substrate thickness

[strikerball21]

Got the new tank all ready but my uth.. its at 138 and was on all night.. u can barely feel the warmth thru the substrate.. using retibark and it's 3 to 4inches thick...

Also I saw u can buy live moss.. would that be ok for a ball?

[ballpythonluvr]

Got the new tank all ready but my uth.. its at 138 and was on all night.. u can barely feel the warmth thru the substrate.. using retibark and it's 3 to 4inches thick...

Also I saw u can buy live moss.. would that be ok for a ball?

You NEED a thermostat to control that UTH asap. 138 is way to hot! If the snake burrows under the substrate it will be burned. If you can't get a thermostat at least get a lamp dimmer to hook up to that UTH.

[knox]

Agreed. Every single UTH, Flexwatt, or Heat Cable has to be regulated.

[mattchibi]

Yeah, you need a thermostat.

Also, if the snake burrows down and rests on the glass, itll get a burn for sure if its at 135 F. You want the uth to heat up the glass to about 93 and have at most a 1/2" inch of substrate on top of the UTH. It wont be 93 at the top of the substrate, but if the snake wants it can burrow lower for warmth. My snake does it all the time, but its completely safe because the glass never goes above 92. For now, you can run to a Home Depot and get a dimmer for your UTH, theyre like ten dollars. You should hot glue a thermometer probe on top of the glass right in the center of the UTH and use substrate to cover it up. That way you have a way of telling the temperature of the hottest spot the snake can go. Good luck

[strikerball21]

Thanks for rhru responses
so my substrate can be 3 or 4 inches thick if I want it to be? And my snakeis not and will not be in the tank until I can get it correct last thing I want to do is cause harm to her.. my urges is on a regulator made by villa.. I just maxed it to see how warm it would get.. so should I keep substrate that thick over the urban ir push it aside so its around half inch there.. I was going to put her hide there and kind of burry it.

If my snake does burrow my thermometer sensor and cord are down there will that cause an issue?..

Is live moss ok in her tank? To help hold Humidity

[strikerball21]

Oh and my tank is 18u deep 36. Long.. I have one 8a by 18villa uth should I get another so half the tank is heated? Both would be controlled by the same " dimmer thing" if I do get another should I get another thermometer for that uth also

[hondaracer297]

I wouldent use more than a 1/2 inch thick you want it to cover about 1/3 of the tank but no more than 1/2. for bedding i would use something else that your snake can burrow under. and one thermometer should be good.

[strikerball21]

Petsmart.. petco ds have stuff that looked like clean dirt.. would that be better than reptibark? Sorry for spelling DROID is taking a dump on me

[ogdentrece]

I made that same mistake, but substrate disappate heats pretty well, use just half an inch. For me Ive got a layer of newspaper under aspen, and most of the times my balls dont have any bedding under them in the warm hide

[Thom Noble]

live moss is okay