Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I posted this at the p-b.net forums and decided to put it here hoping to get a quicker answer being in 2 places at once ^_^

I'm currently at wits end trying to find a place for my tank to keep the heat and humidity as stable as possible but there arent many places in my house to do this efficiently. The only options at the moment is my bedroom and the basement, and my bedroom isn't so much as an option as somedays it gets hot and humid in the summer in NY and the house requires air conditioning. I figured the air conditioner will definately lower the temp and humidity in the tank so at the moment I set it up in the basement. But after setting it all up down there and heading down this morning to check on it, I found it was like the heat wasnt even on at all, barely 70* in the tank on the hot side. *humidity was at 72% though*

Even if I am able to get the temp up to the correct level, I don't feel it will be very stable in my basement with the temp dropping so much at night. Can anyone make any suggestions on where to put this thing? I have a feeling I'm going to have to suffer in my room with a fan so I can have it in there.

Also a few questions:

I have a 90qt sterilite container, just a UTH, no heat lamp. The diagram in the sticky I got the idea from has an opening on the top with a mesh covering for a heat lamp to sit on. Now seeing as I don't have a heat lamp, *not yet anyway, hope I don't need one*, should I still cut a hole in the top and mesh it for extra ventilation?

And how many holes do I need to drill into this thing and where, and how far apart, and how big do the holes need to be?

How high do I need to keep this tank above the UTH? Right now there is about a half inch of space between the heat pad and the bottom of the tank.

Where "exactly" do i have to place the probes on the hot side and cold side with my themometers? I know the hygrometer goes in the middle. I have 2 themometers, one with probe and hygrometer on the base, and one with probe. I have hygrometer one on its stand inside for now while i dont have a BP yet, with the probe wire going outside, then coming back in and hanging over the edge against the back container wall on the hotside. The other ones base is outside with the probe hanging inside the same way on the cold side, as it is on the hot side.

I'll post pics of my set up later, as I can't find my digi cam and I want to set my themometers up right.

Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for any replies.

-AK

well if you dont have the bp yet.....crank your air conditioner & monitor the temp in the container periodically throughout the night & this way you may be able to maintane the ac on low or something without messing up the bp's temp experimenting is the only thing that's gonna fix this so i would have the ac running for a full day & keep checking all dif times what the temps are then try problem solving from there...as far as holes i would make 2 or 3 rows they dont have to be too spread but not on top of each other you'll be there for days.. kinda like this:
* * * * * * *
* * * * * *
* * * * * * * get the idea

lol no special top light needed...if you have a nice size window that gets good light you can just let nature light the room for the snake just dont put the enclosure in the direct sunlight through the window you'll bake the snake.

Sorry, should have been more clear.

When I said light I meant heat lamp ^_^

So the 3 rows of holes on each side, hot and cold, should be enough and I shouldnt have to cut an opening and cover it with mesh for extra "aeration"? Only reason I ask is because if I were to put it in a terrarium with a screen top, the whole top is open, where as on a sterilite container the whole top is closed.

Thanks for the quick response

if you had in an enclosure with a full screen top you would have to cover some of it to keep humidity make those 3 rows of holes & i guess do it with the holes in a single row about an inch apart from each other & the other rows the same just space the rows about a half inch apart or something...do this all the way around the top edges of the container not the lid & you should be fine yea the heat lamp isn't needed unless the uth & whatever else you have can't cut it then you might need to add a light or something to regulate the temp

where in NY are you??

Albany, NY

yeah i'm in westchester...albany def gets colder so i would be far more nervous with the basement......another suggestion is if you happen to have a closet to spare you can convert the closet into a mini reptile room with a small electric space heater this way all the animals in that closet will have the same ambient temp this way you dont have to tweak individual enclosures as much just the room itself & minor UTH adjustments to perfect the enclosure.. are you grabbing your ball from the white plains show or someone up there has one?

i wasnt aware there would be one lol.

As far as the tank location is concerned i moved it today to my bedroom. I have a half closet inset into the wall. My room gets pretty hot and humid at night and day so I figure it will be ok there. It is already up to 80% on the hotside and it didnt even get that high all day today in the basement.

Where is the show being held?