Hot Spot bouncing between 75-95?? What??

[Jacaranda]

Hey! I've had my boy Cosmo (normal BP) for a little less than a week now. He's my first reptile, so I'm a little nervous about doing everything right. One of my best friends is training to be a herp vet, and she has a yearling ball python, so she's been a great help so far! She cleaned her old probe thermometer and gave it to me as a housewarming present for my new baby. I've been taking his temperatures once or twice daily. His hot spot has been bouncing from 75 to 95, and I have no clue why. I have a reptitherm heating pad. It's slightly larger than what is required for his enclosure, but I only have about half of the tub on the mat. I also have a sheet of acrylic between the mat and the actual enclosure so that I can move the tank around in order to get the right temp. I know that 75 is slightly lower than what he needs, and 95 is slightly higher. Can these changes in temperature hurt him? I'm planning on getting a thermostat ASAP!

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Do you have a thermostat?

[Jacaranda]

No, but I'm ordering one online from Amazon.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

No, but I'm ordering one online from Amazon.

Well that would be part of your problem without a thermostat you are not controlling your temperatures, therefore they fluctuate and you can be at risk of burn, fire hazard etc, unplug your heat mat until your t-stat get's there.

[Jacaranda]

The t-stat probably won't arrive in the mail until Tuesday...will he be okay until then? I've been keeping a close eye on him. Sorry for freaking out. This is my first reptile ever, so I want to do everything the right way!

[PitOnTheProwl]

[chrid16371]

The t-stat probably won't arrive in the mail until Tuesday...will he be okay until then? I've been keeping a close eye on him. Sorry for freaking out. This is my first reptile ever, so I want to do everything the right way!

If it's possible you can heat the room so it stays around 84 until thermostat comes, another thing would be use a che or red bulb to keep temp, or a lamp dimmer from Lowes connected to the uth until the thermostat arrives. The thing with lamp dimmers is you will have to keep an eye on the temp under the substrate and make sure it is not above 94 bc as the room temp changes so will the uth heat so you may need to adjust it a little at night and a couple times during the day. If you go with a che or red bulb I would also use a dimmer on that until you get the thermostat for uth and make sure the hottest spot on floor is not above 92. Make sure to use a good digital thermometer with probe or temp gun to check temps and that you are checking them correctly.

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