Written by: Samantha Boswell, Vet Assistant, Exotic Animal Rehabilitator
I love my apartment. It is perfect for me and my partner. It is a one bedroom with a den, spacious living room and dining space, and a kitchen that allows us to cook and clean dishes at the same time! Best part, we got this place just before the rent hike a couple years back. When I
moved in with my reptiles, I did not realize that there would be a huge draft causing a temperature drop when the wind is heavy,
when it snows, or when the weather is below -10'C. It also is extremely dry in my building for me, so for my reptiles who thrive off humidity, it is really dry. This made my first winter especially difficult to keeping both my terrariums and aquariums at the right temperatures. I am going to share my tips and tricks on what I do to help keep my reptiles comfortable in my drafty apartment. I hope these tips help you during winter if you or anyone you know is struggling to keep temperatures and humidity.
Keeping the Heat High
Every species of reptile has different requirements for heat, light and humidity. This means that the wattages will vary from each specie, however they all benefit from a temperature gradient. This means making one side of the terrarium slightly warmer than the other; this allows the reptiles to regulate their body heat.
One thing I did was to increase the wattage of my CHE and add a thermostat. I understand many people stick with heating pads for their tanks however these can be dangerous and difficult to monitor properly. UTH must have a thermostat, and if you do not have a thermostat, you have increased the chances of burns on your reptile immensely. Thermostats, just like any other tool or device, can fail and with UTH that is dangerous because your reptile could then be laying on a mat that can get up to 180'F or higher (depending on size and wattage). This will cause burns and send your snake to the emergency department (see picture below).
This is the reason I prefer CHE for the majority of reptile owners. This is because failure of a thermostat will not cause overheating or burning of the skin/scales. They are however, harder to maintain and worth it for your pet's health and safety (and also your wallet in the long run!) There are plenty of tricks to keep your reptile's enclosure warm during the winter. First things first, ALWAYS get a larger CHE than recommended and get a decent UVB set up. The UVB provides vitamins such as D and A that will help boost your reptile's immune system. UVB is also recommended for ball pythons in recent years as newer studies have shown that they thrive and are healthier with UVB vs without. You can find more information on this at the Facebook group Not Just A Pet Rock (Python Regius) in their files section.
Since you will be getting a CHE that is higher wattage and heat that recommended, you will also invest in a good thermostat. In the resources section down below, I will post a link to the one I have. It is a complicated device, however, once set up it is easy to use and the best thing I have ever purchased for my reptiles; each tank has their own. Not only does it have a thermostat, if you purchase the hydrostat probe, you can also use the second aux as a hygrometer. I will explain more of this in the humidity section. If the probe or CHE fails, the thermostat will alarm you and allow you to fix it before anything drastic happens.
On top of adding a higher wattage CHE to your set up, you will also help maintain the environment of your terrarium with a couple other tricks. Cover the top of your terrarium with aluminum foil and duct tape (I find it is the best to keep the aluminum foil on long term and cheapest to buy). Using Heat Tape also works, however I find that is more expensive and harder to find. IMPORTANT: leave the space under your CHE/UVB/UVA and other heat/light sources free of tape or foil. If you do cover underneath, not only are you completely blocking oxygen flow, you are also at risk of a fire.
Keep your tanks located against an inside wall. Outside walls will be draftier and colder than the inside walls. Also the condensation that could be created from the heat of your tank and the coldness of the wall may cause mold to grow on your wall. This is a health hazard for you and your animals.
And if you need to, purchase a small space heater. They have become so economical and hydro friendly. A lot also come with timers, thermostats, and more to help maintain temperature.
Maintaining Humidity
Humidity is also vital to your reptile's health and some reptiles require a higher humidity level than others. I find during winter it is extremely difficult to keep the humidity levels reasonable, especially when I work full time and run this rescue/site as well.
I have found that not only having that thermostat/hydrostat has been very helpful, but using a good quality mister with distilled water. DO NOT USE TAP WATER in a mister, the calcium will build up quicker than you can maintain and will break your mister sooner than later. You can usually get distilled water in one of those large water jugs for a water cooler. They are much cheaper and most grocery stores will sell them.
IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT MISTERS
Some reptiles, such as ball pythons, require the substrate to be moist/humid to maintain the proper levels of humidity. The mister DOES NOT replace the moisture levels in the substrate, only the air. You may still need to regularly mix water into substrate to keep it moist. However, the steps you implemented above in the heating section will help keep the substrate moist.
Conclusion
I really hope these tips help you, it is a trial and error and if you find any extra tips, please let me know! I have found that out of everything online, these ones have worked the best together in keeping my reptiles' environments safe and healthy. If you have any tips that have worked for you over the time you have kept reptiles, please feel free to reach out at samclbo@icloud.com and I will edit them to the bottom of the article.
If you have any questions, concerns, advice, resources, or want to foster, please reach out to the email posted above.
Resources
Inkbird Thermostat/Hydrostat:
Reptile Mister:
Not Just A Pet Rock (python regius):
Advancing Herpetological Husbandry:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/AdvancingHerpHusbandry/files
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