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new to snakes. help with heating

JOEVSYOU Jul 27, 2011 02:58 PM

Hello, im new to snake world these will be my first snakes i own. I'm getting pair of yellowbellies, F lesser, F reg, M pinstripe

i getting few ball pythons snakes next week. When the weather cools down a bit.
MY room is in the basement. The Temp stays around 65F-70F down there on it's own. I have 10gal tank where two males will stay and 3 females in a 15gal. This should be plenty space for them for first couple months of their life.

????Question????
I got 4 heatpads in mail today. In the 15gal i got two small pad side by side about half inch apart to spread out the space and the 10gal just one small pad (Thinking about putting the other with the 10 gal). So there be 2 in each. The heat pad get upto 80F each when i temp it. so the other side of tank is 65-70F.

So Is this ok for them? or Should i go ahead and heat the whole bottom and get the whole tank up to 80F? Winter might be different story as basement gets cold where u have to where blankets. So i might have to get dark heat light source set up when that time comes.

any ideas, tips, or w/e be great

Replies (6)

BWsPythons Jul 27, 2011 03:35 PM

Those temps are on the cool side...the cool end of the cage should be around 80 and the warm end should be in the upper 80's lower 90. They might be ok for now but when the weather/basement gets colder those temps are a respiratory infection in the making.

QuietTempest Jul 27, 2011 04:42 PM

If I were you, I'd build or buy a snake rack so that each snake can have its own tub enclosure. Snakes aren't social animals and really shouldn't be housed together except for breeding. If you don't want to go the snake rack route, I'd look into getting additional tanks so that you can house them separately.

As for the heating, I'd aim for upper 80s to low 90s on the basking/heated end of the enclosures and upper 70s to low 80s on the cool end. I would avoid using lamps because they zap moisture out of the air and lead to humidity problems. Do you have a thermostat to regulate your heat pads?

joevsyou Jul 27, 2011 05:45 PM

ya i have thermostat control. at its highest setting its heating up to 80f about 15f above the air.

I can get little plastic like shoeish/bigger size boxes. and do one heating pad per box? if you think that be better?

if no to the heating lamps that produce no light then i guess only choice with thanks is cover the bottom with them and keep one side on low setting around 70-75 then one side have it at 80.

QuietTempest Jul 27, 2011 06:50 PM

What sort of thermostat are you using? I don't understand why your temps would be maxing out at 80.

ssnakes Jul 27, 2011 07:27 PM

Sounds like you need a rack....check out Animal Plastics racks at

www.animalplastics.com

you will need a thermostat to control temps but it comes with heat cable and real easy to assemble.

SlytherLyn Jul 27, 2011 08:37 PM

Are you getting the snakes from someone local who could assist you with a proper setup for them? If not, most areas have good reptile clubs, you could look for one and join it, and have access to lots of local reptile lovers who can assist you in doing your setup. I recently befriended a first time snake owner and went to her house to help her get her setup correct, then had her to my house so she could get experience feeding my collection before attempting to feed her new boy as she'd never fed a snake before so wasn't sure how. It's nice to have the forums to ask questions and get answers, but so much better if you can find someone local who can actually come in and see your setup and help get you going on the right foot. For instance, I have no idea what you mean by heat pads, and as the other poster mentioned, we don't know what kind of thermostat you are using. So we have limited info to be able to offer suggestions from. Do your best to set up individual enclosures for the snakes. If you can't afford a rack (which would be the ideal option if you can swing it) then you can check your local classifieds, or craigs list, to see if anyone is selling used tanks, you can get some good deals that way. Best of luck to you and welcome to the world of snake keeping!

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