Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I cannot seem to get temperatures high in my tank. Lately about mid to high 70s is all I can get. I have a zoo med under tank heater, water bowls for humidity, cardboard on three sides for insulation and books on top of the screen lid . Does anyone have any other tips other than cranking my home temperature up into the mid 80s.
Thank you.
Justin

Well I had a similar problem with my glass tanks. The first thing I did was buy a temp gun. This way I knew exactly what the ground heat was. A fast and easy way to do this is to place your thermometer on the ground where the heat mat is. This will tell you the true temp. Air temp is important but you do not want to get the snake too hot. When I did this I found that the ground temps exceeded 100 degrees and I had to lower the temps. If the temps are still low get a heat lamp. I recommend a low wattage ceramic heat emitter because they do not produce any light and heat really well. Good luck.

Steve
srsnakes

Glass tanks with screen tops are really difficult for maintaining heat and humidity for reptiles.

I think you are on the right track with the insulation. Cool glass not only cools the air temperature but it also sucks humidity via condensation. You might step up the insulation on the three sides with some of the Styrofoam sheet insulation (be careful not to create a fire hazard) and the insulation on top with tight fitting Plexiglas. I've purchased both at Home Depot. You can cut either to size with a utility knife or if you have good measurements you can have them cut the Plexiglas for you with their glass cutting equipment. Drilling a few air holes in the Plexiglas without making ugly cracks around the holes was a little difficult for me (I ended up clamping it tightly between two pieces of wood) but perhaps with the right drill bit it would have gone better.

You might well still find that some type of radiant heater from above like the ceramic bulbs is a good idea. Perhaps you could shine it through a side so as to avoid the Plexiglas and also stay away from the strophe insulation.

how did you put the cardboard ? two on each side and one in the back ? did u tape it? cause i'm having the same problem ! the glass is too cold.

Save the glass cages for lizards and turtles . I think that pythons should be housed in wooden or plastic cages. I had a huge number of problems with keeping the heat and humidity up in my old glass cage, thus causing my python to have shed probs, so I saved up for a nice wooden cage from "East Bay Vivarium", haven't had any problems since, although sometimes the cage does get a little hot when my room gets warm

How are most rack systems on heating. I am thinking of buying one because we have two ball pythons and one black king. For those of you that use racks can you give me advice, did you build or buy, pros cons. I have been looking at Jason's Jungle because they are always at the Indy shows and the business is close to my location.