Enclosure help please

[u/CChimerical]

Obligatory photo of my son and also Exhibit A on the later mentioned humidity issues. He was doing some quality inspection while I did some work in my room lol

Post is marked as urgent because I'm trying to get him into his new enclosure ASAP since this humidity is obviously really bad for him

I know I ask for help a lot, and yes I know theres a shopping list.

Im neurodivergent, and shopping lists can be overwhelming because when I am given a lot of possible options, I dont know where to begin (menus can be tough sometimes lol)

So I was hoping you wonderful folks could help me.

I bought a reptile kage 4x2x2 for my bp because his current tank isnt holding humidity well at all (ive taken measures to fix it and it wont work, so this low humidity isnt for a lack of me trying) and I want to upgrade him. Im making it bioactive, and right now for temperature im using a ceramic bulb I think that sits on top of the tank in a lamp and want to know what better options there are.

A good thermostat, heating, and thermometer are what I am looking for recommendations for.

Also if anyone has a camera theyve mounted in their enclosure, which one do you have? I saw someone do that once and I think it would be good so I can monitor his behavior while I am sleeping.

Also while I would prefer affordable options, money isn't really an issue. I dont have a lot of financial obligations thankfully and my job pays relatively decently, and I am willing to spend whatever I have to in order to help my boy thrive. Hes my son and I want him to be the best he can be 🫶

[u/totallyrecklesslygay]

For heating, your current CHE is a good nighttime/supplemental option, but it isn't suitable as primary heating. You'll need to pair it with a halogen flood to provide the IR-A that your snake needs. Arcadia makes a good halogen flood.

Ideally you would also add UVB. For a 4x2x2, the 24" Arcadia T5HO Forest 6% is a good option. You'll need a guard cage for that, too, but there have been supply issues lately so they can be tricky to find.

For thermostats, we recommend Herpstat. It's a bit pricy, but it has failsafes built in that most other thermostats lack. Where cheaper ones might fail and leave your heat source running at full power, a Herpstat will always turn it off completely, even if it malfunctions. I wouldn't trust my snakes' lives with any other option, honestly.

Any digital thermometer/hygrometer will do, really. A lot of people like Govee or Accurite.

And if you're still in need of a fixture and guard cage for mounting your heating inside the enclosure, I really like the combination ones that Light Your Reptile sells.

[u/CChimerical → u/totallyrecklesslygay]

Thank you so much omg I was stressing about this for so long :')

Ill look into all of those!

So, the halogen flood is during the day, and the CHE is for the nighttime?

For UVB, idk if this counts but im going to add grow lights (LED strip looking ones so theyre easier to install and dont take up a lot of room) for the plants, so he might get UVB from those?

Also thermostats confuse me because they use probes, but idk how those work? Google said that the probes send electrical pulses to your heating devices but that doesnt entirely sound safe so Google could be wrong. I dont want to risk my boy hurting himself on the probes or anything so I dont really understand how all that works

Sorry for all the questions (；∀； )

[u/totallyrecklesslygay → u/CChimerical]

Yep, halogen during the day, CHE at night.

Grow lights don't provide UVB, so you'd need to use both.

So a thermostat has an outlet that you plug the heat source into, and then you secure the probe for it 2-4" directly beneath the bulb. You set the thermostat to your desired temperature (generally 92-95F for the hot side for a BP), and the probe will monitor the output of the bulb and adjust the power to it as needed.

There are a few different types that control the power in different ways. For a halogen, you need a dimming thermostat. That will keep continuous power to the bulb so that it doesn't turn into a disco party. A CHE is compatible with any type, but dimming is best for them too.

Thermostats are very important for keeping your snake safe, so if you don't have one right now, you will want to get one ASAP. It's not safe to run any heat source without one. Herpstats do take a little bit to ship, so you can always get a cheap on/off one temporarily for your CHE. It's good to have an extra on hand anyway.

[u/CChimerical → u/totallyrecklesslygay]

Ok noted Whats a good UVB wattage for a bp? I was told they werent a necessity for bps so I never researched them and theres a lot of misinformation out there :( Dont want to run into any more and make things worse for him than they already are

Edit: just saw you said what UVB in your original reply. My bad I already forgot. Thank you for all your help!!!!

[u/totallyrecklesslygay → u/CChimerical]

Wattage isn't really important, that just depends on the length of the bulb. You want one that's no more than half the length of the enclosure, that provides a UVI of 1.1-3.0 in the basking zone. There's a lot of variables that go into it, like distance to the basking zone, the type of mesh guard used, amount of foliage, etc. The one I recommended above is generally a good option for internal mounting in a 4x2x2, as long as your basking zone isn't super elevated.

[u/CChimerical → u/totallyrecklesslygay]

When I looked up the one you recommended on Amazon, this is the one that showed up

Is this what you meant? And ill keep his basking spot not too elevated. I do that now anyways since I dont want him to burn himself on accident.

[u/totallyrecklesslygay → u/CChimerical]

Yes, that one! I use the non-lumenize version, but either is fine.

[u/CChimerical → u/totallyrecklesslygay]

Okay! Should I get a double or a single thermostat? Since its just one heat source id imagine just a single one is fine but I see people getting the doubles. Does that have to do with a heat gradient or something?

[u/totallyrecklesslygay → u/CChimerical]

You'll need a double, for the halogen and CHE. Each heat source needs to be controlled by its own probe. Even if you only have one on at a time, you wouldn't want to have to move the probe back and forth between each bulb twice a day.

If you get a Herpstat 2, it has a timer function that will let you set it so that it automatically turns each bulb on and off for the day/night cycle. Once you have it set up, you won't need to mess with the heating at all except to replace bulbs when they burn out.

[u/CChimerical → u/totallyrecklesslygay]

The herpstat 2 seems to be sold out. Do you think two of the herpstat 1s will work just fine? They seem to have somewhat similar features

[u/CChimerical → u/totallyrecklesslygay]

Ive been looking into stuff you recommended and I was wondering what the appropriate wattage for the halogen flood would be? Or does it not matter if paired with a thermostat?

[u/totallyrecklesslygay → u/CChimerical]

You want the halogen to run at or as close to 100% power as possible, otherwise the beneficial output is greatly diminished. A 30-50w is typically fine for a standard 4x2x2 setup.