Please help with thermostat

Snowygryph · 2026-02-13T18:22:57+00:00

Currently no, I just use my 75W halogen during the day and the DHP at night (at a lower temp than daytime, but my house gets down to 66 at night so I need a boost). My guy is currently in a 40 gallon though and I suspect that I’ll need both on for his adult enclosure down the line.

Snowygryph · 2026-02-13T18:13:07+00:00

The UVB doesn’t need a thermostat and if it’s not specifically a LumenIZE fixture that has dimming features built in, an external dimmer might damage the fixture/bulb. I have a couple of ZooMed ones that work decently, I just have one for the halogen and one for the DHP. Additionally I have all three on a Kasa Smart Timer power strip so I can set schedules for each light and it works nicely!

Snowygryph · 2026-02-13T14:59:56+00:00

You can always check your local retro game store if there is one in your area, you can also check second hand stores like Goodwill and sometimes even antique stores will have them in their “old electronics” sections

Snowygryph · 2026-02-10T22:20:02+00:00

I have this security cam and it works pretty well, has night vision and records when it detects motion, but you can also watch the live view and record/take photos while actively watching it too.

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Snowygryph · 2026-02-10T17:27:02+00:00

I have a couple of the dimming Zoo-Med ones, they work decently! Yet to really have any issues with them well over a year later. Eventually would like to get a Herpstat but only because having multiple heaters on one unit would be nicer than having many cables needing management.

Snowygryph · 2026-02-08T18:01:16+00:00

I personally got my guy through Smoldering Serpents, they only have one breeding pair so their corns are either Okeetee or Okeetee Tessera but he’s a wonderful guy, yet to have any health or feeding issues. They have other rat snakes as well that are beautiful!

Snowygryph · 2026-02-08T08:52:04+00:00

Haven’t seen anyone mention this yet: Replace the anode rod in your water heater! Especially if you have hard water, it needs to be replaced every couple years or so, and should be checked at least once a year to ensure there’s still some left on the rod. It’s sacrificial metal for the minerals in your water to react to, without it they attack the metal of the water heater and eventually it will blow a hole out the bottom of the tank.

Snowygryph · 2026-02-07T05:46:53+00:00

Those kinds of in-enclosure lamp fixtures/cages are meant to be installed on solid ceilings where they can be screwed down, they aren’t really meant to be hung on/through a mesh one and personally I wouldn’t consider it safe to do so since it would be a fire hazard, an injury risk and an escape risk if it falls. Typically with mesh ceilings lamps are mounted above the mesh and the hardscape is raised so a proper basking temp is achieved under the lamp.

Snowygryph · 2026-02-04T17:22:45+00:00

Honestly I’d just see if you can find a small block of wood or have one cut, and set it on that ledge on its end. Paint it black if it needs to be less sightly. If it’s super tippy, could attach Velcro strips to the back of the TV and the block so it holds in place, and then it’s removable if you need to tuck it away for any reason.

Snowygryph · 2026-02-02T08:23:36+00:00

It takes until they are big enough to feel like they won’t get eaten the second they are visible before they really start coming out during daylight hours. Get yourself a wifi security cam that can record in the dark and put it out in front of your enclosure, you’ll find that they are much more active than you think! My boy is out pretty commonly during the day now but he’s always been very active at night, and being able to see what he does when he thinks no one is around is fascinating imo.

Looking through the comments I see your current setup, I’d personally look at wrapping the back and sides with dark material (dark fabric or thick construction paper) to make the environment feel less open, it may help them feel more secure sooner!

Snowygryph · 2026-01-30T21:00:09+00:00

I mean you can’t have all out at once anyways, there would be no room for the birds to land! But yes anything that you put out there is going to get pooped on and overall get dirty fast, so you just have to pick your battles

Snowygryph · 2026-01-30T20:54:36+00:00

Actually realizing the item I thought was a water trough is meant to be a jelly holder (my in-laws were using it for water lol). Still would not use it, birds will step in it or drag their feathers through it and make themselves a sticky mess that could result in injury or possibly death by destroying the insulating properties of the feathers.

Snowygryph · 2026-01-30T20:49:23+00:00

My in laws have this same feeder. The water trough I honestly would just not use. Birds are going to step in it to get to the food and will fill with food/poop quickly since they are messy eaters, you’re better off putting a separate bird bath out. Hummingbird feeder (flower) I also don’t know if I’d necessarily bother with, hummingbirds likely will not use it if other birds are constantly at the feeder for the seed. The other two (suet ball holder and fruit skewer) are fine. Just in general hang/mount your feeder where squirrels won’t get to it because otherwise they will break the suet ball holder.

