Vote for BP.Net for the 2013 Forum of the Year! Click here for more info.

» Site Navigation

» Home
 > FAQ

» Online Users: 714

0 members and 714 guests
No Members online
Most users ever online was 47,180, 07-16-2025 at 05:30 PM.

» Today's Birthdays

None

» Stats

Members: 75,905
Threads: 249,104
Posts: 2,572,100
Top Poster: JLC (31,651)
Welcome to our newest member, Pattyhud
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 18
  1. #1
    Registered User
    Join Date
    03-28-2013
    Posts
    19
    Thanks
    32
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts

    Tub temps not getting hot enough with Herpstat 2 and Zoo-Med UTHs?

    Okay. So I received my male Bumblebee yesterday, and due to my UTHs from LLL getting here quite a bit later than anticipated, I had to set up his tub the day I received him. I connected my large and medium (large for hot end, medium for cool end) Zoo-Med UTHs to my Herpstat 2, then adhered them to the bottom of my 31 qt. Rubbermaid tub with the temp. probes mounted in between the tub and UTH. Pictures:



    Large UTH - shot from above



    Medium UTH - shot from above



    Large UTH - shot from below



    Medium UTH - shot from below



    Here is a picture of the interior setup

    I'm using shredded aspen that's approximately 1" in depth. The issue I'm having is the UTHs are not getting nearly as warm as I need them to be. I've had to crank my hot side up to ~103 and my cool side above 95 on my Herpstat, but when I feel them, they only feel warm, and when I feel them through the tub, they're really not affecting the interior temps at all. Both these UTHs have raised the internal temps just 1 degree on each side. My ambient house temp is set at 70 degrees, so that's why I have another UTH on the cool side, but with the temps set like this on my Herpstat:



    ...it only raises the hot and cool ends to 73 and 72 degrees. WHAT?! Is there an issue with my temp probes, or is the substrate too deep? Is the Rubbermaid tub too thick? I'm stressin'.

  2. #2
    BPnet Veteran The Serpent Merchant's Avatar
    Join Date
    10-15-2011
    Location
    Orlando, Florida
    Posts
    8,193
    Thanks
    1,504
    Thanked 3,300 Times in 2,344 Posts
    First off your thermometers aren't reading the correct temperatures. UTH's don't increase the temperature of the air in the tub so your non-probed thermometers are 100% useless. You need a probe to measure surface temperatures.

    Second a UTH will NEVER change the temperatures of the cool side, once again because they don't change air temps.

    Your substrate is too thick as well. For a UTH to work properly the substrate needs to be no thicker than 1/2"
    Last edited by The Serpent Merchant; 04-17-2013 at 03:43 PM.
    ~Aaron

    0.1 Pastel 100% Het Clown Ball Python (Hestia)
    1.0 Coastal/Jungle Carpet Python (Shagrath)
    0.1 Dumeril's Boa (Nergal)

    0.1 Bearded Dragon (Gaius)

    1.0 Siberian Husky (Picard)
    0.1 German Shepherd/Lab Mix (Jadzia)

  3. The Following User Says Thank You to The Serpent Merchant For This Useful Post:

    SeSmith (04-17-2013)

  4. #3
    Registered User
    Join Date
    03-28-2013
    Posts
    19
    Thanks
    32
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts

    Re: Tub temps not getting hot enough with Herpstat 2 and Zoo-Med UTHs?

    Quote Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant View Post
    First off your thermometers aren't reading the correct temperatures. UTH's don't increase the temperature of the air in the tub so your non-probed thermometers are 100% useless. You need a probe to measure surface temperatures.

    Second a UTH will NEVER change the temperatures of the cool side, once again because they don't change air temps.

