Probe confusing

getting a herpstat T-stat soon to completely switch to UTH and CHE for air temps. I am just usng the T-stat for the UTH. Eveyne sayd something different about whereto put the probe for the T-stat. im a little confused too because i think the T-stat im getting soon only has one probe which is both for a thermometer AND the regular T-stat probe. where should i put and WHY!!!!! i am very confused from some of your answers and appreciate you guys and gals to elaborate a little more. Thanks in advance!!!!!!!

I'd say just put it somewhere over the UTH, because that's the temperature you want to be controlling. The probe acts as a thermometer to get the temperature so the T-stat can "know" when to turn the UTH on and off, so it's just one probe.

well the T-stat im getting is very nice so it has a reading of the current temp from the probe and then you set the temp you want it to be and it controls the volts going to the heating pad not just on and off also i have aspen shavings wouldn't i want to be reading the surface temp.?

Are you going to have anything between the aspen and the glass bottom? (You don't want your bp going under the aspen and getting burned...)

And yes, you do want it to measure the surface temp, so you lay the probe on the aspen and it tells you that temperature. The probe that you see on the model is basically the same thing as a thermometer with a probe, it relays the information to the thermostat, so that's basically what the probe is. It's like that for most thermostats and rheostats, I think.

Remember that bps will try to get close to the heat source, so if you maybe just put the probe a little bit underneath the surface of the aspen, so that you can get the highest temperature that your bp can get at, so you're extra sure that your snake won't burn itself.

I understand this is confusing, however as you have been told in previous threads by myself, snakeskewl, and Dr. Del you need to put the probe directly on top of the uth between the uth and the tub or tank. Also even the really nice herpistat pro does not have a separate thermometer probe. The thermostat probe acts like a thermometer to let the thermostat know how to portion out the wattage to control the heat. You will have to have a thermometer to measure the heat, a temp gun would be better.


1. Take the heat pad out of the package.
2. Place the thermostat probe in the center of the uth with hot glue or tape
3. Attach the uth to outside bottom of the tank situated to one side or the other this will now be your hot side.
4. Plug it in to the thermostat and set the temp
5. Monitor your temps using either a thermometer or temp gun measure the temperature directly on the glass or tub, because your snake will move around the bedding to get closer to the heat source and if you are just measuring the surface temp you could burn your snake. (Ie: if the surface of the bedding is 92 when your snake moves the bedding the glass could be 98 and that could burn you snake.)


Ok, now you have your hot spot taken care of.

For your ambient temps. (I assume you are in a tank because that’s what you said in your last post) If your room consistently stays in the 80’s your fine but if it doesn’t you will need to heat the air your snake is breathing aka: Ambient temp. You can do this with a regulated heat light on a t-stat or by using a space heater in the room.
The heat light has one major drawback (it will suck the humidity out of the air and your snake needs this to shed and breathe properly. If you use a heat lamp do the following this is what I did before I switched to tubs)

1. Wrap the top of your mesh tank cover with plastic wrap leaving a square exposed that is the size of your heat lamp.
2. Duct tape the edges (do this only on the part that your snake will never touch, you don’t want to have to remove tape from you snake to much blood involved yours and the snakes).
3. Place a thermometer under where the light will be on the cool end
4. Place the lid on with the lamp and secure to the tank.
5. Plug the lamp into a thermostat and set to 82 degrees ( I used 2 t-stats to do this, but if you are getting a harpist pro you can run two different settings)


Now you have your ambient temp and humidity taken care of, however even with taping the tank cover I still had issues with humidity so I provided my snakes with a humid hide.
You buy a 2 piece cave hide and keep it filled with moist moss at the hot end and that helped with shedding a lot. If you move to a tub it’s all a lot easier
I hoped that helped clear up your confusion.

Ed

Thanks so much i no i have been obnoxious with these threads but you explained everything great but if i get a CHE will that suck out humidity too> thanks now i know what to do one i get all the stuff so i can finally be done with the basking light for good :D but also i already have the heat pad stuck to the glass i can tape it to the outside of it for the same effect right? or should i try to peel it up and stick it to the middle?

Yes a ceramic heat emitter will kill humidity even worse. I explained how to deal with this issue in the ambient temp section of my previous post. I think you can peel the pad and put it in the middle, hopefully some one else will chime in because I am not sure if peeling it will damage it.

not really spose to restick em far as i know

so then your probe right on the UTH might be lots higher, say 135 to get a nice bed of aspen or cocofibre up to low 90's?

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Originally Posted by Hilltop

so then your probe right on the UTH might be lots higher, say 135 to get a nice bed of aspen or cocofibre up to low 90's?

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no no no no. if ur UTH gets the glass underneath ur aspen to 135 and u snake burrows u will burn ur snake severly or even cook ur snake.

u want the uth to get 95 tops. use a thinner layer of aspen if u have to, or just switch to paper towels or newspaper. and u can restick and peel off ur UTH all day. i did it everytime i cleaned before i made a rack. as i said in one of ur other multiple threads, the UTH will heat up ur hotspot, if ur room temps drop below 80 use a red light or CHE for ambient temp. ya it will effect the humidty but just put more water in the water bowl or use a bigger water bowl.