me and my g/f just moved into a new house. No carpet (hardwood floors), and no insullation (an older house). the night we moved our snakes in, san diego hit a record low temp. i came out the next mornig, and saw that their temps had dropped to 62 on the high end. the UTH (or human pads from walmart), do not seem to keep the heat up. so i decided to switch the heat lamps from 50w to 100w bulbs (impossible to find 75w). this still didnt seem to help much in the overall ambient temp. i came out this morning, and the temps were at about 69-72..
for space purposes, and the fact that the snakes are growing, we need to move them to a bigger cage. i was going to use our 55 gal, and split in in half. i was going to use plexi-glass, and silicone, to seal and seperate the snakes. the 55 gal, is an aquarium, designed for fish, not snakes, so the glass is much thicker. i have a feeling the UTH will not work under there, in this case would a reptile heat pad be advisable (due to the thickness of glass.
what are some ways to keep the heat in? i was considering plexiglass tottaly covering the top (with air holes everywhere of course, and putting 1 100w light in the center where the divider will be placed, or even 2 50w, 1 for each snake. i know a smaller cag would be a better option for heat retention, but that is no longer an option. both snakes are getting too big for their enclosures. on the upside i will be saving more room by splitting a 55 gal. (more room in my house that is).
any advice on keeping the heat up?????? i think a reptile uth would be my best bet, due to the thickness of glass, but would like some opinions first