New guy

[Jackthesnake69]

What type of enclosure is every one using. Like a lot of people I started with a glass aquarium. Initial thoughts are this is not what I’m going to continue with. Humidity and temperatures are very inconsistent. Not sure if my heating pad is suspect as I already found my thermostat (century)defective. It would turn off with a reading of 92 however actual temps were considerably lower. It reached great temperatures at first and with in a few days was completely useless.
Everything was new except aquarium, used at a thrift store.
What brand heat pad is best? As I start planning for the permanent enclosure I want to spend my money on the right things. Plans are for a PVC cage and Vivarium thermostat. Not clear on what’s better pad or heat tape.
My snake currently is a Pastel Yellow Belly approximation of almost 5 weeks old. 50 grams and roughly 16-17 inches long. She is very active during dusk after I shut light off.
Prior to snake arriving tank was perfect but failure of thermostat has me chasing my tail however I have a handle on it. Any thoughts are much appreciated about supporting equipment.

[Jim Smith]

As long as you're planning ahead, I find that Radiant Heat Panels from ProProducts do a much better job maintaining a consistent temperature in any enclosure, especially PVC enclosures. They are usually mounted to the ceiling of the enclosure and never get too hot to touch. They take about 10 minutes to install and are MUCH less likely to fail and overheat/kill your snake. They are a bit more expensive, but they are worth every penny IMHO. I also really like the Herpstat thermostats as they have high low warnings and allow you to vary the temperatures at different times of the day if you want to.

[Jackthesnake69]

Thanks Jim for the input, had not thought about heat Panels. I’m a ways off but really want safe reliable and constant performance. Those sound great. Had not heard of herpstat either, I’ll give them a look.

[Jackthesnake69]

Update: Athena, my Pastel YB is doing great. Eats every time it’s offered and is getting close to shed. Weighed 65 grams on arrival and now a month later is 128grams. After my crash course on equipment failure and the one escape I have learned a great deal.
In two days Ronin, my new Banana Pinstripe will arrive. This time I’m completely ready and no surprises. Ronin weighs 82 grams according to breeder Mike Wilbanks and the Morph Market photo was really impressive. Eventually going to spend the money on nice enclosures but these two are not slumming it. At some point I would like to really get them on F/T but for a minute sticking with live.
Having a great time and learning. Really amazed by all the color variations and don’t forget the massive amount of information to numb my senses. Really loving this hobby.