Reptile basics sweaterbox and heating

Hi,

Tried to search button but couldn't find the answer. I bought a rb sweaterbox and I have a herpstat 1 to run it. My problem is i'm having a hardtime raising the temperature.

I have the probe on the second rack from the bottom. Just the probe is touching the heattape and I have the wire right before the probe head meets taped down right next to the heat tape.
I keep my room temperature at 75 degrees, but even with the herpstat set too 100 degrees My hot spot is still only 83 degrees. I've tested it with my digital thermometer and my heat gun.
Is it normal or am I doing something wrong?

Thanks

my room temp is about the same. my herpstat nd is at 91 and my hotspots in my racks temp around 87. my reptile basic sweaterbox rack is up away from the floor. they are sitting on other racks. what is the room temp towards the floor in your room. this can be a factor. also how long has the rack been running to get at these temps? what substrate is in your rack? the hotspot should be the tub or newspaper and not the top of something like aspen if it's in there with any depth. I use newspaper in mine. you need to temp each level and slowly raise the temps on the thermostat until you get where you want to be with the hot spot (tub floor) using the temp gun.

Hey Don,

Thanks for the reply.
I just used my temp gun and it looks like the location where I placed the sweaterbox is about 73-74 degrees. I use papertowels and I've had the rack setup since last night. I have a thermometer in the top right where the heat strip is located. I can raise the heat strip temperature to get my hotspot much higher, but wanted to see if anyone else was doing that.
Your temperatures are something I would expect and makes sense to me.

check the hot spot with the temp gun not the thermometer. just keep raising it until you get it where you want it. you're close now. my rack is about 78 degrees when those racks are from the floor. a few degrees in room temp can make a big difference in getting your hotspot. good luck with it, don

- - - Updated - - -

78 degrees as in the air or room temp