Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm moving my hatchling blood to a 12qt rubbermaid, and I'm trying to get the temps right before I move her. I have a 1' piece of 11" heat tape under about 2/3 of the tub. The floor over the heat tape is 86, the ambient temp in the warm end is 77, and the temps in the part without heat tape are 72. Are these okay or are they too high/ too low? Should I put heat tape under the whole thing or leave it like it is? Also, I'm having some problems with the heat tape, the temps above are without a dimmer or thermostat, and the heat tape itself only gets to about 94. I got 3 pieces at a show and all 3 are like this. They say CalorIQue on them, is this the same as Flexwatt? I thought Flexwatt is supposed to get over 110?
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MY COLLECTION:
1.0 '04 Columbian BCI
0.1 '05 Sumatran Blood Python
1.2 Ball Pythons

MY WISHLIST:
A Northern Blue-Tongue Skink
1.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boas
1.1 Hogg Island Boas
0.1 Columbian BCI
1.1 Sumatran Short-Tail Pythons
1.1 Borneo Short-Tail Pythons
1.1 Dumerils Boas
1.2 Spotted Pythons
2.4 African House Snakes
2.4 Bearded Dragons
1.2 Rankins Dragons
2.6 Crested Geckos
1.1 Purebred Dobermans
0.1 black German Shepherd

Yes that is the flexwatt type. It should be getting hotter than that. It could be the connections to the heat tape. Make sure the connectors are solid and you are using thick wire. I usually dismantle exstention cords for wiring. You need to bump temps up though. The hot side should be around 86 itself with the ambient around 82. If your cage is 2/3 covered in heat tape you DEFINATELY need a proportional thermostat on it. Thats not enough room for your snake to excape if the heat gets too high. You might want to up your room temps in the meantime to get it correct.
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"It's my snake, I trained it, so I'm going to eat it!" - Mad Max, The Road Warrior

>>Yes that is the flexwatt type. It should be getting hotter than that. It could be the connections to the heat tape. Make sure the connectors are solid and you are using thick wire. I usually dismantle exstention cords for wiring. You need to bump temps up though. The hot side should be around 86 itself with the ambient around 82. If your cage is 2/3 covered in heat tape you DEFINATELY need a proportional thermostat on it. Thats not enough room for your snake to excape if the heat gets too high. You might want to up your room temps in the meantime to get it correct.

The connectors are definitely on right, and for wires I used a light duty indoor extension cord I got at Walmart for $1. Sometimes when I plug the heat tape in I leave it on all day and it doesn't go above 90, and a couple times it went up to 105 in 20 minutes and then stayed there, and now I can't get it above 90 again. I've tried plugging it into different outlets and stuff and it didn't make a difference. I'm going to get a couple new pieces at the next show I go to, but that won't be until Feb. 25. I keep my snakes in my bedroom, which is in a basement. During the summer the room temp is in the upper 70s, but during the winter it drops to about 69-70, and with the heating prices right now my dad would kill me if he found out I turned the heat up for one of my snakes
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MY COLLECTION:
1.0 '04 Columbian BCI
0.1 '05 Sumatran Blood Python
1.2 Ball Pythons

MY WISHLIST:
A Northern Blue-Tongue Skink
1.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boas
1.1 Hogg Island Boas
0.1 Columbian BCI
1.1 Sumatran Short-Tail Pythons
1.1 Borneo Short-Tail Pythons
1.1 Dumerils Boas
1.2 Spotted Pythons
2.4 African House Snakes
2.4 Bearded Dragons
1.2 Rankins Dragons
2.6 Crested Geckos
1.1 Purebred Dobermans
0.1 black German Shepherd

Or you can put a little space heater by the cages. All the new ones have their own thermostats, so its self-regulating. Thats what I had to do because my ambient temps were too low, its worked like a charm!!

>>Ahhh yes, the old Dad turn up the F*in heat arguement. I've soo been there before. You can always order flexwatt from places online. I usually go through www.beanfarm.com and I have yet to place an order that wasn't shipped out the same day. They have beyond excellent customer service, and great prices!! Also what are you using to get the temp? There are spaces in the heat tape that arent heated and often times they will read different (the clear plastic lines in between the black), or you could have a faulty thermometer.

I've used a gigital thermometer with a probe and a mercury thermometer, and they both said the same thing. The heat tape is a little warm to the touch, but not much. I think I found something that might work. I had an extra heat lamp laying around, and I put it about 1.25' above the top of the tub. Now the ambient temps are 84 on the warm end and 79 on the cool end. I s this warm enough or do I need to move the heat lamp a little closer?
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MY COLLECTION:
1.0 '04 Columbian BCI
0.1 '05 Sumatran Blood Python
1.2 Ball Pythons

MY WISHLIST:
A Northern Blue-Tongue Skink
1.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boas
1.1 Hogg Island Boas
0.1 Columbian BCI
1.1 Sumatran Short-Tail Pythons
1.1 Borneo Short-Tail Pythons
1.1 Dumerils Boas
1.2 Spotted Pythons
2.4 African House Snakes
2.4 Bearded Dragons
1.2 Rankins Dragons
2.6 Crested Geckos
1.1 Purebred Dobermans
0.1 black German Shepherd

I would be very cautious using a heat lamp with bloods. They will dry the air out too much and cause insufficient humidity for this type of snake. Also with smaller containers they can easily get too hot especially if you are not using any type of auto shut off or proportional thermostat
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"It's my snake, I trained it, so I'm going to eat it!" - Mad Max, The Road Warrior