UTH Too much?

I have my BPs in sterilite tubs. One of them is in a 21 qt. under-bed, and the other in a 6qt.
Room temp stays at about 82F. So I stopped using heat sources, they seem to be doing fine and like it.
Both of them have a UTH, but whenever I turn them on, their thermometers only get up to about 85F before they try to get as far away from it as possible.
21 qt. had paper towels and a piece of cardboard separating them from the UTH. The 6 qt. has coconut bedding and a piece of cardboard as well.
One tries to get out of their tub, while the other one in the 21 qt. just goes to hide on the cool side.
Is a steady 82F during they day and 78-79 at night ok?
As I said, they seem to be healthy and fine. Just thought these temps were low, considering everyone else has snakes that love 85F+.
Should I turn the UTH on anyways?

What are you using to measure and where are you taking the temperatures from?

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

What are you using to measure and where are you taking the temperatures from?

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In both tubs I have a digital zoo med thermometer with a probe on the warm side.

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Originally Posted by TCampanaro

In both tubs I have a digital zoo med thermometer with a probe on the warm side.

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Are you measuring at the right spots? the probe belongs beneath the substrate and whatever else you have there, at the very bottom of the tub (surface temperature)

If you happen to have one, a heat gun is also convenient for accurate measurements!

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Originally Posted by TCampanaro

In both tubs I have a digital zoo med thermometer with a probe on the warm side.

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Again..... Where???
On the side would be ambient.... Under the substrate on the floor surface of the tub would be the actual temperature of the mat.

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Originally Posted by Morjean

Are you measuring at the right spots? the probe belongs beneath the substrate and whatever else you have there, at the very bottom of the tub (surface temperature)

If you happen to have one, a heat gun is also convenient for accurate measurements!

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Okay. Originally i had it like that. But all that tells me is the heat mat is 121F so i freaked out and figured that wasnt how i was supposed to put it. So i should have one for ambient as well? Im currently loking at the acurite 00891 for both of my BPs.

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

Again..... Where???
On the side would be ambient.... Under the substrate on the floor surface of the tub would be the actual temperature of the mat.

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I moved it from underneath substrate to just on top of the paper towels and under his hide. As i said to other user, i didnt know if that was correct, putting it right on top of where the mat would be. It tells me every time after about 10 minutes its 121F. Thats got to be too hot. So i turn it off.

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Originally Posted by TCampanaro

Okay. Originally i had it like that. But all that tells me is the heat mat is 121F so i freaked out and figured that wasnt how i was supposed to put it. So i should have one for ambient as well? Im currently loking at the acurite 00891 for both of my BPs.

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PLEASE turn down your thermostat right now! the SURFACE temperature should be 90F on one side and 80F on the other! You can neglect ambient temp for now.

If your temperature beneath the substrate is 120F as you said, you have to turn down the heat or else you run risk of burning your snake! Also, your heat source HAS to be plugged into a thermostat no matter what, this is very important

The acurite is much recommended by people here, I personally do not have any experiences with it. Though I do, additionally, recommend a heat gun to easily and accurately check surface temperature, they're like

Yes turn down your thermostat bc 121 will burn your snake and uth doesn't heat air just the surface above. Your temp under substrate on top of glass over uth should never be above 94. If you don't have a thermostat then it needs to stay unplugged until you buy something to regulate your uth. Also in my experience the zoo med thermometers can be off as much as 5-15 degrees, look into the acurite 00891 they are very accurate and by placing the probe under substrate on hot side and the rest of unit on cool side you can read your hot, cool, and humidity from the one unit. If you need recommendations on a good thermostat please ask.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

I am guessing you DONT HAVE A THERMOSTAT??

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psp2koldrd.jpg