Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've had my snake for about a week now, but my room is very cold(the coldest one in the apartment). I was just wondering if I have a heating pad under one side, does it matter how cold the other side is? Will he regulate his heat on his own or do I need to figure out a way to warm up the cool side a little. He seems to stay right in the middle of the two, half on the heating pad side. I would put him in another room but I have two roommates and we are college students, so with drinking and such I'd rather keep him in my own room so no one messes around with him. I'm not sure the exact temperature of my room but I always have to wear a sweater that's for sure. thanks for any help you can offer.

My son keeps his in his room which also is the coldest room in the house. It's right over the garage. I have an under tank heater on one side of the 20 long with a dimmer attached set at around 85 degrees. On the other side I have a heat lamp on a dimmer and a timer. The heat is set at around 75degrees and goes off at night for a cooldown. I don't know if this is the right way to do it, but it's been working pretty well so far. I'm not an expert but I am learning a lot on here. I hope this helps. Good luck. P.S. Smart idea to keep the snake in your room, I was a college student at one time. LOL. That is a very nice looking snake.

please do yourself(and the snake) a favor, and invest in a simple thermometer(or two actually) that you can place down in the substrate where the snake actually is, so you can take out all the "guess-work". Then, monitor the warm side so it is around say 79-84 degrees, and cool side around 73-79 degrees, with several hide boxes around so it can choose....this will help out alot!......don't just guess, that really isn't the way to go. You want to keep that great looking albino healthy! surely it is worthy of a couple thermometers!LOL,..........Doug
-----
Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!

At walmart for about $10 you can get an indoor/outdoor thermometer - put the unit on the cold side and the "outdoor" lead on the warm side in the bedding.

Gives you both reading at the same time.
-----
3.3.2 L. getula californiae
1.1 L. getula nigrita
1.0 Boa constrictor constrictor (suriname, fostering/rescue)
2.3 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata

You should definitely get a thermometer. I wold recommend spending 20 bucks and getting an infrared temp gun. You will find all kinds of uses for it.

As long as the warm side is warm enough, it doesn't really matter how cool the cool side is. If its too cold, he wont go over there. The warm side should have a spot that gets at least 85 F. Putting a hide box over the heat pad can help to trap the heat if needed.

My house is too cold for my Boa - so I have one heat pad thermostat controlled on the warm side, and one heat pad dimmer controlled on the cool side, and since the tank is glass - I have insulation attached to three sides and keep a towel over most of the top. That seems to work well.
-----
3.3.2 L. getula californiae
1.1 L. getula nigrita
1.0 Boa constrictor constrictor (suriname, fostering/rescue)
2.3 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata

Get some heat tape, I'm sure the Bean Farm has it and use a rheostat to sdjust the temp. Use it only on one side of the tank (under the tank that is). Works great!

Scott

Flexwatt heat tape is actually what I use.

I use the 18" stuff for the Boa (both warm and cool side), 1 line of the 3" stuff for my neonate sterilite, and two lines of the 3" stuff for my new vision rack (32 qt sterilite - those tubs are getting hard to find. Walmart didn't have em, Shopko didn't have em, Target was the only place I could find that had that tub - and they only enough for me to half fill my rack. Seems sterilite is phasing out that tub design in general for a newer design of similar but not identical dimension tubs. I actually like the new tubs better, they look nicer, but different dimensions ...)
-----
3.3.2 L. getula californiae
1.1 L. getula nigrita
1.0 Boa constrictor constrictor (suriname, fostering/rescue)
2.3 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata