BRB Housing

I have a 2 year old BRB and I just purchased a 55 gallon aquarium to house it. Can any one tell me the best way to set up the heating? I had a ceramic heat emitter but it dried out the tank too fast. I bought an undertank heating pad but it seems to get the glass REALLy hot and my snake has a tendency to burrow down in the cypress mulch, I'm scared this could lead to burns. Should I side mount it? Please help!

Using underside heat on glass tanks are pretty difficult at times to get right. My suggestion would be to not put the under tank heat directly on the tank. If its a sticky backed mat you can wrap it with something (I've heard of people wrapping them with aluminum foil), put spacers under the corners to provide a gap and just place the mat under one corner of the tank. Of course have it regulated with a thermostat to avoid high heat.

Good luck.

I would glue the thermostat probe to the inside glass in about the center of the heat pad and control the heat tape that way. The temperature should never rise above the thermostat set point and not be a burn hazard for your snake. Make sure you secure the probe so it can't move off the heated area or some day the heated area may rise uncontrollably if the probe were dislodged. Don't use tape, tape has a way of coming free and sticking to the occupant of the cage!