As good as it's gonna get...

[FireBri]

I've reached the end of my efforts to tweak my BP setup. You can tell me what you think, but I don't think it's getting any closer to perfect than it is now.

I have a 5 mo female ball in a 30 gal tank. I have a screen lid with peg board attached to the underside, and a little more than half of the holes covered. I have a Herpstat II controlling two pieces of Flex-watt secured to the underside of the tank. The probes are fixed securely to the inside bottom of the tank, near each back corner. No problems with her messing with them so far. 1/3 of the FW is set to 95 deg, and the other 2/3 is set to 85 deg. Those are the temps at the glass, and the Herpstat usually ends up a few tenths of a degree below them. She is not a burrower, yet. She has a ceramic pot hide on the hot side, and her water is on the cool side. My substrate is aspen thats spread pretty thin.

My variations, which I can't seem to improve are as follows. I've found the Flexwatt to run a few degrees cooler at the edges than it does in the middle. If I get 94 at the edge, I can get up to 97-98 in the middle. These are infrared temps with a heat gun, at the glass. On top of the substrate the temps are usually around 90.

I live in central Florida, where we have high humidity. My humidity levels fluctuate between high 40's to low 70's.

Again, I think I'm at the end of my efforts. My girl seems to be happy in her home. She has an excellent appetite, and seems to be thriving. Considering what I've spent on the whole setup, especially the Herpstat, I think I'm done.

Thoughts, comments, suggestions?

[skaplan86]

It sounds like you are doin pretty well. If you have the temps at 92 and 80 and its stable then you should be doing fine. What is the ambient temp? The humidity fluxuation from 40s-70s should probably be controlled. Most people shoot for like 55, and some push it up for sheds. This is the hardest part about a glass tank, a lot of people cover the lid with vinyl or foil as a way of holding heat and humidity in.

Depending on the size of the snake, some might argue that 30g is too large, but if she is eating I would think its ok.

I wish I could have more confidence in my answer here, but I am new to snake keeping as well and struggled with a glass tank for a few months so now I just use a tub. But I have done a lot of reading on the forums and these are the definite basics that I have learned.

maybe post a pic of the setup to help the pros get a better feel for it...

Good Luck!

[danimal]

Is a tub that much more insulating than a properly prepared tank?

[Wh00h0069]

Everything sounds good, except you should probably turn the heat down a little. I recommed setting your hot spot to 92F and your cool side to 82F.

Hope this helps.

[skaplan86]

Is a tub that much more insulating than a properly prepared tank?

Yeah a tub has a solid lid while most glass tanks have screen lids. Plastic is also a better heat insulator than glass... I picked up a 31qt rubbermaid for like $11 and stuck an acurite in there and the temps are almost perfect, I adjust the dimmer on the UTH once or twice a day but only a little bit... Humidity is very constant as well... Doesn't require a heat light or anything, just a UTH which i will be switching for flexwatt this weekend after my snake finishes digesting his rat from yesterday...

[FireBri]

Does anyone else out there find that your Flexwatt runs hotter towards the middle than near the edges?

[dr del]

Hi,

Have you insulated the sides and back of the tank? - that might help make the heat distribution on the flexwatt a little more even.

What are the temps inside her hide?

I would also put a second pot hide on the cool side as well.


dr del