he has been in the cold side of the tank since i got home is that a problem..?i have a heat pad an a 60 watt light balb oon 1 side (10 gallon tank).with asppen and a hide on each side and the waterbowl kinda of in the middle.i jus t got him yesterday.

relax, if your temps are ok the snake will self-regulate and choose where it wants to be

oh thank you ks i was jsut about to move him from the cave . so its ok with a 10 gl tank with a heat pad and a 60 watt light bulb right?

check your temps preferably with a digital thermometer, good luck with your new baby

i dont really have a accurate thermomator i have the little store ones i heard there not that good . But from your experiance would a 60 watt light bulb and a haeat pad be good in a10 gal tank?

Well it is hard to tell with many other factors invloved. So ensure you have temp warm to cool and a hide in each zone.

Then get a digital thermometer. I like one's with a probe on a wire. I can then test the 3 main zones (warm,temperate and cool) of the Viv..and even in the hides when he's roaming to get a feel for what he likes.

I do that with snakes and our reptile Vivs... have a Lizard from Africa needs his 'own world'. It's important for them to have a great Viv.

On the water bowl..upgrade to a small pond. Lol. He should be able to get a fair bit of himself in there if he wants.
I also use room temp bottled water, change ever 2 days or less depending on condition of it.

My $.50

Dave

if you're in the US get a digital in/out thermometer from wallmart, if you're english you can get them from maplins. It really is an essential bit of kit for keeping your herp in the right conditions

I found quite a few digital thermometers at Walmart for under $10. Also, if your heat pad isn't on a dimmer or some sort of current or temperature control, it may get too hot (typically reaches over 100 on the surface). You can get a simple plug-in dimmer at Walmart or your local hardware store for $10-15. Of course, you never know for sure until you measure the temp with something accurate. Never rely on an anolog thermometer or those stick-on ones because they can vary a ridiculous amount - up to 10 degrees!

Read this post again.... I believe you were the one that started this topic as well. http://www.reptilerooms.com/forumpost-227421.html#227421