few questions

[unrezt]

A few questions I need to get straightened out...

The probe on my digital thermometer, should it be placed underneath the hide and underneath the substrate, or just underneath the hide?

Is it safe to have a heat lamp sitting directly on the screen top, I have done the foil treatment and I need the lamp to keep my ambient temps up...

Should the lamp be on the hot side, the cool side, or in the middle?

It seems like my snake is spending a lot of his time on one side of the tank...but my temperatures are fine. Is he retarded? lol. Nah but he spent the majority of the day on the cool side until I moved the hide to adjust my placement of the thermometer and that disturbed him so he moved.

Thanks

[DrEwTiMe]

The probe should be directly on the UTH. If you leave it on top of the substrate then the actual will be working harder(aka putting out more heat) till the heat the probe senses is the correct temp. This is unsafe because if the snake pushes the substrate away then he/she could be burnt by the UTH.

What i did was put tape the probe on the UTH but under the tank not in the enclosure so that the snake can't mess with the probe and i get the most accurate temps possible.

Putting the lamp on top of the screen is not a big deal. You can really place it anywhere you like except on the cool side if you say you ambient temps are correct. If you have humidity problems with using the lamp you can try and put it directly on top of the water dish to try and alleviate that problem.

Lastly, no your snake is not retarded lol. My snake really only goes on her cool side to poop it seems hehe. Otherwise she is cuddling on the warm side. I wouldn't worry about that. Good luck with everything, i think i answered the questions hehe.

[2kdime]

Probe for the THERMOMETER should be under the substrate, above the UTH inside the enclosure.

Probe for the THERMOSTAT, should be under the enclosure, sandwiched between the enclosure and the UTH.

[blushingball419]

The thermometer probe should be all the way under the substrate. You just have to keep in mind that the temp on top of the substrate will be a few degrees less than what your thermometer says.

As long as the heat bulb is being held an inch or two away from the screen (by the actual lamp/fixture itself) then yes it should be fine to put it right on top. That's how I use mine and I haven't had any problems. If you're concerned, then let the lamp run for an hour on top of the cage and then feel the screen under where it was. If it feels hot to you then it's probably not safe for your snake either.

I have my heat bulb over the cool side, but different things work for different setups. I definitely wouldn't put it over the hot side though if you already have a under tank heater. I would try it over both the cool side and the middle and see what works best for keeping your ambient and cool side temps where they need to be.

And no, your snake is not "retarded" haha The cool side is probably just the temp he wants to be at right now. As long as your temps and humidity are fine than he is just doing what ball pythons do

Hope this helps!!

[unrezt]

Alright thanks for the help guys.

I have another question.

Should I bump up the humidity during the entire shedding process, or just during the final stages?

[2kdime]

I always just wait until my animals eyes clear up, and then I up the humidity.

[unrezt]

I always just wait until my animals eyes clear up, and then I up the humidity.

Sounds good.
Wow thanks for the fast response!

[unrezt]

Wont let me edit my post...so

Whats the best way to measure the cold side temp with an accurite indoor/outdoor?
Is putting it right next to the hide sufficient or does cold side temp refer to inside the hide on that side? I ask because I moved my heat lamp to the cold side and had the thermometer resting on top of the hide, and it read 90degrees, and I wasnt sure if that would be the same as inside the hide too.

Also where is the humidity input on these? Is it the little open area on the underside of it? seems like a bad place for it if you want to lay it on substrate

[blushingball419]

The probe should be used for the hot side and the actual thermometer should be placed near the cool side hide. I wouldn't put it right on top of the hide, but next to or in the general vicinity of it should be fine. I lean mine upright against the glass.

Yeah 90 is a little too hot for the cool side, but it is probably a couple degrees cooler inside the hide as opposed to where you had the thermometer. If it the temp continues to read 90 on the cool side even with moving the lamp around then I would maybe switch to a lower wattage bulb

[unrezt]

Ok this thermometer is kind of annoying me. I hang it on the cold side of the tank , and it only measures the humidity of that side, because if I move it to the warm side it changes. My heat lamp is near the middle, closer to the cold side. For example, I sprayed the tank, and the humidity didn't change, so I moved the thermometer to the hot side and it shot up by 30%...

Also is it ok to feed ball pythons during the cloudy eyed stages of shedding?