Heating set-up for my 55G.

[TurboSE]

I'm finally taking my ball out of her Tupperware and putting her in an aquarium. She's 7 years old, about 48". From what I read, she shouldn't feel overwhelmed at the size of her new home.

Here's the quick & dirty of my set-up. Feel free to make suggestions.

Lights/Lamps:
2 - night bulbs in regular clamp lamps. (Not a lot of use for heat, but sometimes I like to watch her crawl around while I'm in bed. Won't be on most of the time.)

1 - 100W Zoo Med Ceramic Heater in Fluker's dome. (Is 100W big enough or should I have gone 150W?).

All on a wall-mounted rack over the tank w/mesh lid (Any ideas how high to mount them to achieve the appropriate temp?).

1 - Zoo Med 18x8 UTH with Home Depot lamp dimmer for safety and a stick on thermometer on the glass above the pad to check the temp. (What is a safe temp to set the pad at?). I use about 2" of shredded Aspen bedding if that matters.


2 - Half log hides, one at each end.

I've been told the light cycles in the average bedroom are acceptable and I don't really need lights on a timer. True?

Is there any need to have the heaters on a thermostat such as the 500R? Or just the ceramic heater maybe? I've read it should be constant.

Any other suggestions are appreciated!

[Freebody]

fish tanks are hard to keep the right humidity and temps in but it can be done, i would recomend getting a vivarium built instead. you can just put your light ontop and use a reostat to dial in the proper temp, for a ball python it should be ambient temps in the 80s, hotspot at 87-92d, humidity is 75% , belly heat is good for ball pythons so an undertank heater is a good idea. heres an easy reostat you can build cheep, actually i just made another one today to be honest :) How to make your own Rheostat for less than $7! Detailed instructions. - CornSnakes.com Forums (http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19168) and a nice vivarium you can build easy, How to build 4x2 enclosure for $100 - Redtailboa.net (http://www.redtailboa.net/forums/how-tos-tutorials/28742-how-build-4x2-enclosure-100-a.html)

[DeesBalls]

I'm finally taking my ball out of her Tupperware and putting her in an aquarium. She's 7 years old, about 48". From what I read, she shouldn't feel overwhelmed at the size of her new home.

Here's the quick & dirty of my set-up. Feel free to make suggestions.

Lights/Lamps:
2 - night bulbs in regular clamp lamps. (Not a lot of use for heat, but sometimes I like to watch her crawl around while I'm in bed. Won't be on most of the time.)

1 - 100W Zoo Med Ceramic Heater in Fluker's dome. (Is 100W big enough or should I have gone 150W?).

All on a wall-mounted rack over the tank w/mesh lid (Any ideas how high to mount them to achieve the appropriate temp?).

1 - Zoo Med 18x8 UTH with Home Depot lamp dimmer for safety and a stick on thermometer on the glass above the pad to check the temp. (What is a safe temp to set the pad at?). I use about 2" of shredded Aspen bedding if that matters.


2 - Half log hides, one at each end.

I've been told the light cycles in the average bedroom are acceptable and I don't really need lights on a timer. True?

Is there any need to have the heaters on a thermostat such as the 500R? Or just the ceramic heater maybe? I've read it should be constant.

Any other suggestions are appreciated!

im switching my BRB to uth and tub set up, does the home depot dimmer switch work well, is it easy to install and use? im not too good at electrical work and wondering if it was easy....

any who, sounds good... bell heat is good for BP, i have mine in 20 gal long and i use a towl over the top of screen lid. also a big water bowl will help too :)

[Lankyrob]

My ball is in a 4foot by 2foot by 2foot viv - i just cover about 90% of the floor space with hides so that he can get form hot to cold end without coming out in the open - lots of tunnel space created using large cork bark pieces. Not sure how he would react to an aquarium with glass sides so that it is all open space around him tho.....

I keep the humidity on a cylic basis - spray each morning to get it to about 70% and during the day it drops down to about 50%.

[TurboSE]

FREEBODY - thanks for the great links!

Lil_Boa - I haven't tried the dimmer yet, waiting for my UTH to arrive. I've read good things. They're about $10, and you just plug it into the outlet and plug the UTH into it.

Lankyrob - What kind of substrate do you use? I worry about over-misting and getting mold.

[Lankyrob]

I use repti bark, holds moisture well and so far never had mold. My SD has higher levels of humidity and is also on repti bark, again no issues whatsoever. I think it is definitely worth having the drying out period tho, don't know of anywhere thathas constant humidity levels, even rainforests have higher humidity during the day than at nightfor example.

[Lankyrob]

Just to add our rep shop has some sort of lizard, forget what it was, during the really hot summer they were pretty much pouring bucket of water inro the viv so that the repti bark was almost floating, they have no mould issues either.

[TurboSE]

good info, I have been using Aspen for about 8 months with no mold, but I still worry. I keep my humidity between 70-80%.

I have 1 bail of Aspen left, after that, I'll try the bark, I like the look better than the saw dust look of the aspen.

Do you turn the Reptibark often? I turn/fluff the Aspen once every week or so.

[TurboSE]

the link on cornsnakes.com isn't working for me, but I did find this: DIY Rheostat (dimmer) for temp control (http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?78848-DIY-Rheostat-%28dimmer%29-for-temp-control)

My electrical background is pretty solid so I would have no problem wiring one power feed into two knob dimmers and making a double rheostat? Could I effectively control my UTH and ceramic emitter independently with this set-up?

[Lankyrob]

The reptibark is pretty maintenance free. Spot clean diligently and add bits as needed then couple of times a year do a total replace.

I found aspen more difficult to spot clean and didnt hold moisture so well.

[TurboSE]

got everything hooked up and I'm currently working the bugs out. What is a good, safe temp to set my UTH at?

[Lankyrob]

My ball has a basking spot of 92f

[TurboSE]

This is my plan for a dual rheostat with two constant 110v plugs.

It doesn't seem to be very good at controlling the temp of my UTH. Any ideas?

I have it set at about 10 o'clock, (8 o'clock being full "off", 4 o'clock being full "on"). and the surface temp of the glass above my UTH is still reading about 100*F.

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n112/TurboSE1980/Snake2.jpg

edit: ignore the orange dots, I was out of wire nuts and was planning to raid my dad's garage...I was counting how many "at most" I'd need.

[infernalis]

personally I never had any faith in using a light dimmer for thermal controls.

A true thermostat is the only way to ensure your temps reliably.

[Lankyrob]

I can only agree with wayne, i have thermostats on every viv.

[Freebody]

i use my reostat i build and they work great :) cheep easy to build, i cant rememeber who it was on this site that first gave me the link but cheer to him/her if it was you reading this :) but its not a constant temp like all reostats are, if its hot outside it still puts that much volt you have the dial set to output so you temps go up, thermostats are the way to go when you get the extra cash to buy one :)