Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I would like to set up a rack with some rubbermaid tubs for a few balls, how do you regulate temp / light in those bins?

If you have the rack already, get some heat tape and some foil tape to hold down the heat tape. You can purchase a fairly inexpensive thermostat for around $30 that will easily regulate the temp for at least 10 balls. Get a 500 watt unit at least. You do not have to worry about lighting on a rack system. Balls actually don't really care for bright light anyway. They spend most of their time in their hides and are most active at night so don't worry about a light source. Quick and easy. Just make sure you keep the thermostat set at a comfortable level...around 90-95 degrees and make sure there is a nice cool spot too around 80 or so. I have my balls set up like this and they thrive.

then you will need a more expensive thermostat that can be set to two different temps. One a normal day temp then a night time drop temp. Helix makes several models at different temp ranges.

As a side note (and this may make some breeders laugh but it worked for my first breeding)...I used a heating pad under the male and female I bred this year. The pads were connected to a household timer which turned on at 7 am and off at 7 pm. Now, I had no heat at all under the balls at night but my ambiant room temperature was around 74 degrees. I started this temp schedule in October and introduced the pair a couple weeks later and man did they breed..right through early March. My first clutch should be coming in just a few days. The heating pads I used were purchased at walmart for like $15 a piece. Funny I guess but it worked for next to nothing!

lets say you have 10 Rubbermaid tubs, do you run 1 long heat tape against all 10 tubs like against the walls and floors of the Rubbermaid tubs or do you have separate tapes for each Rubbermaid tub? Should the tape touch the rubber? Should I have a separate heat probe to read temp for each or just one and adjust all by that?

I have 10 tubs set up on 5 shelves...2 tubs per shelf. I have a 4 foot section of heat tape per shelf. There is actually room in between each large tub for a small tub(for newly hatched balls) so actually I have room for 15 balls on the rack. Lay the heat tape down at the back of the shelf then put foil tape on both sides the entire length. This does two things. It holds the heat tape down plus the heat tape warms up to to make the entire width of the heat source larger. I use 4 inch wide heat tape by the way. You can slide the rubbermaid tub onto the shelf directly on the heat tape. I have my thermostat set at 95 degrees and I have no problems. I also use cypress mulch as a substrate so ya figure the heat goes through the container and warms the mulch...makes it nice and cozy You don't need heat probes really because as long as you know your thermostat is set correctly, you are getting the same temp in all the tubs. The thermostats made today are excellent and hold temps very well. This is a very simple setup but works great for me. Maybe others do it differently. It is just a matter of opinion. Try different methods and see what works best for you!! Hope this helps.

it helps a lot, thanks again!