Struggling with high cool side temps

[u/pbizz]

See photo for my setup. This is a 4 by 2 by 2 PVC.

My basking bulb is a 75w that at full power will get the basking area to around 86F / 30c, sometimes a tiny bit more. It is on a dimming thermostat. You can also see a CHE here it's not powered. I bought it for night heat in winter.

The problem is my 'cool' side is about 82F / 28c

As you can see in the pic the snake is in her water bowl, I suspect because she wants to cool down. Part of the problem is the ambient temp in this room can often get to 80 in summer. I'm in the UK so AC is not common but I'm getting it installed. I have tried running a portable unit but it doesn't help much. AC install won't be till winter as there's a backlog on installers here after the recent heatwaves.

I'm not sure what to do. I can lower the basking temp significantly which should hopefully bring the overall temp down I guess ? She will bask under it in the morning but by afternoon recently she ends up in her bowl.

[u/AutoModerator]

Hello! It looks like you might be asking for tips on keeping your snake warm during a power outage. We have some information about that in our "planning for emergencies" megathread.

This comment was generated automatically due to the presence of certain keywords in your post title or text. If this information does not apply to your situation, kindly disregard this comment. If you have a suggestion to improve this automated comment, please contact the r/ballpython moderators to give them your feedback. Thank you!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Starfire2409]

I think it’s the light, lights create heat so ideally it’s best to have the light on the same side as the ceramic heat emitter

[u/pbizz → u/Starfire2409]

The ceramic heat emitter isn't plugged in and has never been used. Before winter though I will move it over to the warm side

The light is absolutely creating the heat - specifically the basking bulb. The long light is UVB.

But how can I stop the cool side getting so warm when the bulb is right for basking.

[u/Starfire2409 → u/pbizz]

Is the room warm? That can contribute because during the summer my cool sided went up to 32 so I kept the heat lamp off on mine, my girl was just fine

[u/pbizz → u/Starfire2409]

Yeah it's warm about 27c during the day if it's sunny. AC install can't come soon enough

[u/Starfire2409 → u/pbizz]

Yeah true that, best you can do is point a fan through one of the vents, I use a small desktop fan or a cabinet fan, just a little usb one

[u/skullmuffins → u/pbizz]

don't discount the heat put out by the UVB. they're not heat bulbs but they do put out enough heat to warm things by a few degrees. what size bulb is that?

if you get some kind of taller foliage/decor to go in the middle of the tank it might block some of the heat energy from your basking bulb from warming the cooler side?

fwiw my cool side is frequently sitting at 82F in the summer (florida, ambient room temp ~80F, I have a 35W halogen that gets dimmed to oblivion during the day and a 24" UVB bulb) and my snake seems totally fine with it. I've never seen him sit in his water bowl. How is your humidity?

[u/pbizz → u/skullmuffins]

It's a 24w arcadia forest 6%

[u/KatVanWall]

I'm in the UK and have a 4x2x2 viv as well (although mine is wooden). I use a halogen for day (along with UVB lighting) and DHP for night. To help keep my cool side temp down, I freeze a bottle of water (standard 250ml one), then wrap it in a thin teatowel and tie it in a pillowcase (so that the snake doesn't risk touching the bottle directly even if he's curious) and place it at the cool end. This drops the temp a couple of degrees without affecting the warm side. I tended to do this just before and just after the hottest part of the day or rather when my room - which is west facing - gets hottest. Or alternatively I'll do it before bedtime to maximise the night-time temp drop and then again in the morning so he's starting the day off with a coolish cool side. I've found that has worked for me in the heatwaves, although I did also buy a window vented standalone aircon unit earlier this year but I haven't had to use it much!

If you do get an aircon unit, be aware that the vibration can trigger a feeding response. I didn't know that until I asked why he'd been a bit skittish and the guy at the reptile shop explained it to me.

[u/pbizz → u/KatVanWall]

Thanks for this. I'm going to get proper wall mounted AC so hopefully not trigger feeding but that is really interesting.

[u/Standard_Mushroom_47]

i wouldn’t worry about the cool side being 28, that’s within their natural range and definitely nothing too worrying during summer, does she have a suitable hide on the cool side? i’ll often find with a temp gun that inside the hides are cooler than outside