hot spot from uth

[katieam]

i have my under tank heater attatched to the bottom of my glass tank and the glass feels very hot to the touch. it keeps the temp at the right temp. (around 90) but i dont want my snake to get burner if he touches the glass. any ideas? thanks!

[SnakieMom]

Do you have this UTH plugged into a thermostat? (Of any kind)
That will prevent hotspots.

[katieam]

yes its plugged into a thermostat. but im afraid that if i turn it down, then the temp wont be right.

[PythonWallace]

Where is your thermometer for the hot spot located? It should be right on the glass, over the UTH. It shouldn't ever get hot enough where you think it could burn your snake. What kind of thermometer are you using?

[katieam]

my thermometers are two little round ones, i'm planning on getting some better ones with probes but my local pet store was out of them.

[mudguy]

Check this thread out -

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...hlight=acurite

About $12.00, iirc, Walmart.

[Argentra]

There's your problem right there... you don't know what the temperatures really are. From the sound of it, they're too high.

Even with a thermostat, and it's great that you have one, you won't have the right temps unless you have the right thermometer or a temp gun to measure them. BP temps are important right at floor level, not halfway up the enclosure.
Not trying to flame you for having those crappy dial round things, since pet stores hardly ever give proper advice, but just trying to let you know what you need to keep the cage going.

Dial the thermostat down until touching the glass brings a strong warmth, not high heat. Do that for now until you can get proper thermometers. Your snake should be fine with slightly lower temps until you can sort things out.
And there is often a degree difference between what the t-stat says and what the actual temp at the inside floor is, so you can't trust the thermostat reading to be the actual temp inside.

[katieam]

well i did try having the thermometers laying on the glass under the aspen and it was over 100 ! so i think the problem may also be that i have a rhetostat, not a thermostat, but i am changing that as soon as i go get the good thermometer. so hopefully that will do the trick. and good news is i dont have my snake yet, so i have time to fiddle with things.

[butters!]

chances are if your using a rheostat you need to dial it almost down to the lowest setting.the round thermometers are measuring your ambient temps and 90 is really high.if you put your hand over the warm side substrate it should barely feel warm at all.

[Argentra]

Ah, double trouble

Yes, get a good thermostat as soon as you can. Rheostats are fine for stable temp rooms, but any fluctuations send the cage temps soaring. Sometimes the LOWEST setting on those things is still 100!

But very good to hear that you're tweaking and messing with things before the snake comes home!! Kudos!

So yes, get yourself a digital thermometer and a good t-stat and things should stabilize in no time.