Cold Vivarium

[Michael314]

I have gone to my parents for the holidays and have brought my BP with me, at my house he has his own room which is much warmer than my parents house. It is 77 deg F on the hot side 68 on the cold and I have insulated underneath the tank with bubble wrap. Is this okay? He seems active and happy.

[Ginevive]

Those temps are waaay low. You need to invest quickly in a space heater to heat the room around him.. I would recommend an oil-filled, plug-in radiator type.

[NightLad]

Do either of your parents have a heating pad, like they sell in drug stores? Maybe you could wrap it around the hot side of the tank to supplement heat. Or you could cover 2/3 of the top of the viv with aluminium foil shiny side down to trap/reflect heat. (Over the hot side.)

Cold temps will also effect the humidity. How is that holding up?

[Michael314]

I am unsure of the humidity I think its packed in. It is a stick on dial type and it has said 62% for a few days now. I have a small water bowl over the edge of the heating pad so it should be good at least 65%. My snake looks hydrated and is fairly happy. It has some damp spagnum moss in its hide and that retains heat well so it is possibly a bit warmer in there. When I return home in two weeks I am getting a brand new setup that is larger and has a protected heating bulb and underfloor heater on a pulse proportional thermostat, and a digital hygrometer.

[NightLad]

Yes, the digital hydrometers rock. There are several good brands out there, but the one I use to measure ambient humidity/air temp is Flukers Digital Thermometer/Humidity Guage. I use an AcuRight-like unit with a remote temp probe for keeping track of the cool and hot side ground temps.

I also use some spagnum moss in my viv; a few clumps in three corners. My home gets very dry in the winter, so using the moss with ZooMed Cyprus mulch substrate is a great combo. I feed him in a separate feeder tub, so there is no risk of him swallowing the moss. I lightly mist the viv once in the morning, including a misting of the moss, and then again at night. With that I'm able to maintain humidity of 5s-60s over the course of the day. (I change the substrate and moss once a month.)

Kudos on the new viv setup you have planned for your snake. It sounds like a fantastic Christmas gift for him!

[Hack the Maniac]

I've seen a pretty good selection of heat fans at walmart...

[nixer]

I've seen a pretty good selection of heat fans at walmart...

im sure they dont have walmarts in the uk. id wrap 3 sides of the glass and the entire bottom!

[$nake$]

how much would a decent heat fan go for?

[Skullkid]

ive got a similar problem, wrapped the tank with corkboard, covered it with tinfoil, and have a space heater, but the room is just too cold , the hot side gets up to 86, and its 78 on the cool, wat else can i do?