Making do with an aquarium

[Norm66]

Now I know that aquariums aren't ideal for pythons. I've read it a thousand times and even remember struggling with my ball python I had 20 years ago (OMG it has been that long).

But now I've got this beautiful little carpet python and the only thing even resembling an appropriate snake enclosure I could find was a 20 gallon tall tank w/ a screen lid. I've been able to keep the humidity between 50 and 60 basically by dumping a few tablespoons of water on the paper substrate a couple times a day. Temperature has been my challenge so far.

I've got a heat pad under it, a 40 watt light above it and half the top covered with old pillowcases. This is giving me a nice 88-90 temp on the hot side, but rather than being around 80, the cool side hasn't broken 70.

The snake spends 99.9% of his time on his perch directly under the light. To check he was where he wanted to be I moved the light about 4" to the right and sure enough an hour later he'd moved.

So to me, it seems that the evidence shows that the only place that's the proper temperature. I have either a custom built enclosure or a commercially available PVC enclosure in mind down the line but I had planned on having 4-6 months before it was needed. What's the best thing to do in the short term?

Should I try and insulate the cage somehow? Should I come up with something better to cover the top than fabric (even about 8 layers of it)? Do I just scrap the aquarium altogether, go to Wal Mart and try to find a Rubbermaid tub of appropriate size? If I do that how do I secure the lid? Will a rubbermaid tub be significantly better at holding heat than an aquarium anyway?

I thought I knew what I was doing and though I don't think Jerome is any danger I don't feel like I'm doing the best I can for him. Basically I'm feeling a little dumb. :sad:

Any help is greatly appreciated. I tried to include all the pertinent information but feel free to ask anything I missed.

[snake man12]

I had this problem with my bp in his 20 gallon. It would mess up your humidity but for the time being you could get a 75 watt bulb and put it closer to the middle making a better gradient.

[Gungirl]

If you could put him in a tub you would be better off. Tubs tend to hold heat much better than aquariums do.

[youngster]

Kat said what I was going to say.
Tubs are like $14 for a 105q (25g) which is what I keep my adult corns in.
Holds humidity, temps and it's all around easier for me.

[Kiljosh]

When I had my BP in his starter home, a 20g aquarium, I struggled to find the right formula for temps.

I found that a 100w infared bulb directly over the hot side and a 60w bulb in the middle gave me a very good gradient. I have since converted to heatwire and it's been great with it hooked to a thermostat with one or two lights rheostat'd low for night time visibility.

But he is a Carpet, hes gonna get big. I wouldn't put a lot of time into this 20g because he'll outgrow it soon. I would get him a tub for the time being and work on getting his permanent lifetime home setup.

[HOGGISLAND]

For your temperatures you want to make sure the temperature in the room you keep your snakes in is warm enough. If you have temperature fluctuations in the room itself your tanks will fluctuate as well. I keep the temperature in my room around 78. As far as enclosures go I have a mixture of rubs, aquariums, custum built enclosures. What you use is up to you. With my aquariums that I use a heat lamp on top of, I cover the portion of the tank that doesn't have the light on it with a piece of wood, glass, tinfoil. You want to keep the heat/humidity in. Screen lids are very drafty and not a great choice. Don't get me wrong I have and do use them you just have to modefy them. As far as the humidity goes I keep a large water bowl in all my enclosures, more than large enough for the snake to soak in if it wants to and I have yet to see an imperfect shed. If you get your temps up in your room (space heaters work excellent that way your whole house won't be 78) experiment with different wattage bulbs on your warm side till you get the temp right, modefy your screen lid, make shure you have a large water bowl, get everything working together and you'll be fine. You don't have to scrap the tank, it will work just fine till you figure out what type of enclosure you want. I hope this is helpfull to you, I'm sure its all going to be just fine. Snakes are super easy to keep but they do require specific conditions.

[infernalis]

If you are at all handy with tools, just go to Home depot and pick up some pressboard or plywood. Home depot will even cut the wood down into panels for you, making it a lot easier to transport, and ensure clean straight cuts. I salvaged the glass for next to nothing...

I built these in about an hour for under $30 each, and have had them now for years.... Nothing fancy, highly functional. Just mount standard door hinges on the top lid and install a latch.

http://www.thamnophis.us/snakers/tanks.jpg

[millertime89]

I've been having this same problem with my new BP's 29 gallon that he's in. The rack is getting designed tomorrow and built on Friday so as soon as I can he'll be in a tub. However in the mean time what I did was put the UTH on one side and the heat lamp on the OUTSIDE on the other facing the glass with the thermostat in the middle. It doesn't get much of a gradient, but I was tired of the huge swing in temps like you have. I put a towel ever the screen and let it drape around the sides so it helps keep the heat in.

edit: however with my BRB in his 20 gallon I didn't have this big of a problem, I've got a hunch substrate has something to do with that as well.

[shaunyboy]

If you could put him in a tub you would be better off. Tubs tend to hold heat much better than aquariums do.

^^^^^
thats the way to go mate

over here we have tubs for household use called " really usefull box's " or rubs for short

i also use the largest plastic tub type faunarium,made by a company called exo terra

or you could go the other way and get his 4x2x2ft adult size tank now.

as long as he's eating regular and is NOT a nervous feeder,then its been my experience a carpet hatchling will thrive and appreciate the extra space.just make sure it has plenty hides,fake plants and branches

re heat
i've found non light emmiting ceramic set ups best,they give perfect consistant ambient air temperatures

being non light emmiting they can be used day and night

cheers shaun

[Lankyrob]

I put my 1 yr old Jungle Carpet into his "adult" viv straight away and have had no problems with him - like shaun said he uses all the space pretty much every day.

[Norm66]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I'm going to go get a tub this weekend for a temporary setup until I can get his adult cage built or bought.

For the short-term I covered more of the bottom of the cage with the heat mat (it gets to 80 in the cage above it and covered 2/3 of the screen top with aluminum foil.

My plan was to let him get some size in a smaller enclosure but I think I might move up my cage plans for him since you all don't think they get nervous in too large a cage. But I'll still need a month or so so for now it's a tub of some sort.

Thanks!

[Norm66]

Aha, I think I've got this figured out now. First, I now have the entire heat pad under the tank leaving about a 6" uncovered. This gets the bottom of the tank up to about 80. Then I have about half the screen top covered with aluminum foil for a vapor barrier and some old pillow cases for thermal insulation. On the other side I have a 50 watt red bulb and a 40 watt regular bulb. The temp directly under the red lamp is just over 90, with a little less under the white bulb while it's a nice 80 over on the cool side. Jerome is now moving around a bit to thermoregulate rather than staying under the lamp full-time. When I turn the white light off it goes down slightly so I can now give him a decent photoperiod instead of bright light all the time.

For humidity, dumping water on the substrate seemed a poor way to do it so I cut a hole in the side of a Glad container, filled it with that reptile moss (Spanish maybe?) got it wet and put it in on the cool side. Now the humidity is at about 50% and holding. I think the small hole (big enough the snake can get in if he wants) is releasing a steady, small amount of humidity and keeping the levels good.

All in all this rigamarole will work for a while, but I can't wait to get a better enclosure built or bought for him to move into that'll require less work. LOL

Edit: I also bought some cypress substrate and some additional PVC fittings so some time this weekend I'm going to put the cypress down and build a better perch system for him.

[Kiljosh]

Watch the humidity with the cypress, when I switched from Aspen my humidity went WAYYYYY up to like 85% until it dried out some. I now spray once in the mornings and once at night and it holds it at 60% basically all the time.

I love the stuff.