i need some advice from all my respected herpers that help me in here

[Morbids_Mom]

ok we had a scare yesterday..dremora got out. thank goodness she was seen in her tank ...oh maybe 15-20 before. we found her in my bedroom between the boxspring and the wall/door(we have a door we dont use so we have furniture in front of it on both sides, but it makes it kinda recessed). i was so upset that we didnt put a brick on that side of the tank. well shes safe and sound now and i am calming down and making sure this dont happen AGAIN! took us almost 45 min. to check a 2bdr. apt before we found her. but i rant again!

my question is..what is heat tape..is it more efficent way to heat an enclosure? why are tanks not good inclosures and what can i do to make a better one. dremora proved yesterday she is getting a little big for this 10 gal since her water bowl and hide take up most of the tank space. i am on the lookout for a better way to take care of her but still be able to display her kinda, we dont get alot of ppl here and we love to look in the tank at her when she is resting.

i need a more efficent way to heat and keep humidity up in the enclosure. last shed was incomplete and the vet said it was because she didnt get enuff humidity. tonite i tried misting a little and covering most of the tank with aluminum foil. dont worry i got a med.-sm. gap on the end not covered for evaproation and clean air. i am able to get her temps up to 85-90 during the day when its been nice out and in the house. but chilly days like today its hard to get it up to 80, shes been off her feed since before the shed..its been about a month. i try to feed her every 3-4 days and clean the tank afterwards..she kinda follows the hopper but never eats it. and they are not too big! it is frustrating and YES i have been reading my book still , trying to help myself learn more about dremora, she dont seem hungry, she seems healthy just feels too cool when i handle her cause of the temp problems.

good advice will be welcome please! before i but a new enclosure..i wanna do it right..i would like to know what everyone thinks within reason..cause i can only get things one at a time..like tank then ect...right now we are using a heating pad under the tank on low setting,it coveres mosly the middle of the tank, its only under very small part of the hide and about 1/2 the bowl of water to help humidty. thanks for the input. bear with me, i am tired and i tend to ramble sometimes..lol

[DaemoNox]

Heat tape is basicly an under tank heater not put together that you can cut to whatever length you need. Its really no better then an under tank heater for just a single snake.

Tanks are alright, but because of the screen top which lets out all the heat and humidity right away. They also are heavy and a pain to clean, and take up room. For one snake its no problem, just cover most of the screen. The alternitive are plastic containers; visually not as appealing but super cheap, easy to clean, and you often have more of a problem with them holding too much humidity.

She needs a warm spot of about 90 even on cool days, when the temps get low body systems slow down and they wont eat, as well as their immune system lowering leaving them open more to getting sick. How are you heating it? What kind of thermometer are you using and where is it placed? I would only offer food once a week.

[steelheadchris]

I agree once a week is plenty.and if you go with heatape your gonna need a thermostat or a rheostsat to control it,start looking for a used enclosure with a heat sorce and thermostat and hydrometer included...all the trimmings .should be able to find one alot cheeper used.then your set.no more troubles . ive seen them for sale on this, and other forums.

[Morbids_Mom]

i will start looking for a bigger setup, today we are ordering a thermostat and a better heat pad. the thermo has 2 outlets and the heat pad we are ordering is a cobra, we alreday have one but it dont get as warm aw we would like so i am gonna use both but put hte hotter one in the center of the tank where he can bask and the cooler but warm one under his hide, i am not gonna put one by the water dish so he has a cool spot, my setup was great til last nite, we didnt turn on the heat last nite in the house and it got very cool in here and the tank was in the 70's, i got the heat up to high now to get the chill out of the apt and the tank it rising in temp as we speak but still that is not good. i will be buying 2 more hoppers today but will feed her tommorow i guess since she got so cold in here last nite and may not eat today! he was off feed for around 2 months before the other day and then finally at a very sm. hopper! yay! i think its because we dont have the temp regulated but now we more or less do, except for last nite! i dont wanna turn the heat pad up cause its on med right now and its a human heat pad and i dont wanna get the floor in the tank tooooo warm, my temp probe is sitting on the bottom of the tank and it reads like 80 now that the heat is on in the house! yesterday it got up in to the high 80's outside and very warm in the house so i had turned it down to low because her tank temp was in the high 90's. after i turned it down it went to the mid 80' to upper 80's. thats more or less where i try to keep it! the humidity is great but it needs to stay in the mid to upper 80's for her to feed correctly, shes not in that great shape now from being off feed for so long and i am hoping that the little hopper helped her out and now is payday so will have more hoppers thsi evening to feed her again! i had to cover the tank with a towel to get her to feed last time! will repeat the process again today or tommorow if i have too! thanks for the advice!. i will look for a whole tank setup on the classifieds here and other snake places! thanks

[siberian]

I'm in the process of going to all plastic cages. There are a bunch out there and not everyone likes the same thing. As For me I use ed lillys cages, constrictors northwest. They are hdpe not pvc. Price is great esp. considering shipping is included. Good luck. I think you will like the heat better after the mat is in place.