Thermostat probe location

I'm preparing to switch to a new set up as soon as everything arrives and I was curious about the placement of my temp probe. Currently my probe is inside the tank under the substrate. So its uth-glass-temp probe-substrate. I have the thermostat set at 101 which leaves the top of the substrate at 87-91 according to my IR thermometer. Is there any reason that I need to move my probe to out side the tank or will it be ok under the substrate in the new tank?

IMO a thermostat probe should never be inside the enclosure, there's just too much risk of the snake moving the probe making the tank get super hot.

The hottest spot in the enclosure should be about 95 degrees, anything higher you risk burning the snake.
Less substrate if you have to, but the bottom of that tank directly on the glass should not hit over 95 degrees.

The recommended and safest method is this.

SUBSTRATE
GLASS
TSTAT PROBE
UTH

You probably should thin out your substrate a little so you can tune down your tstat to a safer temp.

I place mine on top of the flexwatt and I only tape it down to hold it in place without covering the probe completely . If you place the probe inside the enclosure you run a high risk of the probe getting moved out of place which can be a dangerous situation with overheating.

Right now the probe is held in place and can't be moved by Loki. The substrate is already thin and my temps are fine. I'm laying down cage carpet as her next substrate in the new tank so she wouldn't be able to move the probe in that tank either. I'm kinda concerned that the probe will hold the uth off the glass enough that it isn't heating efficiently, that's why I have had the probe inside. Is that not an issue for anybody else? If it helps,this is the thermostat I'm using

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rpandresen

Right now the probe is held in place and can't be moved by Loki. The substrate is already thin and my temps are fine. I'm laying down cage carpet as her next substrate in the new tank so she wouldn't be able to move the probe in that tank either. I'm kinda concerned that the probe will hold the uth off the glass enough that it isn't heating efficiently, that's why I have had the probe inside. Is that not an issue for anybody else? If it helps,this is the thermostat I'm using

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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I have one of those on my quarantine tank at the moment.
The heat pad should be taped to the floor of the under side of the tank and the probe taped against that.
The thermometer probe goes inside the tank under the substrate to read the hottest temperature there.
Cage carpet can be a bacterial nightmare, personally I wouldn't have it in a ball python enclosure.
Aspen, paper towels, newspaper, cypress and others work much better than cage carpet.
There is no safe way imo to hold down a probe inside an enclosure, some use hot glue, personally I won't risk it.

Even if the heat pad isn't up tight against the glass the heat will get through, even if you have to turn it up a degree or two more to achieve 90-92 degrees on the hot spot.

If putting the probe between the uth and cage bottom didn't work we wouldn't do it.

Don't think that your snake is not able to get under the carpet, it can.

Hopefully it goes without saying to never use tape inside the tank. So you are left with what to secure the probe? Most people use hot melt glue but that stuff gets really brittle over time in my experience. It will eventually get knocked off. Dont risk it keep the thermostat probe on the outside. Now I do use glue to secure thermometer probes and they last a few weeks or until my snake decides to remove them but there is no risk if they get knocked off.

I made the mistake of having the thermostat probe in the tank before and it did get moved and the UTH was 130 degrees. Snake was no where near it but a close enough call that I wont ever try that again.

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And because I'm brutally honest, I have to admit that for the first time in 2 year, my probe became loose from the cage bottom. Clearly this is a sign from the pet care gods that probe should go between the uth and the cage. Point taken universe, thanks for making it abundantly clear

So working with my temps...Have table, heating pad, probe taped to outside bottom of tank with electrical tape, tank, aspen bedding. Sound ok?