too much humidity, and not enough heat

[Mindibun]

Several days ago I posted that I'd be moving my big girl into a tub. I got everything set up and let it regulate for a day before moving her in. I dont have a rack so I just stacked the tubs on top of one another. Since I moved her, though, I've had nothing but trouble.

First of all, when the tub was empty, the temps were just fine. But then when I put the snake in and she started dumping her water the temps got a little off. Ever since then I've been battling them to get them back to where they were. I had guessed that since warm air rises the top tub would be hotter than the bottom, but it's been the bottom tub that is about 4 degrees hotter. Since both tubs are plugged into the same therm and I only have one probe, I can't adjust one tub's temp without messing with the other. I've tried putting the smaller tub on top, and putting the smaller one on bottom. Something is wrong either way.

On top of that, the larger girl is dumping her weighted ceramic bowl of water and boosting her humidity up to "error". I've tried several different bowls and she still does it regardless. I was wondering if I switched her substrate from newspaper to aspen shavings if it would help absorb the water better, or just hold it in the tub longer?

She ate a rat yesterday so she's not too bothered by all the fluctuating temps and humidty, but after trying so many things on my own, I'm ready to ask for help. I want to get things back to normal. I'm sorry I gave you guy so many things to address in this post. Also sorry if something isn't understandable. I've been REALLY sick lately and the cold medicine is getting to me...

[JoshJP7]

I think switching to aspen will only absorb the water and keep it in the tub longer... Have you tried like a mini dog bowl? theyre wider at the bottom then they are at the top so its almost impossible for them to tip em over... Heres a pic of what I use... This one is larger than the others I use but works none the less... Check out walmart/target in the pet section... thats where I found mine for like 3$...



As far as your heating problem... are you using the same sized heating pads in all your tubs? If ones bigger than another that tells you why your having issues getting them the same... The bigger one will always heat up fast and youll always have issues... Only put 2 or more heat pads on the same thermo if theyre all the same size... If they are the same size... Could just be the probe placement for your thermometer... None of mine are exactly the same but theyre all within a couple degrees so its fine.

[Mindibun]

the pads are both the same size. when i checked them this morning the upper tub was at 82 and the lower tub was at 88. I have the probe sitting on the pad for the upper tub (so the probe is sandwiched between the two tubs.) When I had it on the pad for the lower tub it made the temps spike way too high.

I haven't tried a dog bowl like that. I did try a wide, heavy plastic one though. Maybe I'll pick up one like yours.

[JoshJP7]

Couple things id try...move the probe to a hotter spot... I was having issues where i had 2 tubs that were pretty much the same and the 3rd was off like 6 degrees kinda like yours... I tweaked the probe placement a little bit and now theyre pretty much all the same...

Id try moving the thermometer probe in the coolest one(you have 2 tubs right).. You might find you just dont have the probe above the warmest part and your just getting a misreading...

If none of that works...when you have your snakes out put your hand on the bottom above the pad in each tub... You probably wouldnt be able to tell the difference in 6 degrees but you can get a good idea how warm they are... If the cooler one still feels pretty warm then you might be ok... worse comes to worse bump the top one up to 93 and the bottom one should fall around 88... Not "perfect" but itll work.

[dr del]

Hi,

This may be a daft idea so feel free to ignore it but, over here, some brands of heatpads get hotter on one side and if your top one is doing the same that might explain it.

Or possibly try putting a layer of insulator between the bottom tub and the heatpad for the top? Reflectix (I think) was one type that was mentioned as being moderately priced enough you could possibly test this with no major outlay.

Not sure if any of that made sense (it's 7 am and I'm a lil punchy) so you may need some kind soul to decode.


dr del

[Mindibun]

as far as that goes I could just layer more newspaper in the bottom tub to keep the snake further from the heat source. Or even layer it over the UTH itself, though I might be concerned about a fire hazard. I upped the therm to say 96 this morning which would put the tubs at about 92 if the difference in temps stays constant. I dont know if that makes sense to anyone but we'll see.

[Sparky1]

Well my ? is how are you measuring your temps? Next if you unstack the tubs what happends are they both to cool? With the same size uth on both they should stay close to the same. As for the water issue, cypress is what i use per my breeders recomendation and it can get damp without molding, i would try putting way less water in the bowl to start with since they dont drink much and your tub will hold the humidity way better so you dont have to count on it to keep up the humidity.

[andwhy6]

i keep my stat at 95 for my tubs and get a mini fan so that air gets circulated well. this will make your humidity go down 10-20% depending how the number and size of your vent holes.