    Your substrate is too thick as well. For a UTH to work properly the substrate needs to be no thicker than 1/2"
    Awesome! Thanks for your response. There's definitely a learning curve here for me with these UTHs, so they're taking some adjustment. I was under the impression that the UTH heat transferred through the material it was adhered to (plastic, in this instance), and the heat dissipated into the air, warming it...which is why I used a non-probed thermometer. Now the term "belly heat" makes sense. D'OH. Glad I have a UTH for each side then! So I'll decrease the substrate thickness and get a probed thermometer...or two. Any suggestions for cheap probed thermometer buys? I couldn't find a probed Acurite at the Walmart I went to...

  5. #4
    BPnet Senior Member kitedemon's Avatar
    Join Date
    01-01-2010
    Location
    NS Canada
    Posts
    6,062
    Thanks
    657
    Thanked 1,795 Times in 1,391 Posts
    Images: 11
    They do heat the object they are fastened too this is good for a degree or two maybe. Radiant heat sources like UTHs do not heat air.

    http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Aquarium-Digi...ht_3879wt_1259

    I like these ones they are not expensive and a number can be bought and checked against each other. They have twice the spec'd accuracy as accurites (+/-2ºF against +/-4ºF) I would suggest 5+ and then the comparison is likely to find the ones differing from the others.

    It is likely that you are simply going to have air temp issues at 70ºF i would suggest raising the room temp to 74-5ºF this will assist a great deal in holding correct temps.

  6. #5
    Registered User
    Join Date
    03-28-2013
    Posts
    19
    Thanks
    32
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts

    Re: Tub temps not getting hot enough with Herpstat 2 and Zoo-Med UTHs?

    I guess I'm confused as to what you mean when you say "They do heat the object they are fastened too this is good for a degree or two maybe"...UTHs are only capable of heating the bottom of the inside my tub a few degrees? I don't need to heat the entire interior of the tub (all of the air), just the bottom inside, correct?

    I raised my ambient room temp to 72 degrees, but I won't be able to get it to 74-75 before May, when the weather warms up here and the air condo comes on. Will I still be able to adequately heat my tub with 2 Zoo-Med UTHs and a Herpstat 2? Sorry for all the questions...I thought I had it all figured out from spending a good amount of time researching, but I guess I was wrong...

  7. #6
    BPnet Royalty KMG's Avatar
    Join Date
    06-09-2012
    Location
    Tx
    Posts
    5,633
    Thanks
    1,032
    Thanked 2,944 Times in 1,958 Posts
    Images: 55
    The uth are not going to raise your air temps. You need to find a way to increase the ambient temp. You might find a closet you can set it up in with a small heater hooked up to your tstat. You need to be as close to 80 as possible, low 70's is to low. If you can get your ambient to 80 you only need to use one uth for a hotspot of 88-90(that's what I like).

    Also remember that what feels warm to you is usually to hot for your snake. The best way for checking surface temps is a IR temp gun. You should at least have a probe thermometer to measure it, like already suggested.

    Your tstat will usually need to be set at a different temp than what is desired. My glass tank tstat is set at 98 and gives me a hotspot of 90. As long as you hotspot is correct you are good.
    KMG
    0.1 BP 1.1 Blood Python 1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa 1.0 Aru Green Tree Python
    0.1 Emerald Tree Boa 0.1 Dumeril Boa 0.1 Carpet Python 0.1 Central American Boa
    0.1 Brooks Kingsnake 0.1 Speckled Kingsnake 1.0 Western Hognose
    0.1 Blonde Madagascar Hognose 1.0 Columbian Boa

    1.1 Olde English Bulldogge 1.0 Pit Bull

  8. #7
    Registered User Luciferskeeper's Avatar
    Join Date
    01-22-2013
    Location
    Anderson, SC
    Posts
    285
    Thanks
    23
    Thanked 65 Times in 62 Posts
    Images: 5
    Anytime your dealing with tubs or racks you will have to increase your room temps. You can remove your cool side uth, and raise room temp.

