Climate Control

I just wanted to share something about what I just completed at my house. I worked in a reptile store for about ten years, and then went on to a career in building automation. For those of you that don't know what that means, I basically program large buildings to maintain their temperatures automatically. Generally I work with large equipment, but just for fun, I decided to add a small controller to my cages at home.

I have 1.3 carpet pythons, and what I have done is pretty cool. I now have all of the electrical controlled by relays in a small panel below the cages. All of the fluorescent lights are on one circuit, that is now programmed to turn on and off with the sunrise and sunset in my area. These times will change automatically throughout the year. The controller is also programmable in a way, that I can program setpoints, such as Day High Temp, Day Low Temp, Night High Temp and Night Low Temp. So now along with my lighting schedule, I let the temperatures adjust to day and night as well. I took it one step further, by pre-programming different setpoints for different months, like having only a slight change in day to night temps in the summer, and a larger change allowing somewhat cold nights in the winter. An added bonus, is that the controller can keep logs of temperatures and let me know if the temperatures have gotten out of whack for any reason. You can even set the software to send you a text or email if the temperatures approach dangerous levels, which can save you a lot of money if you deal with temperature extremes in your area.

All-in-all, there is no better way to guarantee breeding success with species that require true seasons. This is not a cheap process, and there may be cheaper ways to accomplish the same things, but if money is not an object, this is the way to go. If you are running a large facility, the possibilities are absolutely endless. The brand of controller that I am using is Delta, but there are different options. Again though, this is not cheap, but very effective and reliable.