Ambient temps

[Cookie_enthusiast]

Hello,
I'm a first time snake owner. I have a marbled children's python, I've had him a week. He's about 5 months old.
He's feeding well, pooped twice in the last week, his water bowl is usually ready to be filled again after a couple days. So all is well with his habits I think.
I'm just worried about the ambient temp of the room/tank he's in. It's never usually above 26°c on the warm side. He's in a 30x30x30 tank with a mesh lid. I've covered roughly half of the lid to trap a bit more heat, but it hasn't helped a whole bunch. I'm using a heat mat which sits around 30°c and only covers half the bottom of the tank, the tank is too small for a heat bulb currently.
I feel like the obvious thing to do would be use a heater in the room, but honestly I'd hoped there was perhaps other methods I could try to fix his ambient temps. I thought I'd add that humidity is almost always perfect too. Thanks!

 

[Tobe404]

Use a slightly higher wattage heat mat or cord? Try to get the heat mat area to 32-34c.

I've only ever offered belly heat to my Pythons and never had any problems.

The ambient temperatures are fine.

 

[Cookie_enthusiast]

Use a slightly higher wattage heat mat or cord? Try to get the heat mat area to 32-34c.

I've only ever offered belly heat to my Pythons and never had any problems.

The ambient temperatures are fine.

Thanks for the reply!
With the mat, I'm using as high as I can in accordance with the size, it's exactly half the size of the tank
So, for example, if my thermostat is reading 38 but the tank is at 36, it's okay? I was just worried about the glass getting too hot? (There's a good layer of aspen down though).

 

[Tobe404]

Where do you have the thermostat probe placed?

I usually have it directly over the heat mat area in the enclosure on top of the substrate.

Thermostat set to somewhere around 32-34c.

 

[Cookie_enthusiast]

Where do you have the thermostat probe placed? I usually have it directly over the heat mat area in the enclosure on top of the substrate.

Very similar, but under the substrate.

 

[Diprotodon01]

Very similar, but under the substrate.

I agree the ambient temperature in the enclosure in my experience doesn’t concern me the main thing is ventilation and the animal has access to a heated area the only time ambient temps are a concern is when the room is either to cold or to hot in the case of to cold sure a space heater will increase the room temperature and will increase the temp within enclosures this can be beneficial if you have hatchlings or a snake staying on heat all day as it would suggest he’s not getting enough heat I would suggest increasing temps slowly and being ready early for cold fronts and use an air fan to move hot air around the room from heater but as long as correct heat hot spot is provided and he’s moving off and on heat then the room ambient temperature is fine just avoid cold and wet conditions reptiles don’t do well exposed to cold and wet respiratory infection can occur very quickly and with little warning so just avoid misting the whole enclosure and keep it to one spot in the cold side if humidity is a concern or Inturn place a small dish at the heat to maintain humidity a gauge is paramount if humidity is a concern
With regards to the room temperature climbing past the 30 degrees that’s when ambient temps become a concern for me that’s when I shut off heating all together and monitor room temperature turning on cooling systems to lower temperatures if they are too high as a hot enclosure in a hot room within reason isn’t good ie the animal submerged in water bowl desperately pacing enclosure all signs of overheated animal I avoid this situation like the plague an animal to hot especially for reptiles can kill very quickly even quicker than a mammal in the same conditions sorry for no punctuation It takes me a long time to type

Hello,
I'm a first time snake owner. I have a marbled children's python, I've had him a week. He's about 5 months old.
He's feeding well, pooped twice in the last week, his water bowl is usually ready to be filled again after a couple days. So all is well with his habits I think.
I'm just worried about the ambient temp of the room/tank he's in. It's never usually above 26°c on the warm side. He's in a 30x30x30 tank with a mesh lid. I've covered roughly half of the lid to trap a bit more heat, but it hasn't helped a whole bunch. I'm using a heat mat which sits around 30°c and only covers half the bottom of the tank, the tank is too small for a heat bulb currently.
I feel like the obvious thing to do would be use a heater in the room, but honestly I'd hoped there was perhaps other methods I could try to fix his ambient temps. I thought I'd add that humidity is almost always perfect too. Thanks!

Forget about the temperature reading on thermostat it’s just a guide do you have a pulse proportional thermostat for you heat Matt this saves the life of your chosen Matt it feeds like drips power rather than dimming which is preferred for lamps or on and off which fluctuates the heat a lot rather than a constant temp they are more expensive but worth the money if a quality brand habitat for example another way to control heat Matt is with a dimmer switch standalone herp shop has them I have one that is still going 20 years later you need a good heat gun with the probe from thermostat positioned touching the glass directly above heat Matt then using temp gun increase or decrease temperature dial on thermostat according to actual temps at hot spot heat area inside enclosure this is really the only way to tune your hot spot heat area in real time it’s a lot harder with on off thermo as the bugger turns off and on and you have to take more readings over a longer period of time to work
Out the swings in temperature but it can be done Bunnings has ozito temp guns for cheap they work ok for about six months in my experience but lose there accuracy over time like anything cheap
If your smart you can calibrate a temp gun provided you can find something with a constant temperature and then measure how much the temp gun is off as long as the temp gun reads the same temp every time it’s still accurate just add or subtract accordingly
If your not able to attain the right temps then you will have to increase wattage of heat Matt just don’t place enclosure over the hole Matt try %25 of floor area in my opinion plus you need to have an air gap if it’s like the green ones from urs or if it’s like the heat tape types then adhere to the bottom of tank and then stick some feet on the corners of the tank for your air gap that’s what the instructions recommend this method of a bigger Matt wastes power as the enclosure isn’t all over the Matt but if you need more heat that’s really the only way unless you go for another heat source the tank is small but that’s all to do with the size of your animal I’ve had some individuals take years to reach the same size as other animals on the same diet and some have stopped eating once in a larger tank but keep in mind your in need of an upgrade at some time you can even start that process now and gives you lots of time to adjust the new tank or habitat in advance just a thought I know many people who keep antaresia quite happy in large tubs so it’s up to you what your happy to provide these days there’s a large push to go realistic setups with all the benefits but there’s also the basic setups that have supported healthy animals for years
Food is your best friend with snakes fresh frozen thawed full prey items of a respectful size and In my mind variation of amount and size are all positive approaches to a healthy pet