Tub owners, how do you keep your cool side temps up?

[Jenn]

Well, the few tubs I use (mostly for QT) have a UTH on each side for warm and cool temps controlled by separate thermostats. Granted, those t-stats are the ZooMed variety...but they work just fine for QT needs and are cheap enough to allow me to have 5. To raise ambient temps(in winter), I place a lamp about 8-12" above the top of the tub around the middle and use a 40 watt bulb.

With all the heck I've been through with these tubs: getting ventilation right to lower humidity, keeping the temp gradient right... I just really prefer my tanks! However, they are not practical given my limited space...so I'm building a rack that will use 90qt tubs for my adult BPs and I will put up with the endless tweaking to get it right for the extra space it will give me. Of course, my corn snakes and my younger BPs are staying in their nice stable tanks.

[Jenn]

Right on Argentra!!! Good for you. My most expensive snake is in a ten gallon tank with no thermostat!!! I only use thermostats for my normals, and on racks. Non of my tanks even have thermostats and they are safe and stable.

[branson]

I've been experiencing the same problem with my tub setup. Thankfully I'm trying to work it out before I get my snake. I have the hot side dialed into 93-96 degrees F at the heating pad using a dimmer from Lowe's. My room temps don't fluctuate more than 2 or 3 degrees. My cool side reflects ambient room temps (76-78 degrees). This just seems too low for a 12 qt tub, because there really isn't that much space for a proper gradient. Right? If I go to another UTH and dimmer, are the two supposed to cover the entire bottom of the tub (outside of course)? Us newbies need all the advice we can get...

[blackcrystal22]

I think, if you have the tub's warm side at 88-95 then it usually should variate enough for the snake to thermo-regulate with no problem.
I don't have a ton of experience with this, but I would assume if they get too hot, they move to the cold side for a bit and can move back to the warm side if they need to. I don't think it is majorly bad if the temperatures on the cold side arn't perfect, as long as you have regular warm side temps.

[nevohraalnavnoj]

My cool side temps were too cool as well, so I up'd the ambient temp to just 75-77 degrees (rather than 72) and it is perfect now.

You can get away with using a cool side heat tape too, but then you start killing a fly with an elephant gun, in my opinion. Not to mention, every time you open the tub your snakes get a blast of cold air.

Just my .02.

JonV

[Mochelem]

I live in a small apartment also, what I did to raise ambient temps is simply close the vent going into that one room, most vents have a lever on them that closes them off, or you can unscrew it and put press and seal behind the vent if you cant close it off. Also make sure you keep the door closed to that room, doing thease things has raised the ambient temps 8 degrees in that room

[Argentra]

Heh, I'd love to be able to raise ambients in the snake room that way - especially in winter - but I cannot. The snake room also happens to be the bedroom!

Another trick I use, with tanks as well as tubs, is to insulate them. This not only keeps heat in, but it makes the back and sides opaque for more snake security.

In this apartment, there's always some tweaking to be done depending on the season: In winter the corns are fine since the house temps are around 71, but the BPs cool side t-stats are always going. In summer, those cool side t-stats hardly come on at all, since the house stays around 80, but the corns are too warm! Just can't win.

[SGB_74]

i had the same problem a while back when i used tanks..but i made the switch to tubs..and since then everything has gone perfect..and to maintain my ambient temps..i moved my snakes to the garage since its the summer months; and their daytime ambient temps reach up to 88 degrees and drop at night to about 80 degrees...i've also read in a previous forum regarding cool side temps for tubs you can always place a heatlamp over the cool side to heat the ambient air..and i dont mean cut out a square on the tubs lid and place the heatlamp over the square with a piece of cutout steel..i mean you can go out and purchase a stand like the one below and have it suspend over ur tub setup and it should maintain its temps to at least 81 degrees on the cool side i know haha i had to do it before..i've also had the fear of it melting the plastic but its never happened to me when i did it..also i used a 75 watt bulb. and i'll tell you this..you dont lose humidity when using a heatlamp on a tub as you would when using a glass tank setup.

http://www.arcatapet.com/fullsize/10737.jpg

http://www.petmountain.com/shop/stan...r-reptiles.jpg

[bsd13]

i had the same problem a while back when i used tanks..but i made the switch to tubs..and since then everything has gone perfect..and to maintain my ambient temps..i moved my snakes to the garage since its the summer months; and their daytime ambient temps reach up to 88 degrees and drop at night to about 80 degrees...i've also read in a previous forum regarding cool side temps for tubs you can always place a heatlamp over the cool side to heat the ambient air..and i dont mean cut out a square on the tubs lid and place the heatlamp over the square with a piece of cutout steel..i mean you can go out and purchase a stand like the one below and have it suspend over ur tub setup and it should maintain its temps to at least 81 degrees on the cool side i know haha i had to do it before..i've also had the fear of it melting the plastic but its never happened to me when i did it..also i used a 75 watt bulb. and i'll tell you this..you dont lose humidity when using a heatlamp on a tub as you would when using a glass tank setup.

Just be really careful that you don't boil the snake alive using the heat lamp suspended over the tub. You have to check and triple check the temps inside the tub for the first few days. An inch or two closer or further away can make a big difference. One of my tubs got over 115 degrees in less than an hour because I had the lamp too close. Fortunately it was a test run so nothing was living in there, but it could have been a disaster.

[Argentra]

That's why I make sure my lamps are a) at least 8-12" away from the top of the enclosure (and that's the BOTTOM of the lamp), and b) that I use no higher than 50 watt bulbs. Doing those two things gets you a good raise in ambients, but doesn't overheat or drain humidity.

Also, those stand things are a rip off. I just built my own using wood: a thin plank for the platform, thick broom-handle-like dowels for the arms linked with a PVC elbow joint and a large hook screwed into the end. Worked great, but in the end I prefer clipping them to a wall shelf (gives extra storage space as well), or suspending from a hook in the ceiling with chain.