Different Enclosures

[mmchoppers]

Hi guys,

I'm thinking about getting a bp soon and I wanna set up the perfect cage! I know many people use tubs for breeding and offspring stuff, but is it alright to use it for a permanent enclosure? I have studied a ton on bp's, but have not seen a good, complete way to set up a tub, or at least not yet. Could any of you point me in the right direction?? Here is a specific list of what I would like to find out:

1. A complete guide on how to set up a tub, unless glass is the way to go!
2. Do probe thermometers get in the way of cleaning, and how do they measure both hot side and cool side belly temps? OR
3. I'm Concidering a temp gun, probably pro exotics pe-1. Do any of you have experience with these? If yes, shed some light
4. I'm also looking for a supplier for most of my enclosure needs, any place popular here due to quality or price...or hopefully both?

Thank you for spending your time reading this! I thank you ahead of time for all the helpful replies!!

[JLC]

Hi! Welcome to BP.net! And congrats on choosing an excellent snake to keep...but most of all, kudos for wanting to get everything set up properly before bringing the snake home!


Glass enclosures can certainly work, especially if you want something "pretty" and you don't mind putting in the extra work it takes to keep them. But if you're going for the most practical, economical, ideal environment for your snake, believe it or not, plastic tubs are the way to go.

For setting up a tub, you need a few basic things:
1. The tub itself, of course...
2. A soldering iron for making holes in the plastic
3. A UTH...either an Under Tank Heating pad from the pet store, or flexwatt from an online supplier
4. A thermostat to control the UTH...best if bought from an online supplier...the pet store brands are not reliable
5. A thermometer/hygrometer....digital indoor/outdoor from WalMart or Lowes works great and is inexpensive
6. Newspaper substrate
7. Two identical hides and a water bowl.

Use the soldering iron to make holes at the ends and along the sides of the tub for air flow. Also, make a hole near a bottom corner for your thermostat probe wire to go through.

Attach the UTH to the bottom of the tub, usually covering about 1/2 - 2/3 of the bottom.

Plug the UTH into the thermostat and slide the t-stat probe through the hole provided.

Place newspaper on the bottom and make sure t-stat probe is relatively stationary over the heating pad, either above or beneath the newspaper, whichever you prefer.

Set up the thermometer unit in a corner of the cool side of the tub....run the "warm side" probe over to the warm side, and hide excess wire under the newspaper.

Place the two hides in the tub...one right over the top of the t-stat and thermometer probes...the other on the cool side. Place the water bowl on the cool side as well. If your humidity is too low, you can shift the waterbowl over to warmer territory to help raise humidity.

That's basically it. Make sure the lid is secure, realizing that snakes are much stronger and squishier than we'd ever give them credit for!

http://www.mgreptiles.com/
That link will take you to a supplier who should have all the above items you need. And there are lots of others to choose from if you want to look further.

[ddbjdealer]

2. Do probe thermometers get in the way of cleaning, and how do they measure both hot side and cool side belly temps?

The accurite that most people use here is an indoor/outdoor thermometer with a probe for measuring the outside temps. You put the unit on the cool side, and the probe on the warm side. The thermometer tells you inside/outside temps... but REALLY they're cool side/warm side temps.

3. I'm Concidering a temp gun, probably pro exotics pe-1. Do any of you have experience with these? If yes, shed some light

Temp guns are cool toys. In my experience (I own one) they're functional only in telling you what's CURRENTLY happening on the surface you're measuring.. and that's only IF you're using it correctly.

The accurite that I mentioned before has min/max recording for everything it measures.... The hi/lo inside temp (cool side) The hi/lo outside temp (warm side) and the hi/lo humidity. Those buttons are instrumental for my measuring what's truly going on in my cages. I just put the thermometer in one tub overnight... and the next day, I can see what the temps got up to, or down to, with the push of a button... ya can't do that with a temp gun.

[rabernet]

Here's a handy dandy DIY here on the forum: http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=40

I will add, that I would recommend a tub with a much lower height than that one, mine are about 6 inches tall. I got mine from WalMart, it's the Sterilite 1986 model.

I currently buy my heating supplies from Rich at http://www.reptilebasics.com

I also do not do the screened part in the lid that the DIY has, I don't use supplemental lighting, just a UTH, thermostat, digital thermometer/hygrometer and you're good to go!

[mmchoppers]

Thanks for all your helpful replies! This site is awesome! JLC, thanks for sharing how to setup a tub, and everyone else. Now, there is a glass setup stickied, I think it would be really cool to sticky along with it, a tub setup! Oh and JLC, with the UTH's or flexwatt, will they melt the plastic? Also, with the Accurite thermometer, how can it show the belly heat of the cool side w/out a probe? Isn't it just displaying the ambient heat?? Thanks guys

[mmchoppers]

Forgot to ask, which Thermostat do you recommend? I'm trying to keep my entire enclosure setup below 200, thanks.

[JLC]

The UTH won't melt the plastic because you'll have a t-stat hooked up to it to keep it from getting too hot. If it's safe for your snake, it's safe for the plastic!


The thermometer unit should be sitting directly on the floor of the tub, so that gives you a pretty good idea what your cool side temps are. The accurate belly temps are most important on the warm side. Once you get your basic temperature gradient dialed in and consistent, you can move the little probe on the end of the wire around sometimes to spot check temps in other parts of the enclosure if you want.

I would highly recommend a Johnson t-stat that's already wired for you to plug in. That should run you about $70 and will by far be the most expensive piece of the puzzle. You should easily be able to put together a very nice tub for less than $200.

[JLC]

This thread shows my tub setup pretty nicely. Not particularly attractive, but it's working beautifully. And it gives you a couple ideas to use for very inexpensive hides:


http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=35212

[mmchoppers]

Alright cool, hey btw I also live in Az!! Glendale, to be more specific..

[mmchoppers]

I was reading about Reflectix and was wondering, is it necessary to put IN the tub as well as under the tub?? Do the tubs get mildew from condensation? thanks