Keeping UTH flush to bottom of DIY sterilite tubs

[Geminiluna]

Hi all - new member here. I have a DIY Sterilite 24-qt tub set up in anticipation of arrival of my first bp next week. It is fully equipped as if the snake were already in it, so that I can get test readings on temps and humidity. I did a set up very similar to Vypyrz Tub Set-Up (which I think is a sticky).

Here's the issue I'm having. The floor of the tub is bowing upward slightly so that it is no longer in flush contact with the UTH that I taped to it. Last night when I taped the UTH to the tub at room temp, it was firmly flush. Now that the heater has been running all night and the tub is warming, the floor of the tub is no longer in flush contact with the UTH. If I push my hand down gently, it becomes flush in contact with the UTH surface again. But the weight of a 230-gram bp won't be enough to push the bow out of the bottom of the tub to reestablish firm contact with the UTH. I'm worried I'll get unreliable temp generation because of this. I've already put foil tape over the UTH so as to be able to reuse it or reposition it in the future.

If there's just a small gap between the bottom of the tub and the heating surface of the UTH, is that going to be a problem with achieving/maintaining temps? If so, any good methods for ensuring firm contact of the UTH with the bottom of the tub other than adhering it directly to the tub (which I was hoping to avoid for future reuse or movement of the UTH). This is why I've set the tub up almost a week ahead of receiving the snake so that I can work out little issues like this if necessary.

* Sterilite 24qt tub
* Small Zoo Med brand UTH TAPED externally to bottom of tub, adhesive side covered with foil tape
* Herpstat 2 Thermostat, with temp probe taped on the underside of the UTH so that the probe is between the UTH and the shelf (not between the UTH and the external underside of tub)
* Zilla inexpensive temp probe for hot side, affixed using dabs of glue from glue gun on floor of tub inside/above center of heat mat
* Zilla inexpensive temp probe for cool side, affixed same way as above, on floor inside/above "cool" side
* brass hygrometer
* Aspen bedding
* furnished with hides and actual water bowl I intend to use so I can get realistic humidity/temp readings as if snake were here

[snakesRkewl]

The heat tape gets taped to the shelf, not to the tub

[Geminiluna]

The heat tape gets taped to the shelf, not to the tub

The bottom of the tub is somewhat recessed, and so if the UTH is taped to the shelf, it will not have contact with the bottom of the tub. And now that the tub is bowing upward, it definitely won't have contact with the UTH. Is that ok? I realize I may need to crank up the thermostat above my target temp to compensate, but just wanted to know if the gap between tub and UTH is any issue.

[snakesRkewl]

The gap is fine, it won't cause any issues except having to bring up the temperature setting a few extra degrees.
Just use a probed thermometer and place the probe directly on the hot spot until you get the temperature to 90-92 degrees.

Having the uth taped to the tub makes cleaning the tub much harder and just isn't necessary.

[Geminiluna]

Thank you so much! Really appreciate the clarification.

[Kaorte]

The gap shouldn't be an issue. If anything, the small gap is a good thing. Just adjust your thermostat to compensate for the gap

Also, congrats on the new snake and to the forum!

[Geminiluna]

Thanks, Kaorte!

I just went up and bumped up the Herpstat temp a bit more to see if that compensates for the gap. This forum has been a tremendous help in searching through all the posts for information. Seems like 99% of my questions have already been asked and answered. Heck, this one probably was, too, but I just didn't formulate the search terms correctly. :-)

[Kaorte]

Thanks, Kaorte!

I just went up and bumped up the Herpstat temp a bit more to see if that compensates for the gap. This forum has been a tremendous help in searching through all the posts for information. Seems like 99% of my questions have already been asked and answered. Heck, this one probably was, too, but I just didn't formulate the search terms correctly. :-)

I'm glad you've found some helpful info on the forum! Feel free to post any questions, even if they might be a repeat. A lot of that info can be outdated and not pertain to a specific situation

remember to post pics when you get your snake!