Quote Originally Posted by MmmBanana View Post
Hello everyone! I am expecting my very first BP to arrive(hopefully) on 4/4/17! I ordered a Banana Pastave from Garrick DeMeyer at Royal Constrictor Designs. I'm super excited, but also very nervous as well(maybe shouldn't have got got an expensive first snake ). I have been reading a lot on the forums in preparation for my new pet! I have a hand full of minor concerns tho. He will be housed in a 24x18x12in terrarium with reptibark as a sub straight(going to reptichip coconut husk after I use the bag of reptibark). I setup the tank a week in advance. As far as heat I started with Zoo Med UTH. That only raises a small section of the tank to around 74 degrees. I have it on a zoo med thermostat cranked all the way up and it just doesnt seem to be getting hot enough. So I added a 75W Blue night light for some extra heat. It seems to be doing the trick but it still only really heated a small section of the tank to 88-around 93 degrees. And then towards the cool side it drops off to around 75F pretty quickly. So I added a 2nd lamp on a dimmer with the same 75W blue bulb. temps seem pretty solid, but I am concerned about the 2 bulbs killing the humidity in the tank. I kind of dropped the ball on getting a hygrometer and I wont have one till tomorrow. How forgiving are these little guys to the noob learning curve? Also, I see the use of thermostats for the UTHs being highly recommended, but mine barely seems to be doing anything. Are some just better than others, or are they basically useless with any kind of sub straight?

I appreciate anyone's time that can answer some of my questions and put me at ease. Maybe I am just overly antsy about getting my new snake that I am overlooking everything? who know! lol. I have some pictures of the snake that I will post later!
First off, how are you taking the temp readings on the UTH? Using a temp gun directly on the cage floor? That is the only true way. Also like I mentioned in another thread, a UTH isn't going to heat the air. If you are using a tank, I recommend throwing it out and getting a PVC cage. Glass tanks are fine for a QT cage but I wouldn't use it as a permanent home. I would get a lamp dimmer from Home Depot or Lowes for the CHE and dial it in until you get the appropriate cool side temp. The UTH will provide the belly heat assuming you get it set right.

As for how forgiving, depends on the snake. Some are more, some are less. I'm guessing this is a baby. Babies dehydrate a lot faster than adults so I would get your stuff squared away. Having something slightly off temporarily is fine but you don't want to go long term.

You don't need a hydrometer. Just get a digital thermometer with humidity and temp. I use the ones by acurite from Walmart. They aren't exact but are within 5% or so. That's plenty accurate for the snake. I keep my boas and retic around 85% humidity and my BP around 75-80%. You just don't want condensation all over.

And you MUST have a t-stat for any belly heat and really should have a t-stat for any heat source but you can generally get away with a lamp dimmer for a CHE outside the cage just for ambient temps. You want a good T-stat. I use Herpstats and have for years. Just ordered a Herpstat 6 today actually. Vivarium Electronics are good too but don't have as many safeties and bells and whistles as Herpstats but are cheaper. Ley is you want safeties on them like turning off all power on a failure or turning off power if the temp gets too hot.