55 gal. has to work for now

[mrgrimm]

Hello, I am a noob snake owner so any/all suggestions and criticisms are welcomed.

I would like to get an enclosure built from a friend of mine, but for now I want to make this setup work the best it can. Here is what I have going on.

Aspen snake bedding, cardboard hides (with the too small hides on top as weight to hold them down because he would just flip the boxes all over when he tried to get in) heating pad under the tank below the blue hide and small space heater next to tank to help temps to be about 92F in there. Heat lamp over other side with temps in low to mid 80's F over there. Temps are checked with a good quality IR temp gun. I mist the tank 2-3 times a day, going out to buy a hygrometer today to get actual humidity readings, and also going to see if I can find some larger rock hides instead of the cardboard.

The top is a locking screen top that I also placed a carpet covered piece of composite plastic with aluminum foil on the underside to hopefully reflect some heat back down instead of absorbing into the black topper, I figured it was worth a shot?? I am a little worried though that I have to much of the top covered so not enough oxygen/fresh air is entering the tank??? DO you think I have enough uncovered (by the heat lamp) for it to be OK in there? Thanks all, I really appreciate this site being here so I can provide a good life for "Pickle" the Python.

I will edit in the pics here in a sec.

[formica]

most likley all you need is the heat pad, attached to a thermostat, as long as its big enough to cover 1/3 of the floor - have you got a thermostat? both the heat lamp and the heat mat should be connected via thermostats (dimmer for the lamp, pulse or dimmer for the heat mat, or on/off if you are on a budget, but they are less stable and not worth the £10 saving imo)

dont worry about oxygen, plenty will flow in unless you seal it with silicone

aluminium foil on the underside - I wouldnt recomend it, better to use a thin sheet of white polystyrene, and remember to leave an air gap underneath - espcially do not use aluminium if you dont yet have a thermostat

cardboard hides are fine, they wont handle humidity very well, but cheap to replace and they will do the job, I prefer cork tubes myself over stone hides, they are a bit cheaper, you can buy a full tube and cut it into 2 half tube hides for the same price as a single stone/clay hide

[mrgrimm]

I do not have a T-stat, I piled the bedding up thick over the part where the heat pad is though in hopes that he wouldn't get down enough to touch the bare glass, where it is pretty hot. It is at least applied under the aquarium though. A T-stat would make things much easier on me as well so I wouldn't have to be constantly worrying about temps and messing with the lamp/space heater to adjust it. I'll add it to the list of things I need.

[formica]

lots of substrate will actually make the problem worse, because heat gets reflected back and forth, building up to dangerous levels, adding foil underneat will compound the problem, also it doesnt look like there is an air gap underneath the tank? this will make the situation even more precarious

add the thermostat to the top of the list, raise the enclosure up a couple of millimeters to get an air gap, and only use <1inch of substrate above the heat mat, and monitor those temps carefully, have you got IR temp gun? thats the safest way to check temps of the substrate

Once you know what temps you can achieve with the heat mat, then you can think about adding additional heating like the lamps, I very much doubt you will need them tho, but glass tanks do leak heat more than wood/plastic, so i culd be wrong, but they need to be on a thermostat aswell - heat will kill a snake faster than room temps

[ErikBush97]

Thermostat is one of the most important things to have... I really can't stress that enough.

[DeesBalls]

or even a rheostat will work too.

[mrgrimm]

...Had a hard time finding what I need today. Neither of the 2 local pet stores I stopped into today had a rheostat or thermostat. I thought that was strange that they sold heating devices but no way to control them?? I also checked Wal-Mart and could only find timers. I have been checking the temps on the substrate and under both hides to almost a level of paranoia though and so far nothing seems to worry me. It's been over a week of this setup and the hottest recorded under the hot side hide was 95.5F and hottest on the low was right around 85F. At night with the lower watt red bulb on it gets to about 77F on the cool and still stays 87-90F under the hot hide.

I soaked two sponges and put them in a small plastic lock container with some holes drilled and it has helped my humidity problem. Been holding tight at 55% now for several hours. I also wanted to mention that the stand only supports the tank around the edges so under the tank is not covered so there is a nice air gap. And yes a high quality IR temp gun is used to get accurate measurements.

I guess I will be ordering a T-stat or Rheostat online but some of the reviews I am reading for a handful of the popular cheaper options ($20-$40) are turning me more towards purchasing a little more reliable higher end unit. I'm thinking I should get at least a 500W max just to keep the thing operating well under spec...should help it survive longer.

[valid]

Amazon is the best place to get t-stats.
Always in stock, and cheaper.


I'd get one stat.