Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm told tub's are great for young snakes. I have a baby red-tail..well not really baby. I'm un-sure of her age but she's about 29 inches long and a little on the chubby side. I didn't power feed her..she's been eating the SAME size mice her brother has and she's just ALOT bigger and a bit chubby ( size might be 'cause she's female..the chubby factor I can't explain ).

Anyway where could I get her a quality tub that would be GREAT for her and totally safe? I have her in a 20 gallon tank at the moment. Crappy I know. I'm currently ordering her a Vision cage but I'd much prefer to put her in a tub until I'm totally ready with the funds. Would a simple plastic tub from k-mart or something work? Or is there a specific site that makes one's that can handle heating pad's. Would I use a heat-lamp if she was in a tub? The questions are probably stupid but I'm trying to do what's best for her.

Any kind of tub from Walmart will work, if it has a locking lid. Make sure you drill air holes. Make sure you use a thermostat with whatever heat pad you use so that the pad doesn't get too hot and melt the plastic.

Tubs from ReptileTubs.com are good - I have two of their VE175s, which are large enough for small adult boas.
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Lauren Madar
www.ophidiagems.com
1.1 Hog Island Boas
1.1 Hypo BCI
0.1 Sorong-type GTP
1.0 Normal Ball Python
1.1 Surinam BCC

Wal-Mart for most of my sterilite tubs and Bed Bath & Beyond for my Iris tubs. The Bed Bath & Beyond by my house usually has the Iris CB110's on hand all year round and usually will have the CB70's as well.

My current heat-pad doesn't have any-kind of thermostat. Is there a specific brand I should buy? My current is just a plug in type. You plug it in and it heats up pretty hot.

You have to buy a separate thermostat. You'd plug your heat pad into the thermostat, run the thermostat temperature probe to the hot side of the tub (most people tape it above where the heat pad is, but on the inside of the tub), and then set the temperature of the thermostat. That way, if the pad got too hot, the thermostat will turn it off until the temperature goes down below the point you set the thermostat to.

You can buy a cheap thermostat in a reptile store or online for about $35. More accurate and dependable thermostats are more expensive.

You can also use a rheostat (which is like a dimmer) instead. But this doesn't set a temperature. All it does is turn "down" the wattage of the heat pad, reducing the amount of heat that is put out. You would have to measure the temperature in the tub, and adjust the rheostat to the point that the temperature in the tub isn't too hot. However, a rheostat will need to be adjusted BY YOU if the temperature in your house goes up or down, since it ONLY controls the amount of energy that goes to the heat pad. Rheostats are much cheaper than thermostats, and if you buy an inline dimmer version, you can find it pretty much anywhere (hardware store, Walmart etc), and 'reptile' specific ones are usually available at pet stores, but they all have the same function. Rheostats don't have a probe. You just plug the heat pad in, and adjust the dial. Just takes more adjusting than a thermostat would (which is "set and forget" so to speak).

If the heat pad gets too hot, I'd really recommend you get at LEAST a rheostat so you don't have a melted tub, cooked snake, or a fire.
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Lauren Madar
www.ophidiagems.com
1.1 Hog Island Boas
1.1 Hypo BCI
0.1 Sorong-type GTP
1.0 Normal Ball Python
1.1 Surinam BCC