Reptile & Amphibian Forums

...is below 70. Seems another heat pad is in order. I'm thinking of getting a smaller size(like the size to fit under a 20 long?). Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
-----
Scott

Reptiles
--------
0.0.1 Colombian Rainbow Boa(formerly named Precious by the previous owner....I gotta change that...)
1.0 Ball Python (Sultan)
0.1 California Kingsnake (Leota)
1.0 Eastern Painted Turtle (Yugi)
0.1 Red/Gold Bearded Dragon* (Irwin, R.I.P.)

Other
-----
1.0 Betta Fish (Tyrone)

Scott,
...I would not even consider putting another heater on that cage. That heat pad is probably taking a lot of power and is also producing a lot of heat. You have the warm end a little too warm and the cool end a little too cool. This is not a case where more heat would be needed to correct an overall small problem. Use your ingenuity to come up with a way to spread that warm temperature out and get more of the heat a little closer to the cool end of the cage. A thin metal plate that is two or three times as large as the heat pad placed between the heat pad and the bottom of the tank would spread the heat out across a larger area. You could also think about insulating the tank from the cool room temperature. It would take very little power to heat the cage if the heat was not radiating from the cage into the cooler room air. If you still have an area of the screen uncovered you are losing heat along with humidity that way also. If you could stop some of the heat loss then you could then connect the heat pad to a rheostat and lower the power to the heater. Less electricity running to the heat pad is safer and cheaper. An even better solution might be to replace the heat pad with a piece of 11 inch wide flexwatt heat tape. Do a google search for flexwatt heat tape and see what you can learn about it.
Jeff

>>...is below 70. Seems another heat pad is in order. I'm thinking of getting a smaller size(like the size to fit under a 20 long?). Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
>>-----
>>Scott
>>
>>Reptiles
>>--------
>>0.0.1 Colombian Rainbow Boa(formerly named Precious by the previous owner....I gotta change that...)
>>1.0 Ball Python (Sultan)
>>0.1 California Kingsnake (Leota)
>>1.0 Eastern Painted Turtle (Yugi)
>>0.1 Red/Gold Bearded Dragon* (Irwin, R.I.P.)
>>
>>Other
>>-----
>>1.0 Betta Fish (Tyrone)

Quite possibly another reason your cold temp is so low is because when you reported wednesday that your humidity was less than 50%, the only reason it can be that low is because you have TOO MUCH VENTILATION!!!!! That piece of glass you are using and towel probably aren't covering to much of the top. Don't be afraid to cover the top completely at some points. But if the to much of your top is exposed then your heat is bellowing out and the gaping hole not covered by the glass is most likely reading your room temp. I use 3/8 thick acrylic for my tops for cosmetic reasons only, but glass is fine but dangerous. Hope it helps.

The entire top IS covered. I also got the humidity back up between 60-65%. I think I might need to cut the glass a little to make it fit perfectly, but it works fine for now.
-----
Scott

Reptiles
--------
0.0.1 Colombian Rainbow Boa(formerly named Precious by the previous owner....I gotta change that...)
1.0 Ball Python (Sultan)
0.1 California Kingsnake (Leota)
1.0 Eastern Painted Turtle (Yugi)
0.1 Red/Gold Bearded Dragon* (Irwin, R.I.P.)

Other
-----
1.0 Betta Fish (Tyrone)

Actually Jeff I did reconsider putting another heat pad under. Right now I'm thinking of just keeping it heated the way it is(except I get a thermostat to bring it down to about 82 in the warm end). I am thinking the temperatures will probably go up in the warmer months. Also, my kingsnake has been just fine with a heat pad on one end(that is when the bulb goes out, she has been fine for many many days without a bulb). Then again, she is a completely different type of snake. Please let me know if what I'm thinking isn't a good idea. Thanks.
-----
Scott

Reptiles
--------
0.0.1 Colombian Rainbow Boa(formerly named Precious by the previous owner....I gotta change that...)
1.0 Ball Python (Sultan)
0.1 California Kingsnake (Leota)
1.0 Eastern Painted Turtle (Yugi)
0.1 Red/Gold Bearded Dragon* (Irwin, R.I.P.)

Other
-----
1.0 Betta Fish (Tyrone)

I just thought, would aluminum foil be a good candidate for a thin sheet of metal? Thanks
-----
Scott

Reptiles
--------
0.0.1 Colombian Rainbow Boa(formerly named Precious by the previous owner....I gotta change that...)
1.0 Ball Python (Sultan)
0.1 California Kingsnake (Leota)
1.0 Eastern Painted Turtle (Yugi)
0.1 Red/Gold Bearded Dragon* (Irwin, R.I.P.)

Other
-----
1.0 Betta Fish (Tyrone)

Scott,
Where is the aluminum going to be placed at? If it is at the bottom by your under tank heater than I wouldn't do it because, you ever tried to reheat a wendy's burder still in the wrapper? Fire even ten seconds or so but I think you might be meaning to put the foil up top. The type of aluminum sheet can be found on Mike's website at tooscaley.com/reptiles/BrazilianRainbowBoas/CaptiveCare.html and scroll down to the picture with the bottom of the adult cage and how he secured his flexwatt but also has a wood bottom and you probably have an all-glass terrarium so this wouldn't apply to you but that is the correct type of aluminum. If the foil is for top, have you ever tried folding a towel and only lightly wet one side of the towel and put it down wet side first then the next day wet other side and flip towel. I got my friend a tarantula from the rainforest and it requires 75% humidity and it does the trick. My acrylic I use straddles my top of my terrarium about 1/4 inch on three sides but is long enough to cover the whole thing if desired. The only thing I can suspect Scott that would bring your cool spot so low when your high was really high. Except if the top was small and the heat rather than slightly heating it up the cold side, not enough of the top was covered and it caused the heat to leave in a hurry. If your humidity in your area is really low and you don't want to get a bigger cover the top than put your water bowl on top of your uth and this will cause a rise in the humidity also. Do not fill the water bowl to much because if he soaks in the water bowl before his shed and a lot of water go ons the ground (I understand substrate absorbs) then cold water on hot heated glass, possibly a crack if the snake could move enough water out of the bowl.
Bob

Scott,
....I don't think a single sheet of aluminum foil would transfer enough heat away from the heating pad. I was thinking more along the lines of a sheet of aluminum an eighth or a quarter of an inch thick. Hmmmm.....I am wondering how 20 to 40 thicknesses of aluminum foil would work?
Jeff

>>I just thought, would aluminum foil be a good candidate for a thin sheet of metal? Thanks
>>-----
>>Scott
>>
>>Reptiles
>>--------
>>0.0.1 Colombian Rainbow Boa(formerly named Precious by the previous owner....I gotta change that...)
>>1.0 Ball Python (Sultan)
>>0.1 California Kingsnake (Leota)
>>1.0 Eastern Painted Turtle (Yugi)
>>0.1 Red/Gold Bearded Dragon* (Irwin, R.I.P.)
>>
>>Other
>>-----
>>1.0 Betta Fish (Tyrone)

Well I'll get that sheet ASAP. Might take some time though, with Christmas on the way and all.

-----
Scott

Reptiles
--------
0.0.1 Colombian Rainbow Boa(formerly named Precious by the previous owner....I gotta change that...)
1.0 Ball Python (Sultan)
0.1 California Kingsnake (Leota)
1.0 Eastern Painted Turtle (Yugi)
0.1 Red/Gold Bearded Dragon* (Irwin, R.I.P.)

Other
-----
1.0 Betta Fish (Tyrone)