Hi to everyone,
I'm building a new terrarium for my BP who's 80 cm (32"
right now. The dimensions are about
: 136 cm long x 78 cm deep x 61 cm high. This is approximately 54" long x 31" deep x 24" high (around 200 gal. if my calculations are correct). The wood is 3/4" thick (everything but the front sliding doors) and the glass will be about 1/5" thick (haven't bought this yet). Do you think that is thick enough? As far as ventilation goes I haven't done anything yet. I've thought about drilling in a few holes in the top left corner and a few in the low right corner. What do you think? How many?
It will be installed in my bedroom. I don't live in this house yet, but I do know that it receives quite a bit of sunlight until late afternoon (not direct; direct sunlight just in the morning hours say 8 AM to 10 AM). The room itself has very good ventilation, and the terrarium would be placed beside it in a corner.
I'm not sure about the temperatures. I'm more worried about winter time, even though there is a room heater right under the window. It's a colder place than where I live now. A rough estimate could be between 10ºC and 15ºC (50ºF - 59ºF) for the low, but more likely like 20 to 25ºC (68ºF - 77ºF) with the heater turned on in the winter time.
As far as what I've purchased for heating, I have two Zoo Med 150W ceramic heat emitters that I haven't installed into it yet (I was thinking of installing these on the left side, making that the hot side). They will be hooked up to a proportional thermostat which has a night drop. I also have a red night light to be able to see her at night without disturbing her photoperiods. This won't be hooked up to the thermostat as I think it won't be necessary. I'll be able to turn it on if needed at any time though and would probably be placed in the middle of the cage. And that's it for heating.
For lights I only have a ReptiSun 2.0 30W fluorescent that'll be placed in the center of the top.
All of these items will be placed inside the cage with adequate metal wire to protect her from coming into contact with them. How far should I place the wiring from the ceramic heat emitters so that she wouldn't get burnt if she touches them?
My doubts come from reading some posts from other websites in which one person said that the ceramic heat emitters of the type that I've bought are more for basking spot and didn't heat the whole cage, just the area underneath the emitters and that to extreme temps (something like +100ºF), this I'm not worried about since the thermostat will control it. What I am worried about is that the whole terrarium gets heated up to atleast 77ºF in the daytime and then have the hot end at about 88ºF which would create the appropriate heat gradient, right? Am I going about it the wrong way? Which side should the thermostat probe be placed on, the hot or not so hot side? When we talk about temps, do we mean the temperature of the substrate (which is the one the snake receives), the temperature 1" above the substrate (which is probably very similar to the first) or the air temperature (which if heated from above would be hotter than the substrate or colder if heated from below)? What is best, the air temperature being hotter or colder than the substrate temperature?
I haven't installed anything into the cage, so I've still got time to make any adjustments. Give me your opinion and let me know if I should buy something else like under substrate heat cords...
Thanks for reading. I realize my few posts are pretty long, I guess it's just that I want to get everything perfect for her and I think you are all more expert on the subject than I am so I will gladly listen to any advice from you. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
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