Help with temperature

I am panicking about Oliver's tank temperature. With the probe on top of the UTH, his temp is 97. The other side of his tank is about 80. I have both heat lamps off now to try and lower his "hot" side - I'm terrified that he will burn to death. If I turn off the UTH and turn on the heat lamps, I can get his hot side in the 80s and 90s. The thermostat will be here tomorrow. I know what his ideal temps should be, but what will hurt him?

Thanks,
Nervous new mom

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Originally Posted by pbyeerts

I am panicking about Oliver's tank temperature. With the probe on top of the UTH, his temp is 97. The other side of his tank is about 80. I have both heat lamps off now to try and lower his "hot" side - I'm terrified that he will burn to death. If I turn off the UTH and turn on the heat lamps, I can get his hot side in the 80s and 90s. The thermostat will be here tomorrow. I know what his ideal temps should be, but what will hurt him?

Thanks,
Nervous new mom

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When you say the probe is on top of the UTH, are you saying it's on top of the substrate, or...?

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Unplug the UTH until thermostat comes and just use the heat lamps. No part of the cage should ever get above 95° F. It only takes prolonged exposure to 108° F to cause brain damage.

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

Unplug the UTH until thermostat comes and just use the heat lamps. No part of the cage should ever get above 95° F. It only takes prolonged exposure to 108° F to cause brain damage.

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I would ONLY use a night lamp though. 24hrs of bright light is stressful as hell.

Another option would be to make the substrate quite a bit deeper, and possibly even put him back into the travel carrier, then put that inside the tank. Obviously that would be using the UTH and NO lamps.

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Get a thermostat for your UTH as well as a thermometer to monitor that the thermostat and UTH is accurate.....also I use a red bulb for night and a reg day bulb for the day...

What size enclosure do you have?

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Originally Posted by pbyeerts

I am panicking about Oliver's tank temperature. With the probe on top of the UTH, his temp is 97. The other side of his tank is about 80. I have both heat lamps off now to try and lower his "hot" side - I'm terrified that he will burn to death. If I turn off the UTH and turn on the heat lamps, I can get his hot side in the 80s and 90s. The thermostat will be here tomorrow. I know what his ideal temps should be, but what will hurt him?

Thanks,
Nervous new mom

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This is my set up,where the UTH is,which is the hot spot I keep it at 88-91 on avg...I keep the lamp on the hot side and the watt bulb and tank I have it keeps my warm side around 84-86 and my cool side round 78.. I find when the tank is too hot he is uncomfortable. So it took a bit of messing around ,but I have found what works for hear and what I have to do for humidity as well.

good luck

I unplugged the UTH and will keep it off until the thermostat arrives. I have the evening (red) heat bulb on. I've also placed a space heater that I've used for my bird next to the tank on low heat - it should help to keep the hot side warmer, but not too warm.

I probably won't get any sleep tonight because I'm so worried about Oliver. He was very active, climbing and exploring all over the place when he arrived. Now, he won't come out of his hide. I'll be distraught if the temp problems injure him.


BTW: none of the websites and books that I've read mention a thermostat. I would have had one if I knew that I needed it.....

Yes, I know,lol..I have friends with ball pythons and boas and none of them have thermostats on there pads and a few have tanks with no pads at all,I've spoken to ppl at conventions who don't even use thermostats on there UTHs .me personally I use it,just to play it safe. I want my guy to as comfortable as he can.

You must keep the top pretty much covered 80-90% ,leave some ventilation!leave the UTH unplugged. Just to play it safe...if he is hiding that's good,he's getting comfortable..he was exploring cause it was a new surrounding to him,that's normal at first,but shouldn't be an every day thing.. My guys hides 80% of the time.

Oliver will be fine,relax,lol..he won't cook to death. Belly heat,UTH pads aren't used by everyone,there good to help and aid with digestion,but I don't think it's a must to be honest if u have overhead heat and your tank is staying warm atleast in the mid to high 80's hut u can still maintain good humidity..some ppl may Say u don't need a UTH,with a lamp,but like I said,I have both..it's wat works for your snake. Every set up can be different

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Originally Posted by patientz3ro

I would ONLY use a night lamp though. 24hrs of bright light is stressful as hell.

Another option would be to make the substrate quite a bit deeper, and possibly even put him back into the travel carrier, then put that inside the tank. Obviously that would be using the UTH and NO lamps.

Sent from my HTCEVOV4G using Tapatalk

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This is absolutely ridiculous. 24 hours of bright light while not ideal isn't going to harm the snake, whereas an unregulated UTH could easily hurt the snake plus the fact that it is a fire risk.

Thickening the substrate layer is never recommended when using a UTH. BP's are known to dig into the substrate and sit directly on the bottom of the cage. By thickening the substrate you also risk increasing the temperature of the glass.

Lamps even white lamps are the way to go in this situation. If it was going to be more than a few days I would recommend getting an infrared heat lamp but even then a good BP cage should have a nice dark hide anyway.

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Originally Posted by pbyeerts

I unplugged the UTH and will keep it off until the thermostat arrives. I have the evening (red) heat bulb on. I've also placed a space heater that I've used for my bird next to the tank on low heat - it should help to keep the hot side warmer, but not too warm.

I probably won't get any sleep tonight because I'm so worried about Oliver. He was very active, climbing and exploring all over the place when he arrived. Now, he won't come out of his hide. I'll be distraught if the temp problems injure him.


BTW: none of the websites and books that I've read mention a thermostat. I would have had one if I knew that I needed it.....

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I wouldn't worry too much. 97° F while too hot isn't going to cause any severe damage overnight. At worst a case of pink belly (think slight to moderate sunburn) as long as you can keep the cage above 75 you have nothing to worry about for that short period of time. (As long as the BP hasn't eaten in the last 24 hours)