Floor heating in Winter

[Duke6116]

Hi folks,

I am after some advice on the best way to raise the overall temperature of my python enclosure over winter. The outside temps here are getting pretty low over night, currently down to 5 degrees and can get even lower in the middle of winter. The heat source is a ceramic 150w lamp. The temperatures inside the enclosure are about 25 - 33 degrees (cool and hot end) during the day but overnight they are dropping to 19-28 degrees and take a while to heat up. The enclosure is a standard melamine 80cm tall and 50 wide 50 deep. My python is only a yearling so I want to keep a steady heat. At the moment she is spending a lot of time in the hide which is on the floor so I am worried this is too cold?

My question is do I need a source of floor heating to keep overall night time temps higher? And, if so what is the best way of doing this as I would probably have to put heating inside the enclosure.

Thanks in advance

 

[sookie]

for winter i have just put heatpads under everyones hidey holes.when they are cold their hideys are toasty warm,when the get to warm they move up the cool end off the pads.and my kitchen has been getting down to the 7 - 8 degree mark already,no one seems to be noticing the cold.

 

[Juz92]

You could always try heatcord with a tile over the top of it, for a bit more floor heat in a specific area.

 

[Duke6116]

Thanks for the quick responses!

Are both these heating options ok to have on the inside of the tank under the substrate? I have heard that heat pads can be a bit dangerous?

If I were to put heat cord on the bottom of the enclosure how much of an area should I heat and what would I use to hold it in place? I have seen people use routers to make a spot for the cord to sit in.

Thanks again!

 

[wokka]

Put a curtain or timber over the front at night to reduce the heat loss through the glass.

 

[Juz92]

Generally with things like heat mats you want it to be under 1/3 of the enclosure, so I'm assuming heatcord would be about the same (may be wrong). Heatpads are generally sold with little rubber feet, I believe, that raise the enclosure up a little so the heat doesn't build up and crack the bottom if it happens to be glass.

 

[saximus]

Juz that third rule doesn't really count with full size enclosures it's mainly for click-clacks. I'd be hard pressed to find a heat mat that covers a third of any of my enclosures.
Heat cord is great for making a nice warm spot in a specific area but as Wokka said, putting something over the front makes a big difference. I made a curtain type thing out of this heavy vinyl material stuff. It keeps the heat in much better than any other methods I tried

 

[veenarm]

Lucky you, I'm in Canberra and my room temp has already hit 14... was negatives just outside the other night...

My Woodie Colony and Mouse breeding tub are both outside in a small aviary with tiles and heat cord on the tiles set to a thermostat at about 33degrees (because the heat will dissipate from the bottom quickly up into the container)...

But yeah, my internal enclosures range quite farm, my python ones which are small go from 30degrees to 17 at the moment... :\

Might need some heat pads!

 

[Just_Plain_Nuts]

I wouldnt stress too much if your night temps only drop to those figures as long as it warms up during the day. If it gets really low ie well below 10 or less you may start to supplement heat with a heat cord or alike

 

[Defective]

keiko sleeps in a little hide that sits on the heat mat

 

[Australis]

species??

 

[Duke6116]

The snake is a MD Carpet Python.

Great suggestions all! I tried last night to put a wool blanket over the glass front. It made a difference by about 1-2 degrees. I think if I had some more heavy duty material (like the vinyl suggested) it will probably do the job for now.

 

[wokka]

In general insulation is the key to energy conservation. To use an analogy if you have a leaky fishtank you can keep filling it up or fix the leak. Too many reptile keepers seem to keep filling the tank without fixing the leak and then worry about the consequences.

 

[Syn2554]

I don't know what to do for heat becuase Ipswich, being the hole that it is, get's pretty cold. I might try a heat cord...

 

[saximus]

Haha nice analogy Wokka.
Syn, heat cord would probably work best because the snake can sit directly on top of it to get warm without you having to worry about the ambient temp in the enclosure

 

[redlittlejim]

You could always try heatcord with a tile over the top of it, for a bit more floor heat in a specific area.

+1

 

[Juz92]

Juz that third rule doesn't really count with full size enclosures it's mainly for click-clacks. I'd be hard pressed to find a heat mat that covers a third of any of my enclosures.

Yeah, but does heatcord still come into the 1/3 rule?

 

[saximus]

Not really. Just make sure it's a nice comfortably sized area for the snake to fully fit on