Single Tub Cold Room Success

[BallPythonWannaBe]

I feel like I see people asking this a lot, how to keep a tub warm enough in a room with cold ambients. Obviously raising the ambient room temp or using a space heater is ideal. However the posts I usually see are people with maybe one snake who can't really justify a space heater or making their room that warm. I needed to set up a quick stand alone tub and unfortunately the only place I had was near an air conditioning vent 🥲 So what I did was take a 28 qt tub and get two heat mats. Each large enough to cover 1/2 the tub. Set it up, sodered holes, got thermostat probes where they need to be. It's been up and running a few days now and temps are holding steady. Using wood shavings as bedding, not sure if that makes a difference or not. Average temperature of the area before was 67-69 never getting above that. Currently the bin is reading 75 on the cold side and 85 on the warm. Ambient temps above the bin and a few inches to the side read 72, though this would probably be slightly higher using higher mat temps. Keep in mind this specific bin is for a soloman island boa and these are their ideal temps. I ran some tests and it can easily do 80 on the cold side with a warm of about 90 depending on what you need. All temps were taken with a temp gun, and thermostats used on both heat mats. Thought this might help someone! I ran for a good amount of time to make sure everything was consistent.

[Lord Sorril]

Your surface temperatures with a temp gun might be in alignment, but, what are your ambient air temperatures?
Infrared heat mats are not designed to warm air--which is why most people use a Ceramic Heat Emitter (CHE) in their enclosures.

I use only heat mats to run my incubators and I use water as a thermal battery within a relatively sealed and insulated environment to keep the temperature stable. I would not rely on an infrared heating source alone outside of these conditions. A warm snake breathing cold air...not ideal...

[BallPythonWannaBe]

Your surface temperatures with a temp gun might be in alignment, but, what are your ambient air temperatures?
Infrared heat mats are not designed to warm air--which is why most people use a Ceramic Heat Emitter (CHE) in their enclosures.

I use only heat mats to run my incubators and I use water as a thermal battery within a relatively sealed and insulated environment to keep the temperature stable. I would not rely on an infrared heating source alone outside of these conditions. A warm snake breathing cold air...not ideal...

I probably wasnt clear enough above.

Readings:
General Room- 66 F
Ambient Inside Bin and directly around - 72 F
Hot side - 86F
Cold Side- 75 F

These are the readings as of this morning. Obviously ambient temps are the biggest concern, no one wants an RI. When I did a test run at higher temps, I believe cold 80 and warm 90 the ambient was higher. Most people also don't have a 66 F room either.

[BallPythonWannaBe]

Your surface temperatures with a temp gun might be in alignment, but, what are your ambient air temperatures?
Infrared heat mats are not designed to warm air--which is why most people use a Ceramic Heat Emitter (CHE) in their enclosures.

I use only heat mats to run my incubators and I use water as a thermal battery within a relatively sealed and insulated environment to keep the temperature stable. I would not rely on an infrared heating source alone outside of these conditions. A warm snake breathing cold air...not ideal...

I can't seem to edit it now but by hot and cold sides I mean directly above the mats where the snake would be directly touching. By ambient I mean the actual air temperature inside and around the bin. This temperature remains consistent in the entire bin and roughly five inches around the sides and above before it begins to drop off.

[Malum Argenteum]

There's big difference between setting up a tub that runs in spec for a few days, and an inexperienced keeper who is trying to come up with permanent, stable housing that will work well in the medium to long term.

When the entire tub is thermostatically controlled -- by only surface heat, no less -- thermostat functionality (hardware as well as operator input) becomes much more a life and death issue. When the probe on the cool side falls out of place and that mat runs hot, that's a big problem. But when an enclosure that is in a room with a decent ambient temp (an ambient temp that can be checked simply by walking into the room and feeling the air), the failure of a heat mat on or off isn't mission critical, and can be diagnosed simply by seeing the snake hugging one side of the enclosure..

More broadly, tubs are for use in a rack (for security in both senses -- the feelings of security of the snake, and the actual security of the snake not escaping from under a top that was designed to hold sweaters in) in a room where ambient temps are reasonable. For a room that is temperature-challenged, the correct tool is a PVC enclosure with an RHP.

The problem with recommending that keepers use equipment in ways that it isn't suited for (tubs in a cool room, heat mats for general warmth) is that the housing situation gets very fragile -- any equipment failure is both more likely to occur and more likely to end badly. As a breeder who talks to a lot of novice keepers, and hears about deaths (of animals that I bred -- that stings even more) that easily could have been avoided by at least aiming at "ideal" (even if not attaining it), I always recommend resilient design in housing that uses the right equipment for the job.

[BallPythonWannaBe]

There's big difference between setting up a tub that runs in spec for a few days, and an inexperienced keeper who is trying to come up with permanent, stable housing that will work well in the medium to long term.

When the entire tub is thermostatically controlled -- by only surface heat, no less -- thermostat functionality (hardware as well as operator input) becomes much more a life and death issue. When the probe on the cool side falls out of place and that mat runs hot, that's a big problem. But when an enclosure that is in a room with a decent ambient temp (an ambient temp that can be checked simply by walking into the room and feeling the air), the failure of a heat mat on or off isn't mission critical, and can be diagnosed simply by seeing the snake hugging one side of the enclosure..

More broadly, tubs are for use in a rack (for security in both senses -- the feelings of security of the snake, and the actual security of the snake not escaping from under a top that was designed to hold sweaters in) in a room where ambient temps are reasonable. For a room that is temperature-challenged, the correct tool is a PVC enclosure with an RHP.

The problem with recommending that keepers use equipment in ways that it isn't suited for (tubs in a cool room, heat mats for general warmth) is that the housing situation gets very fragile -- any equipment failure is both more likely to occur and more likely to end badly. As a breeder who talks to a lot of novice keepers, and hears about deaths (of animals that I bred -- that stings even more) that easily could have been avoided by at least aiming at "ideal" (even if not attaining it), I always recommend resilient design in housing that uses the right equipment for the job.

I'm not necessarily recommending that people who have no idea what they're doing use this method. I've seen it recommended here multiple times over the years and thought I'd share how it worked for me. I do suppose I could have been more clear or put a disclaimer, though I can't edit it now. I do have adhd and tend to get ahead of myself. I do believe this method has its merits though. Quarantine, or temporary enclosures above all. Also, considering the wait times on a T8 with an RHP this could possibly work as a temporary enclosure. Most people don't typically have such cold ambients as well. Typically people are looking at something closer to 70 F. In my situation specifically I needed a fast quarantine tub. I don't agree necessarily that tubs only belong in racks.