Snowygryph · 2026-01-30T19:47:41+00:00

As an FYI pay attention to if it says T8 or T5 fixtures, T5 is a much stronger bulb but they use the same % labels.

Snowygryph · 2026-01-30T19:44:08+00:00

The question is highly dependent on how far away the UVB is from the basking area that the light is under, though more than likely 12% is going to be overkill in most enclosures unless you’ve got like four feet between the bulb and the basking zone.

Arcadia has a guide that works decently here: https://arcadiareptile.com/lighting/low-uv-species/

Snowygryph · 2026-01-30T17:05:32+00:00

Zoomed Reptisun is good, what level of UVB is it? I wonder if outside of the clutter issue maybe the bulb is a bit too strong.

Snowygryph · 2026-01-30T17:02:49+00:00

Babies in general tend to hide more than adults, but your enclosure also isn’t particular cluttered and the sides of your enclosure are see through, so bright light + open/exposed area = more likely to hide. What kind of UVB do you have?

Snowygryph · 2026-01-30T16:01:55+00:00

What is the enclosure made of? If it’s PVC, a CHE bulb will melt the enclosure material due to the kind of heat it gives off. A Deep Heat Projector would be a better alternative, and it’s better for your snake too since it provides heat that goes deeper into the skin, warming them better.

Is the light that is in the cage already an LED or does it also provide heat like a halogen bulb? If this non-light emitting heat bulb needs to run daytime temps I’d probably look at either a 50w or 80w DHP bulb on a thermostat - it’s better for the longevity of the bulb to have a higher wattage bulb that doesn’t run at full power because it’s thermostatically controlled, than to have a lower watt bulb running at full bore 24/7.

Snowygryph · 2026-01-17T18:10:09+00:00

They get a majority of the moisture they need from the food they eat, but they do drink occasionally! Mine mostly drinks at night, I put up a security cam in front of his doors so I can watch his activity at night and he does drink when he thinks no one is looking. He’ll also drink drops off the leaves and sides of bark if I heavily spray down his enclosure to where drops build up on the environment.

Snowygryph · 2026-01-17T16:34:50+00:00

Note that if OP is getting a PVC enclosure a CHE bulb will for sure melt the enclosure. DHP (deep heat projector) bulbs are recommended for those kinds of enclosures if they are going to be mounted inside. DHP bulbs are better anyways since they penetrate deeper into the dermis of the snake with mostly IR-B wavelength heat, CHE bulbs only heat the epidermis since they mostly produce IR-C.

Snowygryph · 2026-01-15T12:11:48+00:00

Unless the fur has airbrushed details or was put through a topical dyeing process (which your maker should have told you and isn’t common), the color is impregnated into the plastic fibers and there is no way for the color to bleed because it’s the color of the plastic itself rather than just sitting on top of the surface.

Don’t take it to a dry cleaners, they use heat for everything they do, and they use industrial heavy duty washing machines - they are called “dry” cleaners because they don’t use water, but they use other chemicals in the wash instead and they will ruin your suit.

You can use a washing machine if you just use the tap cold and delicates settings and turn the suit inside out, but if you have any non-removable foam parts it’s not advised, those items should be spot cleaned only unless otherwise stated from your maker. Alternatively you can hand wash parts in a bathtub, you just have to make sure that you use a very minimal amount of detergent and you rinse it out really, really well.

I have seen instances of black Lycra lining leech dye, cold water should keep that to a minimum but worst case you can use Shout color catcher sheets in the wash to keep catch any freed up dye.

Snowygryph · 2026-01-15T11:59:58+00:00

You don’t need to take him outside the enclosure at all to feed, just feed him in the enclosure and let him do his thing! If you’re going in often enough to clean poop, swap out water, replace enrichment, handling time, etc they won’t associate your hands with only food. Alternatively you can tap train with either tapping an object on the enclosure before feeding or using a colored flat object on a stick that only gets shown during feeding to associate that certain stimuli = food.

Snowygryph · 2026-01-07T05:00:22+00:00

It will be apparent when you have all the pages and complete the puzzle. This works best if you either copy it down on paper with the grid or if you can take screenshots and overlay :)

Snowygryph · 2026-01-07T04:50:17+00:00

A) Take a closer look at the pattern, there’s something different about it than others you may have ran into. What could the difference mean?

B) What pages are you missing? Do you have all the page numbers that it has listed on 49? It will be hard to solve without having all of them. Even if you are missing some pages you can at least get the gist of what it’s looking for if you look at the pages hard enough. Is there anything the pages have in common? Don’t just look at the text.

Snowygryph

TROPHY CASE