3 differnt temp readings first tub/reptile setup

[greg.s]

i promise i researched as much as i could before posting, this is my first reptile and snake but even after all the research i still have some questions.

good morning everyone I have a new ball python that is 150 grams in a 15 qt tub. I have hot glued foam matting for camping to the sides and tops of his enclosure, using paper towel as a substrate for mite detection, and I am also using a towel draped over the tub as well. for heating sources i have 2 under tank heating pads, and has 2 mushroom containers as hides along with his water bowl (Hot side/cold side I will attach pictures. I am concerned about the temps because my GOVEE gauge (i keep it on the cold side) is showing 72 but my gun is showing 90 on hot side and 80 or so on the cold side. I keep my house cold anywhere between 65-68 F at night.

this morning it was 72 on the GOVEE and when I peaked in his tub he was under the hide on the cool side. last night he urinated, i had someone hold him while i cleaned up and he was pretty active. he has not balled up on me yet or anyone else, however i only handle him as needed and pretty much leave him alone so he can get use to his new set up. the breeder says he is on frozen thawed rat pups and i was gonna wait a week before feeding ( i got him 2 days ago on Wednesday) so i cannot tell you how well he is eating for me now. i thought his behavior might be of assistance to helping me so i put it on here.

I went with the 2 heating pad set up because i read on here that was a good method for a house that is as cold as mine, but i am worried that it is not enough.

any advice or input is welcome. this site has a lot of information and i looked and looked but I'm still not getting a warm and fuzzy about my situation particularly

thank you all

[greg.s]

[greg.s]

[nikkubus]

The pictures didn't load for some reason. The ambient seems a bit low. The way you describe things, you have already tried to insulate the best you can. Is it possible there is a bit too much ventilation?

[greg.s]

The pictures didn't load for some reason. The ambient seems a bit low. The way you describe things, you have already tried to insulate the best you can. Is it possible there is a bit too much ventilation?

i did all of this on my computer as far as uploading the pictures. i do see them on my end on the desktop version i have not tried looking on my phone yet.

as far as ventilation is concerned how many holes do i really need? I wont lie i put quiet a few in there but i live in Louisiana and i was worried about too high humidity. its already at 70% as of today, i did move the GOVEE thermometer to the cold side i originally had it in the middle of the tub. would see it between 60-70% there also the temps would be around 75°-80 in the middle as well

[nikkubus]

If the middle of the tub is 75-80 ambient, you may just need to adjust where the 2nd UTH is located or have a slightly larger one.

[greg.s]

If the middle of the tub is 75-80 ambient, you may just need to adjust where the 2nd UTH is located or have a slightly larger one.

tub size is 13x9
the heat pad i have on the hot side takes up approximately 6 inches of the of the tub. it is sized at 8X12. the cool side has a 6X8 pad on it and it is all the way underneath. there is a gap there of about an inch. i am considering pushing the larger heat mat all the way until it meets the smaller one and flip flopping the sides appropriately as far as temp goes. the temp stayed at 78-79 degrees all day.

how much can these temp fluctuations stress this animal out?

[nikkubus]

Some temperature fluctuation is only natural. In the wild they don't have anyone keeping it super stable day and night. The important thing is that it doesn't get too hot or too cold where they cannot escape it. 78-79 is perfectly acceptable for the cool side.

[greg.s]

Last night it was up to 74-75 degrees. I think that I'm gonna opt in for a ceramic bulb/screen set up on top of the lid unless there is another idea. I don't want to heat an entire room. I didn't want to do this because I was worried about how much more room it would take up IF I decided to get more snakes and get a rack system of sorts. And also the fact having to buy a bunchnof lamps. Perhaps a wooden rack set would be better suited for keeping in heat atleast that what i have read and I wouldn't have to worry about it

If I decide to go with the ceramic bulb should I still use my UTHs and if so do I put the lamp on the cool or hot side?

[greg.s]

I think I have helped the issue a bit with the temperature but using a thicker blanket over the enclosure. i went ahead also and switched his substrate from paper towels to aspen. I cleared the aspen away from under the hide so its just the bare plastic underneath. and i put some balled up news paper in there to help keep things insulated more. I keep the temp now at about 78. I am finding a lot of conflicting information concerning ambient temps and perhaps someone can clear this up for me. When I use my temperature gun and checking both sides if the hot side bottom surface of the tub is 90-92 F and the cool side bottom surface is 80-82 F under each of the hides, how important is the ambient temperature. I mean if they are cold wouldn't they just go the hot side anyway to warm up. I am not saying keep the ambient below 70 F or anything like that but I'm just wondering if my thought process is off. I am hearing that the ambient temp is not as big of a deal as belly heat is. its all confusing