I have a thermostat on each side and hydrometer in the middle. I'm going to the reptile show in May and if there are no c/b there I'm going to contact Scott Felzer in Raleigh. I really don't want to ship if I can help it. I just can't imagine the stress it puts on the animal. As for lighting I also have a UVB light now and will add a 25watt for heat to see how warm it gets
Quote Originally Posted by EasternGirl View Post
Well, if you are going to put the lamp on the left side that is fine...but then I would move the water dish over to the right a little bit more so that it is further away from the heat. I keep my temps on the warm side around 82-84 degrees during the day for my easterns and around 68-70 at night. This can be achieved with a bulb or a heat mat...depending on what you prefer, although I do find that garters do enjoy basking...so I have a UTH (an under the tank heat mat) and a lamp and I adjust accordingly...I also use a regular 40 watt light bulb during the day and a 40 watt red bulb at night and I actually use a thermostat set to turn the heat off if it goes over 85 degrees. Sometimes I do not use any light at night....just the mat. I also have a flourescent UVB strip light set on a timer. It sounds like with the temps that you have now...a 25 watt might be good enough for you though. As long as you have a thermometer to watch the temps...I would go with that for now. I also suggest getting a thermostat. The humidity sounds good. As far as the substrate goes, I use aspen, but I move my snakes into another tank with paper towels for feeding. Cee Cee is looking pretty big...chances are she is gravid...may have some eastern babies soon. I wanted to ask you...have you considered contacting a breeder to see about purchasing a captive bred eastern?