55 Gallon Tank How to Heat Test

[FL0OD]

Sounds like a great idea. See thats all I am asking for. Exceptional input from some one that knows his stuff. Thank you sir.

[JoshJP7]

I'm gonna be the bad guy and tell you to can the 55gal bc unless you have a snake room where temps/humidity are always up your never gonna hit the spots you need... I tried for about 2 months to get my 60gal to work and couldnt do it with every trick in the book... Tried plexiglass over the top, larger water bowl, reptile humidifier, 150W CHE, 2 UTH's... anything you can think of... I dont wanna rain on your parade its just too much empty space to heat up. I even moved my CHE into the tank and it got my temps where it needed to be... but killed my humidity. You can try all the things brimstone suggested but my bet is on you not hitting your marks. Best bet is to either build a custom cage big enough for both snakes if you insist on keeping them together or buying a plastic cage.

[starmom]

Good advice. I'm not certain what Fl0Od is really looking for...

I'm gonna be the bad guy and tell you to can the 55gal bc unless you have a snake room where temps/humidity are always up your never gonna hit the spots you need... I tried for about 2 months to get my 60gal to work and couldnt do it with every trick in the book... Tried plexiglass over the top, larger water bowl, reptile humidifier, 150W CHE, 2 UTH's... anything you can think of... I dont wanna rain on your parade its just too much empty space to heat up. I even moved my CHE into the tank and it got my temps where it needed to be... but killed my humidity. You can try all the things brimstone suggested but my bet is on you not hitting your marks. Best bet is to either build a custom cage big enough for both snakes if you insist on keeping them together or buying a plastic cage.

[Brimstone111888]

I'm gonna be the bad guy and tell you to can the 55gal bc unless you have a snake room where temps/humidity are always up your never gonna hit the spots you need... I tried for about 2 months to get my 60gal to work and couldnt do it with every trick in the book... Tried plexiglass over the top, larger water bowl, reptile humidifier, 150W CHE, 2 UTH's... anything you can think of... I dont wanna rain on your parade its just too much empty space to heat up. I even moved my CHE into the tank and it got my temps where it needed to be... but killed my humidity. You can try all the things brimstone suggested but my bet is on you not hitting your marks. Best bet is to either build a custom cage big enough for both snakes if you insist on keeping them together or buying a plastic cage.

Yeah my method doesn't make for a very consistent heating because of the space. But with a 55gal I did the best I could. LOL.

[FL0OD]

I was just figuring with so many people on here that some one could think of some thing that no one else had thought of. I am taking every ones suggestions into account. There are just a lot of things that I have already tried so I was looking for new ideas.

[dr del]

Hi,

Is leaving one side open for viewing important to you?

If not then completely covering all the sides/bottom and probably most of the top with reflectix or cork sheeting might help keep the temps more stable but it's always going to be tricky to heat that volume I think.

I used to use a 5 foot by 2 x 2 wooden vivarium with a 700watt ceramic heater (on a thermostat of course) and used a large humid hide in addition to the regular ones to try and help with shedding.

It cost an absolute fortune to run and , to be honest, I don't think I will ever try and use it for anything again as the best you can manage is a compromise and bodge/ make do situation.

Just my 2c.


dr del

[Tosha_Mc]

I have a big tank that I used to use for my showcase tank - it was heated underneath by a couple of heat pads but I also ran heat rope under the substrate to help heat the tank. You might also consider insulating the tank as well (back and sides) to keep the heat in. Cover the top I think has already been suggested. You can also attach those heat pads onto the side of the tank to help with ambient temps if you need to. Flexwawatt can also be used instead of heat pads. Be sure you put your heating devices on a thermostat.

Good luck.

[SatanicIntention]

That's because no one in their right mind, who knows how to keep Ball Pythons, will use a 55 gallon tank. They are heavy, awful to clean, very difficult to keep correctly heated and humidified.

I would recommend you contact some big breeders out there and ask every single one who keeps their Ball Pythons together. If you eventually want a stressed out, egg bound, nutrient-depleted female, keep on doing what you're doing... There have been documented events of stress-induced cannibalism in Ball Pythons housed together, even if they had been together for years prior. WHY would you want to risk the health and well-being of your animals?

That being said, 55 gallon tanks are horrible for keeping ground dwelling reptiles. They don't have enough floor space, and you waste alot of electricity trying to heat the air to a normal range.

Do your snakes a favor, get 2 actual reptile cages, such as Vision, Animal Plastics, Boaphile, etc and separate them. Plastic is a much better insulator than glass is and will provide a more appropriate home for the snake(well insulated = easy to heat and humidify, and will remain stable, unlike glass). Glass will always try to be the same temp as the surrounding room temp. Think of it as your car on a very cold, wintery day, and you have the heat blasting. If you feel the window, it's still incredibly cold and remains that way regardless of the temp inside. What if that was your snake's tank and the snake spent alot of time pressed up against the glass? The snake could easily get a respiratory infection or regurgitate its food because of the extremely cold glass it is resting on.

Get either two tanks, two reptile-specific enclosures, or two plastic sweater boxes, and separate your snakes. You can save yourself and the snakes alot of stress... Just listen to the people on here who have over 40 years of experience, they know what they are talking about.

[Jenn]

Oh dear god don't make them show "the picture" again.

I wouldn't be a bit surprised if some day you came home and one of your life partners was missing, and the other one was twice as big!!!! No, no not the picture again. Anything but the picture.

[FL0OD]

i wont be responding to this thread anymore so talk amoungst yourselves. some of you have been helpful and others of you have added your two cents where it is not wanted nor needed. did any of you that decided to flame me for how i keep my animals even read my first post. i have SUCCESSFULLY owned and housed two of my four animals like this for YEARS. I do not house all of my animals like this and have two pastels, male and female, that are in separate tanks, and two normals, male and female, that I have decided to keep together. I am well aware of the risks and if I felt that there was concern as mentioned by a couple of you I would remove these two. I have enough space to separate them if that is what I wanted to do. My animals are not babies and have produced eggs for the past three years for me. So my results fly in the face of your judgement. Reading a book about "How to Keep A Ball Python" does not mean that you know everything. Mentioned also was "ask any major breeder" and if you actually did you would know that major breeders change the way they house, light, and heat there cages often and not always do so by "the book". So are they wrong according to what you read or some one told you was "the way it should be done"? Did you know there are major breeders that do not light cycle there animals? Did you know there are major breeders that do not use hide boxes? I am sure that is in "the book" too. I will say again that this thread was started because I have ONE large tank that is difficult to heat and I was wondering if any of the nice intelligent people that frequented this forum could all put there heads together and help me possibly think of some thing I had not already thought of. Instead I get flamed by a couple of people I do not even know about how I should and should not keep and raise my animals when that has NOTHING to do with this thread. Thanks to everyone that just answered the question posted.