vivarium setup

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Hi folks,
hope you all had a great celebration ringing in the new year - I'm a prime candidate for a 12 step programme after the celebrations over here ! Basically my question is about the layout of the vivarium .. currently(as setup by the pet store) the hide is on the heatmat in one end , the basking area(under heat light) is opposite end with no hide, a cheapo thermometer stuck to the side of the viv' away from hide and basking area (go figure !), and a heat lamp that looks as though it was a regular bulb coloured red with a felt-tip pen as the part of the bulb nearest the socket is emitting normal light and lighting up the viv' when I only want it to heat the area. From my reading on this forum I need another hide for basking area asap. What is the ideal setup for my vivarium ? I am going to construct a viv' myself over the next few weeks as I don't think the one supplied is up to much ... I am struggling to understand why a store would sell my GF a setup that is so below par - I'd like to stick the store owner in such conditions and see how he fares out ! If any of you can give a list of essential things I should put in my viv' I would greatly appreciate it, and if you were making your own viv' how would you lay it out ? - I'm a newbie to all this and i love all critters(except cats) and really want this little fella to be as comfie as I can make him . thanks in advance
Martin.

[xdeus]

Hi Martin,

It seems like you're off to a great start as far as wanting the best setup for your snake. A good setup doesn't necessarily have to be expensive. All that is required is a cage (about one square foot per foot of snake), an UTH, thermometer, water bowl, a hide (preferably two), and a thermostat (or rheostat if your room temps are stable enough). If your snake is in a cool room, you may want to add a light. Just make sure you use a black or redlight as your snake will get stressed with too much visible light.

The hides can be as simple as a plastic bowl with a hole cut in the side, but the snake should fit snugly. Try not to use cardboard boxes as they tend to get wet and harbor bacteria.

There are a lot of great threads on setting up a cage. Also, if you haven't already read it, I would highly recommend reading the forum caresheet.

Good luck!

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thanks for the reply ... I've been reading Cassandra's post on building a vivarium and I'm gonna follow the post - I think its within my limited capabilities! Just a quick question - when buying heat mat's how do you know which mats will emit which levels of heat , all they seem to say on web-sites are the wattage ? is this pre-determined by manufacturer by the area they cover ?

[Broseph]

the higher the watts the bigger the tank it can be used for, this is were the t-sat comes into play, hook it up to the heat mat and set the temp..but some one with more experience would be better able to awser...

when buying heat mat's how do you know which mats will emit which levels of heat , all they seem to say on web-sites are the wattage ? is this pre-determined by manufacturer by the area they cover ?