A few questions about my bp setup

[Hlow87]

Ok some of you know..im a beginner to herps, and i have afew questions i cant seem to find an answer for..1.i have a heat lamp on 24/7 is it ok to put fake plants directly under it? 2. i also have a uth mounted on the back of my tank (i have another under fyi)can fake plants be placed in front of that? I dont want anything to get too hot and melt or what not & 3. I have green moss to help with humiditity..do you only mist it or can it "soak" in a little bowl of water?how often does it need to be changed? Thank you for your insights im trying to learn everything i can!!

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[KMG]

Are the uth on thermostats? They need to be.

I would turn off the one on the back of the tank as it is not doing your snake any good.

The heat lamp can stay on 24/7.

I place damp moss in the hides. During a shed I keep it damp. Outisde of a shed I allow it to dry out before making it damp again.

The plants should not melt but heating devices can reach such temps if they are not propetly used and regualted.

The best way to see the surface temps of the objects in your tank is to use a IR temp gun.

[chrid16371]

How big is your enclosure? Age of snake?

No need for uth on side, under only.
As mentioned your UTH must be regulated, if you do not have a thermostat unplug uth immediately bc your snake will get burned.

To take temp of uth you must use a digital thermometer with probe or ir temp gun and take the temp by putting probe or point temp gun under substrate (bedding) up against the bottom of cage right over where uth is and make sure it doesn't get hotter than 94.

Is your heat lamp red or blue? If not you cannot use it 24/7 bc white light will stress the snake. You don't need to use heat lamp and uth both on hot side. The heat lamp only needs to be used if your cool side drops below 75. To take the temp of the heat lamp you will need to measure the temperature of the hottest area on the ground and make sure it is not hotter than 90, once you have a thermostat for uth (unless you already do) you can move the heat lamp to cool side and keep it around 80 on the ground. You can use a lamp dimmer to control temp of the heat lamp but you will have to watch it bc it doesn't auto adjust so it will change with room temp.

Don't use the analog (dial) thermometers since they ate very inaccurate, digital thermometer with probe like the acurite 00891 or a reliable ir temp gun.

If your using a glass aquarium with screen top then you should cover the screen top with something so it will hold the humidity in and keep it around 50%-60%. The heat lamp will hurt your humidity but if you have to use it make sure you leave a opening just enough for the heat lamp when you cover the screen top. Also use a digital hygrometer for humidity, the analog ones are inaccurate as well.

The acurite 00891 can measure your hot, cool, and humidity. Place the probe on hot side and put the rest of the unit and the cool and you will have all your readings.


Here is the care sheet, it's a must read.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ius)-Caresheet

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[Hlow87]

Shes in a 40 gal enclosure..im not sure of her age or weight i bought her from petsmart (which i now know is bad)about 3 1/2wks ago (shes fed 5 times in that period,i feed her every 5 days)..shes small though..a little bigger round than my thumb and a little over a ft long..im not sure of the bulb but it said on the packaging that it was safe to run 24/7 it keeps my temp on the cool side around 78 and the warm 95,im sure in the summer i wont have to use it nearly as much though..ive only used the analog thermostat because its what came with my setup,im going to get the digital soon..it does have a screened top but i have 90% of it covered with aluminum foil to help with humidity (it stays a little chilly my house too) right now humidity is staying between 60 &70 throughout the day (before i put the foil id go to bed with 60ish and wake up to it being almost 40) this what i have so far

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[Kaylaaa]

Ok some of you know..im a beginner to herps, and i have afew questions i cant seem to find an answer for..1.i have a heat lamp on 24/7 is it ok to put fake plants directly under it? 2. i also have a uth mounted on the back of my tank (i have another under fyi)can fake plants be placed in front of that? I dont want anything to get too hot and melt or what not & 3. I have green moss to help with humiditity..do you only mist it or can it "soak" in a little bowl of water?how often does it need to be changed? Thank you for your insights im trying to learn everything i can!!

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I wouldn't worry about the plants, it shouldn't be near hot enough to melt them. Also, I would soak the moss before adding it, then just keep it moist. You should only really need moss though if you have trouble keeping humidity or if you need it higher while he/she is shedding.

[Hlow87]

Yea i was having a problem with the humidity even with just foil it bumped it up to 50ish but with the moss its staying betwewn 60&70..how do i know when to replace the moss? Ive changed it twice in the week I've had the moss but don't want to waste it either & thanks yall

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[Coluber42]

You probably need to keep the substrate a lot thinner where the UTH is. Substrate is a great insulator, which means the glass underneath can get very hot while the surface of the substrate isn't that warm. All else being equal (meaning, I'm not talking about what thermostats do - although you should have one), a UTH that is insulated will get a whole lot hotter than an identical one that is not insulated. It's like putting a pan lid down over the electric burner; even if the current is low, the burner can still get way hotter than it ever would even on high heat with no pan lid over it.

Which brings me to the UTH on the side. It may not be doing a whole lot, but it probably is actually doing a little bit. Whether it's enough to make a difference and whether you actually need it are other matters. But a UTH stuck to the side is basically a very low wattage RHP. It isn't likely to get excessively hot because it is exposed to the air on both sides, basically (the glass doesn't count as insulation). It will make the glass warm to the touch, which will in turn warm the air a little, and the IR it gives off will warm nearby objects a little. But it's still only a little, because it's a very low-powered device.

It still needs a thermostat though just in case. But a UTH stuck on the side is way less likely to overheat than one covered by substrate on top and sitting on a wooden shelf underneath.

As to whether it's actually useful, you can find out by comparing what happens when it's on and when it's off.

Last thing is, particularly since your snake is so small, you might want to add some more fake foliage or paper towel rolls or other permeable visual barriers to the open area. If she's eating for you she's probably fine, but if she seems skittish or reluctant to feed, cluttering up the empty space might help.

[KMG]

I don't throw out moss unless it was soiled by snake waste. Even then I rip off the soiled area and wash the rest of the clump. Cleaning instructions are on the bag/box.

[Hlow87]

Yea my moss bag just says change as needed 😑 Lucy has been doing fine with feeding and handling (my 5yo son holds her daily other than feedings..he loves her and tells her everyday, he even calls her his puppy) but i do want to add more foliage for her,its a work in progress.could you make any recommendations as of places to get foliage,we only have a petsmart local and they barely have anything,i bought a lonnnnggg vine but dont quite know how to put it in (it suctions on the ends but nowhere else and is longer than my enclosure)the only other pet related anything we have is a small family run pet store and they only sell small birds,puppies,fish and mice..is it ok to use a few aquarium plants (new of course)or artificial plants for your home?(i have a tall tree i could get a limb out for her)..& the UTH on the side does help a bit,ill probably use it a lot more in the summer when the lamp is too much thanks for the info on the substrate though i just went by the bag and did around 2 in,her hide with the UTH is a little thinner on substrate,i kinda burrowed a little "dent" down on it so she feels a little more hidden in it..i planned on cleaning it all out soon and trying the darker colored substrate for contrast with her and her alligator skull

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[Meerna]

OMG snake puppy, that's something I'd expect from my 5 year old ^_^ you can find a lot of fake plants online, aquarium plants would be just fine.