Problem!!!!

[Drew87]

Hey everyone, OK so ive had my rack for about 1 1/2 months and for the life of me i cant get steady temps in all four tubs, i try and use the same about of substrate in each tub pretty much the same stuff in each tub trying to keep them all the same, thinking the temps would be the same right, NOT i cant get that to happen does anyone else have this problem its killin me here. Sorry its just frustrating like no other

[Freakie_frog]

On my rack the bottom tubs are cooler than the top tubs, the temps drop or go up depending on where in the room the racks are it just takes some tweaking.

[Drew87]

Hey buddie i knew you would answer haha do you have yours on the floor i have it on a big piece of wood so its not on the carpet do you have yours higher ? i dont know what else i can try (IM going crazy over this)

[nevohraalnavnoj]

All racks do this, it's a combination of several things. First, heat rises so higher tubs tend to be warmer. Second, the tubs above a tub help insulate it. So in most racks, the second from the top tub is the hottest. Third, depending on how the flexwatt is run, some have belly heat and partial side heat (sort of a zig-zag running up each side).

Above all, don't worry! Your snakes are more robust than you might think. If you have a several degree sway between various tubs, try and set all temps in the center of your ideal range so that the highs and lows balance out. For example, I shoot for about 90-92 degrees on the hot spot. I shoot for 80-82 on the cool side. After all was said and done, I have some that are 82-84 on the cool side, some that are 79-82. My hot spots in each tub vary from 93 to 90 degrees.

Sounds like you're doing everything right, so don't sweat it!

JonV

[West Coast Jungle]

All racks do this, it's a combination of several things. First, heat rises so higher tubs tend to be warmer. Second, the tubs above a tub help insulate it. So in most racks, the second from the top tub is the hottest. Third, depending on how the flexwatt is run, some have belly heat and partial side heat (sort of a zig-zag running up each side).

Above all, don't worry! Your snakes are more robust than you might think. If you have a several degree sway between various tubs, try and set all temps in the center of your ideal range so that the highs and lows balance out. For example, I shoot for about 90-92 degrees on the hot spot. I shoot for 80-82 on the cool side. After all was said and done, I have some that are 82-84 on the cool side, some that are 79-82. My hot spots in each tub vary from 93 to 90 degrees.

Sounds like you're doing everything right, so don't sweat it!

JonV

I agree there is always gonna be variation which depends on location of tub like mentioned and the type of heating element. Flexxwats can vary slightly from one to another. I have racks with flexwatt(Freedom breeders) and other with heat rope(Animal plastics and Vision) and they seem to be a bit more even because they are one continual heat source. As long as the temps arent way off you should be OK.

How are you measuring temps? I noticed the location of probes of off an inch can change temp readings significantly

[Drew87]

I use a temp gun and all the temps very by around 4 degrees, now i feel alot better now that i know that everyone else has theses problems as well haha sorry but it makes me feel better i mean i was going crazy over this, should i put some heat tape in the tubs on the buttom could that possibly help ? Thankx for the help guys i can now get a good night sleep haah

[Drew87]

I have the probe in the TUB not on the flexxwatt thats correct right ?????

[mmchoppers]

Hey man,

I have been keeping bps in a rack for almost 2 years now, and use to worry about the same problems.

Btw, I noticed you live in Phoenix. I'm right around the corner!

[nevohraalnavnoj]

I have the probe in the TUB not on the flexxwatt thats correct right ?????

There's a lot of talk over this as well, but I believe the generally accepted practice is to tape the probe right on the flexxwatt. Let's break it down:

Con's: Yes, fluctuations in your room temp will have a more significant affect inside the tubs because the temp probe is reading the flexxwatt, not the tub temp. But BP's lived in the wild for 1000's of years, they can handle fluctuations.

Pro's: All it takes is for one BP to bump that sensor in the tub, your flexxwatt kicks on harder and fries all your BP's in the rack. Flexxwatt gets incredibly hot, I thought it was going to melt my tubs when I turned it on without a thermostat.


Mathematically speaking, you can break it down in terms of expected value, well, sort of. With the probe on the flexxwatt there is a good probability temps will fluctuate more (let's set probability =0.7), and we associate with this some negative value, say -2 (once again, this is pretty touchy feely). Then, the outcome of this event is a value of -2*0.7=-1.4, meaning we are in some way unhappy with it.

On the other hand, let's say there is a miniscule probability one of your BP's would ever bump the probe inside the tub. Let's say the probability is 0.0001, absolutely miniscule. But, associated with the outcome of this event we have to place a huge negative value (because all your BP's are fried), let's say - infinity, more reasonably, -1,000,000,000. Then the expected value of this outcome is -100,000 which is way worse than -1.4

So, to recap. I tape my probe DIRECTLY TO THE FLEXXWATT to choose safety over a few degrees sway in temps.

JonV

[Drew87]

I will try that but i would think that would be atleast a 5 degree difference becuase of the tubs not touching the flexwatt (in the type of rack system i have) so i would have to set the them to say 96 so the flexxwat would be 96 but the temp inside the tubs would be i hope around 90 ish what do you think ?