Getting The Right Temps

[Vanthios]

So I've just set up an entirely new terrarium for my BP since the one I received when I purchased him was a small 20G with little substrate, a single hide, and a cheap heating pad. I've moved him up to a 40G breeder tank, complete with an array of new hides, water dishes, and plants to hide under. However, I'm now finding it difficult to reach a quality gradient. A gradient exists at the moment, but it's holding equally across at about 10 degrees beneath what it should be. I have a medium ZooMed UTH because I really wanted to get him what he really needed and Amazon was my best bet for cost efficiency and shipping speed. I have it taped to the bottom of the tank using duct tape (the metal tape for air ducts in housing), as recommended. My hydrofarm thermostat's probe is taped to the bottom of the pad, not between the pad and the tank (you can find another one of my threads where I question the practicality of taping it between the two). I'm really starting to see why the pad had the reviews it did, though. It seems that the heat really only comes from the center of the pad, and sort of decays as you move away. I moved his favorite hide over the center of the heat pad, and set the thermostat to 95 so the heat could penetrate the most without being high enough to possibly burn him. My Acurite's probe isn't even coming to the lower margin of recommended temperatures, though. I even have a 100W infrared bulb going full blast to increase the general temperature -- still not there. I don't really know what to do. Should I invest two flexwatts, run them in parallel, then mount them to the bottom of the tank? As far as I'm concerned, the ZooMed has yet to really do anything.

I also was having a humidity problem in the my other vivarium, but now my humidity is too high. Right now it's holding at 63%-64%. I'm not sure if this is a big deal, but I guess it's good that it's not in the 40s, like it was in the other tank.




Also, he seems to hang a lot over in the denser area shown in the image above. Me, being dumb, made that the cold side. So it seems he enjoys the cold side, which is in the mid 70s at the moment, more than the warm side, which is topping out at 83, 84. I'm starting to become worried.

[eddie-head]

I wonder if it's worth screening off the sides and back of that glass. For a start, being that open might be quite stressful to the snake, hence why he prefers the heavily covered side, but also glass is fairly notorious for heat loss

You can get decorative backdrops for snake vivs and glass terrariums that look like jungle landscapes, or even something as simple as black paper could do the trick. I know they run a bit more expensive but the specific vivarium decor backdrops are usually fairly resilient material that can be washed/disinfected so can be mounted in the tank - that'll probably also be the best bet for heat seeping through the glass if there's a fabric type barrier in the way of that

if you do decide to do that I'd recommend using a non toxic/non odour based sealant to stick it to the tank. Don't use sticky tape on the corners as it'll last about 5 seconds. If you do mount inside it'll also be worth running the same sealant around all the edges to again help it stay there but also to close off all edges and prevent water and other muck getting in behind the decor

this is also potentially a much cheaper option than investing in more heat, so IMO is worth a try before anything else

[BWB]

I would put/make a cover for that tank. I simply made one from laminate flooring that I had kicking around. I cut out a hole for my lamp (a bit bigger, one inch on all sides) to allow airflow and glued aluminum screen over the hole (creates a cradle for the lamp). I then glued wood strips over the edges of the screen to prevent it from sagging too far or falling into the enclosure. I also put foam insulation stripping along the top of the terrarium to create a tighter seal. It has made my task of maintaining the heat and humidity so much easier. Now I have to find a permanent space for my little boa as she is in my daughter's room (I'll keep an eye on her dad, she said, but that's not really happening!) and she has fans running to keep her room cool enough to sleep in. I also was given a 4 foot tank on the weekend and will start putting it together and move the boa to that when finished but not sure where a tank this size will go - too many people in my little house and not enough room for snakes, somebody has to go!