ball python temps help!

I have a 40 breeder with eco-earth(coco fibers) 1 hide on hotside 1 hide on cool side.
Ambient temp is about 87, cool side is about 79-80ish. humidity is solid at 48-50%.

I have a zoo med 16w UTH hooked to a Herpstat 1 set at 93 (probe is sandwiched between the bottom of the tank and the UTH) I did not remove the white paper from the adhesive on the UTH

I have varying temps on the UTH.
-edge near the power cord, its 90 inside the enclosure.
-Middle is 78-80 inside the enclosure
-far edge is about the same at 78-80 inside the enclosure.

The UTH is not flat against the glass in the middle due to the probe being sandwiched, so thats probably why the temp is so far off in the middle.

and YES, I have tried a tub(sterilite ultra 41q), but I am unable to get the humidity to acceptable levels, even with an obscene amount of holes in it.

My questions:

-Is where I have the probe the best place to have it, or do I need to put it on the bottom side of the UTH(so that the pad adheres flat against the glass?)

-Should I just leave it as-is and bring the temp up so that the entire pad reads 90?

-Whats the best UTH temp to shoot for inside the enclosure (measured on top of substrate or on glass?)


Thanks for all your help!

You ALWAYS measure the glass, your snake can and will burrow.
how long has it been set up? They take some time to stabilize.
You can raise your stat a couple more degrees, 93ish surface temp is what I shoot for.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

You ALWAYS measure the glass, your snake can and will burrow.
how long has it been set up? They take some time to stabilize.
You can raise your stat a couple more degrees, 93ish surface temp is what I shoot for.

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so you shoot for 93 degrees on the glass, and whatever it is on the top of the substrate?

I've seen some replies that say to just measure temp on the top of the substrate, but I never thought that was wise for the same reason you said, a burrowing snake.

Tubs, Racks and paper towels here, I couldn't imagine how screwed up my house would be with 51 tanks.

How thick is your substrate and what are you using?
If coco you don't need it more than a 1/2 or so thick.
Another thing to help with the humidity is to use a larger water bowl and keep part of it on the heat.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

Tubs, Racks and paper towels here, I couldn't imagine how screwed up my house would be with 51 tanks.

How thick is your substrate and what are you using?
If coco you don't need it more than a 1/2 or so thick.
Another thing to help with the humidity is to use a larger water bowl and keep part of it on the heat.

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I'm using eco-earth(coco fiber). Its about 1/2 or a little less in thickness.

should my humidity be more than 50%, thats more or less where it hovers, and then I mist a few times a day and that gets it to about 65% for a good while.

any input on the probe sandwiched between the UTH and glass? should I remove the paper from the adhesive and attach it fully to the glass bottom with no bubbles and then attach the probe to the bottom side of the UTH?

Usually I put the probe so it's covered by a corner of the UTH, which leaves most of the UTH in contact with the glass.

As suggested set the t-stat so at the very hottest points the glass is reading 93*F. The reading will be lower where the probe is between the UTH and the glass, that's ok. Also, no UTH or heat tape is constant over every inch, I've found variations of +/- 3*F on most of mine. As long as the heat is in the 88-93*F range on the glass where your BP can lie under the hot side hide, it'll be fine.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jlescisin

I'm using eco-earth(coco fiber). Its about 1/2 or a little less in thickness.

should my humidity be more than 50%, thats more or less where it hovers, and then I mist a few times a day and that gets it to about 65% for a good while.

any input on the probe sandwiched between the UTH and glass? should I remove the paper from the adhesive and attach it fully to the glass bottom with no bubbles and then attach the probe to the bottom side of the UTH?

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Your humidity is in a good range.
Also your probe is where it should be.