Reptile & Amphibian Forums

currently I am using a 50watt red heat bulb, can I continue using this or should i buy an actual basking bulb. And if so, should I get tight beam or just regular basking. The red bulb seems to be doing a good job of focusing on the basking spot, the temps are fine, just not sure if those can actually be used to bask. The snake spends most of the day time in his hiding spot anyways.

They don't need UV light so I would say red is fine. How do you keep your humidity up using a heat lamp? When I was using one I couldn't get above low 40's. I switched to a UTH and got it up to low 50's but I would prefer closer to 60.

I have a glass tank with a screen lid, I have been using the heat lamp and heating pad. ambient air temp stays at approx 90. I keep the humidity at 60% simply by misting the substrate every day or every 2 days, I use repti-bark.

They don't need UVB and they don't really need a basking light. Belly heat w/ a heating pad is more important - especially for digestion. However, an infrared (red) lamp or even the blacklights/nightlights can be used for supplemental heat and/or nighttime viewing. Just be sure you have the correct surface/belly temps for your BP: Warm side 90-95, Cool side 80-85. Think about it....being that they are nocturnal, what do you think they have to bask in for heat in the wild. Nothing. They rely on belly heat from the ground, rocks, etc.

-----
Check Out My Albums

1.0 Ball Python "Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa "Gimli"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa "Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa "Arwen"
0.1 California Kingsnake "Gentoo"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Indigo"
1.0 Snow Corn snake "Chile"

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"

Everytime I see that pic I'm in awe. Thank you for giving me something to aspire to in habitat construction. Now that I've got him to eat I'm working on keeping the proper humidity (easy to get but hard to keep). There's a defenite learning curve to keeping snakes and I'm doubting it ever ends.

Thanks for the pic.

Wow - thank you! I"m pretty proud of it.

I don't know if you're using a glass tank with a screen lid or night (I'm guessing so since you're having humidity problems), but what have you tried so far to remedy it. I've got some suggestions.

My BP was my first snake (just got him August 2003 and have gotten 6 other snakes since then!) and I definitely learned a lot with him.

-----
Check Out My Albums

1.0 Ball Python "Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa "Gimli"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa "Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa "Arwen"
0.1 California Kingsnake "Gentoo"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Indigo"
1.0 Snow Corn snake "Chile"

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"

Yes, it's glass with screen lid. I finally got it to stay around 60% by hanging small towels on the inside and putting a damp t-shirt on the top. I also put some plastic on top of the t-shirt and it hasn't dropped below 57%. Would appreciate any tips you might have because this looks bad and is pretty high maintenance (have to dampen everything twice a day).

Tiger...i feel im gonna be taking ur path soon, i got one now...

invalid...i had a problem keeping up humidity too, i just mist ocassionally, right now i just have a handfull of drenched then squeezed moss under one of his hides. that shirt idea it pretyy good..i might try that... since i got a shirt on top now anyways

-----
1.0 Monty - The Ball Python

I've tried many methods to get humidity up - even combinations of several methods. In hindsight it seems the easiest (sometimes cheapest) things to do (alone or together)are:

1. Just add a humid hide (tupperware dish with an access hole cut in the lid or side filled with damp spaghum moss) to the warm side (if your BP uses it then he's keeping his own humidity up). But mine won't use one, so.....

2. Cover the top with duct tape (on the top outside of the screen top-never put any tape inside the tank). Just leave openings for any lights you have on top. If you don't have any lights on top just be sure to leave a bit of ventilation. I've found some nice black duct tape at the hardware store - looks much nicer than the standard grey.

3. Cover with damp towels. You can do this in addition to or instead of the duct tape. You can always find nice small black towels that look better than say a sponge bob towel.

4. Try a humidity loving substrate such as the compressed coconut bricks (Bed-a-Beast, EcoEarth, etc). They can be a bit of a pain to prepare them, but well worth it. It looks natural (kind of like the forest floor), easy to spot clean and helps with humidity. You can even feed on it and it's environmentally friendly.

Of course there's misting....but that can be down with any of the above suggestions or just nix it - it is such a pain to me. You can always switch to a rubbermaid setup, but if you're going for a nice display cage that kind of defeats the purpose (although rubbermaid setups can look real nice too). There are other more costly methods, but I've found these ideas to be the ones that work the best. Maybe try one, see how it works and add other ideas as needed. You'll find what works best for what you need and maybe find new ways.

Hope this helps! Glass tanks can be more work for a BP but it's worth it for a nice display tank.

-----
Check Out My Albums

1.0 Ball Python "Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa "Gimli"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa "Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa "Arwen"
0.1 California Kingsnake "Gentoo"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Indigo"
1.0 Snow Corn snake "Chile"

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"

.
-----
Check Out My Albums

1.0 Ball Python "Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa "Gimli"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa "Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa "Arwen"
0.1 California Kingsnake "Gentoo"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Indigo"
1.0 Snow Corn snake "Chile"

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"

They don't need UVB and they don't really need a basking light. Belly heat w/ a heating pad is more important - especially for digestion. However, an infrared (red) lamp or even the blacklights/nightlights can be used for supplemental heat and/or nighttime viewing. Just be sure you have the correct surface/belly temps for your BP: Warm side 90-95, Cool side 80-85. Think about it....being that they are nocturnal, what do you think they have to bask in for heat in the wild. Nothing. They rely on belly heat from the ground, rocks, etc.

-----
Check Out My Albums

1.0 Ball Python "Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa "Gimli"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa "Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa "Arwen"
0.1 California Kingsnake "Gentoo"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Indigo"
1.0 Snow Corn snake "Chile"

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"