  9. The Following User Says Thank You to Luciferskeeper For This Useful Post:

    SeSmith (04-18-2013)

  10. #8
    BPnet Senior Member kitedemon's Avatar
    Join Date
    01-01-2010
    Location
    NS Canada
    Posts
    6,062
    Thanks
    657
    Thanked 1,795 Times in 1,391 Posts
    Images: 11

    Tub temps not getting hot enough with Herpstat 2 and Zoo-Med UTHs?

    Uth are a radiant heat source. (Same for rhp) the emit thermal radiation the thermal waves pass through air and water with out doing anything. When they hit a solid object they excite the molecules and generate heat.

    The uth will heat the floor of the tub to until the thermostat probe shuts it off. The floor will in turn heat the substrate and that in turn heat the air. Follow?

    The issue is 90 on the floor drops dramatically to the substrate and even more to the air. The end result is the most gain you should expect is a few degrees to the ambient air temps 1-2 maybe 3 on the outside. This still leaves you with an issue, at best your ambient temps will still be cool.

    I would suggest a few degrees as a buffer. 75 being the coolest (constant) temp but I would add 3 degrees to be safe so 78 as a lowest constant temp ( short dips below are fine a few hours at 72 isn't an issue but a few days or more could become one.

    The dual uth ( I run duals as well) hold the surface temps but make very little difference to the air temps. This means there should be a heat source that will directly heat air. Che or bulbs will do this, I don't believe Che are a good idea as they get crazy hot. This leaves bulbs the fluorescent light bulbs get warm with out extreme heat of tungsten. IMO safer. How to hook up something like this in a tub I am unsure of.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  11. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to kitedemon For This Useful Post:

    KMG (04-18-2013),SeSmith (04-18-2013)

  12. #9
    BPnet Royalty KMG's Avatar
    Join Date
    06-09-2012
    Location
    Tx
    Posts
    5,633
    Thanks
    1,032
    Thanked 2,944 Times in 1,958 Posts
    Images: 55
    A heat bulb will actually raise your ambient temp very easy in a tub. I found this when my cages were not delivered on time and had to improvise keeping my big blood in a under bed container.

    Currently I have three young bloods that I ordered a rack for but with my luck the rack has been delayed for some reason so I have them in tubs sitting on a table with a heat lamp above which is giving me perfect ambient temps.

    The only issue is you need a lamp stand because you can not place the heat fixture on the tubs. That and it looks silly. Overall it works very well though. For one tub it would be easy to setup.
    KMG
    0.1 BP 1.1 Blood Python 1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa 1.0 Aru Green Tree Python
    0.1 Emerald Tree Boa 0.1 Dumeril Boa 0.1 Carpet Python 0.1 Central American Boa
    0.1 Brooks Kingsnake 0.1 Speckled Kingsnake 1.0 Western Hognose
    0.1 Blonde Madagascar Hognose 1.0 Columbian Boa

    1.1 Olde English Bulldogge 1.0 Pit Bull

  13. The Following User Says Thank You to KMG For This Useful Post:

    SeSmith (04-18-2013)

  14. #10
    Registered User
    Join Date
    03-28-2013
    Posts
    19
    Thanks
    32
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts

    Re: Tub temps not getting hot enough with Herpstat 2 and Zoo-Med UTHs?

    Quote Originally Posted by KMG View Post
    A heat bulb will actually raise your ambient temp very easy in a tub. I found this when my cages were not delivered on time and had to improvise keeping my big blood in a under bed container.

    Currently I have three young bloods that I ordered a rack for but with my luck the rack has been delayed for some reason so I have them in tubs sitting on a table with a heat lamp above which is giving me perfect ambient temps.

    The only issue is you need a lamp stand because you can not place the heat fixture on the tubs. That and it looks silly. Overall it works very well though. For one tub it would be easy to setup.
    You guys are the best...this is the most helpful forum! So when you say I need a stand, I would assume then I would place my heatlamp w/bulb on a stand situated 6-8" directly over the tub lid? It would penetrate the lid enough to heat the ambient temps, and your lid doesn't get too hot?

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v4.2.1