experience. If you're using a screen top for a young BP, the foil, damp towel, Plexiglas solutions work great.

In my case, I happened to have a pane of 1/4in tempered glass that covered exactly half of my tank, and I used an ExoTerra light canopy that sat on top of that. I folded some paper towels, sprayed them until they were saturated, but not dripping, and slid them under the glass so they weren't an eyesore. The lamps warmed the glass, evaporated the moisture in the paper towels, and kept the humidity right around 48%. During shed, I dug out a shallow area under my hides and filled it with well moistened sphagnum. Perfect sheds every time, and I only sprayed the paper once a day.

I still use glass, but I'm very fortunate in that I have the means to invest the time and money needed to build and maintain a glass vivarium. If I had the kind of collections some of the members here have, I'd be using something else. I don't really have the desire to build a large collection, though, and designing and building a functional and attractive display is part of the enjoyment.

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