DIY enclosure. Advice.

[sam92]

Hi everyone.

I guess I should start off by saying I'm new to the forum though I've been lurking about on the this site for information in the lead up to getting my first snake.

I have an 8 month old female Bredli and am fitting a couple of enclosures built into the cabinet of my 6ft fish tank that I plan to move my turtles into.
My snake is currently in a 30x30x45h exoterra tank and I want to have the new enclosures ready for when she gets a little bigger.

I have fit the cabinet out so it has 2 x 45x45x60 enclosures and a 90x90x60 enclosure. (rough sizes)

Now I'm after a little advice when it comes to the lights and wiring. I have 2 fittings in each enclosure. 1 fitting is intended for a low wattage light which are all wired into one lead and then to a timer for day/night cycle. Now I'm a little unsure what to do heating wise! I want something that is done properly the first time and doesn't look like a tangled mess of power cords.

Should I just have a dimming thermostat for each enclosure to control day and night temps?
Should I have 2 hardwired thermostats in each enclosure and have them on different timers to control day time and night time temps?
Or could I possibly just have the one thermostat on a timer and have a few hours in the middle of the night with no heat? ( Not sure If that is a bad idea or not)

At the moment she has a heat cord under her tank that is thermostatically controlled 24/7 at a constant temperature under 1/3 of her tank. Glass doesn't hold heat well so the temp drops a few degrees of a night.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!

 

[pinefamily]

Welcome to APS!
That's a great job you've done on your conversion. You will probably get a few differing opinions, but personally by the time your bredli goes into the enclosure, it shouldn't need night time heat.
What are you putting in the other two?

 

[Snapped]

Great job, Depending on what you have in the smaller enclosures, I would think for the size, you could use a normal light for heat/light, as long as the snake can bask at 32 degrees, it would be fine, so a shelf, or a branch close enough to the light (don't forget a light cage). Or if you already have two fittings, a small wattage CHE, but you'd be surprised how much heat a normal light globe gives off, maybe a night time globe for some low heat at night?

I'd have the small ones wired to a dimming thermostat (assuming all 3 occupants have the same temp requirement) and have the lights on a timer. 12 hours of light is what i've used, and unless it's winter, I don't bother with night time heat (though my Pythons are adults).

For the bigger enclosure, a radiant heater, or make up a heat cord with a tile for belly heat, and/or a CHE, the possibilities are endless really. Most Bredli prefer to bask, so I'd go a radiant heater on a dimming thermostat.


I'd wait for some more opinions, but I think if you stuck in a 60 watt light globe in the smaller ones, you'd be suprised at the temp you get, so you'd need to test it out with a probe thermometer or a temperature gun. Don't forget you'll need a temperature gradient, so probably two things giving off heat might be overkill.

I think I confused myself typing all that out hehehehe

 

[sam92]

Thank you for the replies! I'd like to eventually get another Bredli, hypo male hopefully and wouldn't mind a pair of nice diamonds down the track if I get really keen haha. I did the two small enclosures and one large one so that the snake doesn't have to go straight from the small tank into a large enclosure which I know can be stressful on the snake. Now that I have the enclosures and love keeping the snake I cant help wanting to fill them .

Can I get away with having one dimming thermostat on the 2 small enclosures if they are set up exactly the same? Is there other variables to be aware of? as obviously the probe can only be in one of the enclosures. I wouldn't want one to be 30 degress and the other 35-36 because the prob isn't there to switch the heat off.

As for the larger enclosure I could maybe do away with night heat and maybe have a low wattage heat mat under a tile for night time temps in winter. that way you still have a much cooler ambient temperature?

If I end up growing a bit of a collection I'll end up building bay enclosures in varying sizes to house things like bredli's and diamonds. Once I get my own place and have the room haha. Then I'll go all out and just hardwire the whole thing with 2 thermostats in each enclosure etc. Suitable size enclosures should never be a problem as I'm a cabinet maker by trade, so I have that part sorted.

I just need to get my head around the tidiest most appropriate way to keep my snake at the right temps. Good old google search gives to many mixed answers and a lot of the information isn't for Australian snakes.

 

[Wokka]

I don't like thermostats because if they don't work you can cook your snake. You can generally design your cage so you don't need a thermostat. Keep the wattage as low as possible. If cages are the same and the heat source the same then the temperature gradients will be the same . I had 100 similar cages and 1000 tubs with no thermostats but I put the effort into design ( and saved a fortune in thermostats and power consumption). Hard wiring is fine once you work out what you want but three pin plugs allow you to experiment with timers and even thermostats whilst you learn, then when you sort out what you need hard wire it!!

 

[sam92]

I don't like thermostats because if they don't work you can cook your snake. You can generally design your cage so you don't need a thermostat. Keep the wattage as low as possible. If cages are the same and the heat source the same then the temperature gradients will be the same . I had 100 similar cages and 1000 tubs with no thermostats but I put the effort into design ( and saved a fortune in thermostats and power consumption). Hard wiring is fine once you work out what you want but three pin plugs allow you to experiment with timers and even thermostats whilst you learn, then when you sort out what you need hard wire it!!

This is my first time keeping snakes, I'd feel safer with good thermostats. At least until I become a competent keeper. I will have 2 thermometers on each enclosure also ( hot and cold end ) so if something did happen to go wrong I'd like to think that I would notice before any damage is done.

When you don't run thermostats, how do you allow for changes in outside temperature affecting the enclosures? I know the place I'm living in has terrible insulation and changes temperature a lot. ( freezing in winter/hot in summer).

 

[sam92]

I have another question while I'm trying to pick everyones brain!!! I know I MUST have cages over my heat lamps to prevent my snake from being burnt. Can I get away without them on my daytime bulbs? One of the bulbs i found laying around the house is 8w and doesn't get to hot to touch. I'd go even lower wattage then that if I find something at Bunnings.


The infrared bulb I have is 50w which should be fine in the 2 small enclosures. I might need 75-100 watts for the large enclosure ?


I know I'm not going to be using this for a while but want to have it 100% ready to go when the time comes

50w heat bulb and 8w light globe. photo was taken about 20 mins after turning on. They now read 37 and 26. NO thermostat attached.

Thinking I'll go slightly higher wattage in this one. That's not the daytime bulb I'm going to use, it's a random bulb from the cupboard.