Tank Setup

[wolfeman]

So, I have set my new tank up.

Forest flooring substrate
Acurite
CHE hook up to a dimmer
UTH hooked up to a VE-200
Hide/Plants

I dont get my ball until Saturday but wanted to get everything up and running. The picture was taken before anything was turned.

So my question is..... How long will it take for UTH to start heating? It has been on for about 30 min since the pictures were taken and not see much action.

Appreciate all comments and recommendations....

[Jon14]

Are you reading ambient temperatures or floor temperatures as the uth mainly effects the floor temps.

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[wolfeman]

Using my heat gun to reap the top of the substrate... right now it is reading 84

[LittleTreeGuy]

What is your thermostat set to? You don't want the top of your substrate to be 92F if your ball python can burrow in that substrate. Doing that would cause the bottom of the tank to get hot enough to burn your bp. You actually want the bottom of the tank that hot, on the inside. I'd move some substrate and shoot that with your heat gun. You'll probably have to set your thermostat up around 93 or 94 degrees in order to get the substrate up around 88-90 degrees.

Depending on how thick and how moist your substrate is, it make take an hour or two to get up to temp. I'd give it a good 5 or 6 hours before making any adjustments.

[JoshSloane]

Using a UTH with natural bedding can be tricky, as the UTH has to get appreciably hot to heat through all the bedding. This is often a frustrating point for people that want a hot spot, and still want to use bedding. Try to use as little bedding as possible. Using a substrate like paper towel makes this a lot easier, as the temperature that the UTH needs to achieve with paper towel on top is much lower than with mulch on it.

[wolfeman]

VE-200 is set at 92... tank bottom is reading 88 right now and 84 on top... This is why I turned everything on early so I could play with it.....

[JoshSloane]

What is your thermostat set to? You don't want the top of your substrate to be 92F if your ball python can burrow in that substrate. Doing that would cause the bottom of the tank to get hot enough to burn your bp. You actually want the bottom of the tank that hot, on the inside. I'd move some substrate and shoot that with your heat gun. You'll probably have to set your thermostat up around 93 or 94 degrees in order to get the substrate up around 88-90 degrees.

Depending on how thick and how moist your substrate is, it make take an hour or two to get up to temp. I'd give it a good 5 or 6 hours before making any adjustments.

This is why using a UTH with substrate is not only frustrating, but really never gets you to a spot where you can reliably know what the temperatures are that your bp is experiencing. No matter how diligently you arrange the substrate, the snake is eventually going to knock it out of the way. Depending on how much substrate is on top of the UTH, your snake will experience anything from 95 to even low 80s if the substrate is piled up. While this wont hurt the snake, I wouldnt consider this temperature control. So you see that with this approach you arent even using a thermostat to its fullest function. The thermostat is basically a backup to prevent the snake from being harmed by excessive heat, but is doing nothing for you to actually dial in your temperatures.

This is why I whole hearted advocate using ambient heat only to heat the cage. There is no need to mess around with hot spots, and it allows the usage of any kind of bedding with similar results. You can even employ two CHEs, one turned up higher, and one dimmed down to create a gradient you desire, even though that is unnecessary unto itself.

[wolfeman]

Thanks... I will look into that idea... so, no UTH two CHE... I have one with a 100w and I guess the other one could be a 60W?

[Jon14]

Personally I like having a hotspot, and even if the snake makes a pile of subtrate, it will dig it out as needed to find heat. Mine seems to pile subtrate above my hot spot, but then I will see her move it out of the way to be in contact with the glass.

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[Scottywelsh]

It's very simple. Rather than taking the heat gradient away or using 2 Che which will dry out the air even quicker just use thinner substrate on the hot side. That way there won't be a risk of it getting hot because there will only be 1 or 2 degrees difference.
If you use 2 different Che then you will need 1 thermostat controlling each of them and not have one on full constantly. Remember with Che the internal temp of the hide underneath it may be a perfect temp but the top of the hide is going to be much hotter. When I used them my hides where 33c inside and 40 on top

Royals don't have 1 consistent temp In the wild. They have a heat gradient. It's totally up to you what you do but please don't just use ambient temps.