UTH + thermostat won't get hot enough

I have a brand new zoomed uth attached to a brand new jumpstart thermostat. The uth is getting hot, so it's not completely non-functional, but the hot end of the tank won't get warmer than 78°F, no matter how high i set the thermostat (the max is 108°F and I've had it there for a while). The enclosure is directly on a carpeted floor, so the uth is side mounted rather than on the bottom, but I've heard this shouldn't be a problem. What's going on? Is there a way to heat up the tank without buying more stuff, or do you think the heater and/or thermostat are a lost cause?

I have some old heat lamps to keep my bp warm in the meantime, and my apartment is terribly humid so I'm not too worried about the lamps drying things out.

How do you measure your temps (and where) and what do you use to do so? (analog thermometer, digital with probe, temp gun)

Also why side mounted, you do realize that it is very inefficient unless you have a heated room even than it's not the most efficient way to do it. It's pretty simple heat travels up therefore it make more sense to place the UTH at the bottom as you will suffer heat loss by placing a UTH on the side.

The purpose of a UTH is not to heat the air in the enclosure, its purpose is to create a warm area on the floor of the tank so that your snake can lie on it. Put the tank on boards to get it off the carpet and put the UTH underneath of it with the thermostat probe sandwiched between the UTH and the tank.

How big is your snake now?

Is 78 the ambient temperature or the surface temperature? UTHs aren't very good at heating air, just surfaces. Does your thermostat read 108 when you set it to 108?

The thermostat has a probe which I've set on top of the substrate against the wall with the heat mat. I've lowered the thermostat's temperature down from 108 to 95 just in case, but the probe never measured temperatures that high. The readings were consistently about 78, even when I double checked to make sure the thermostat is set higher.

I'm new to this (obviously), so I suppose I just didn't get my info from the right place. I read about multiple people successfully heating heating enclosures with side-mounted mats/tape/etc before I decided to put mine that way, but clearly there's something different about my setup compared to these guys' that I haven't pinpointed, or maybe theirs aren't working as well as they think. This is a learning experience, then. The important thing is that I have other means of keeping the snake warm enough, and then I'll reorganize my setup. I figured something would go wrong and I have backup equipment.

This should help.

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

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The thermostat has a probe which I've set on top of the substrate against the wall with the heat mat.

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NEVER have the thermostat probe inside the enclosure always have it directly on the heat source.

You talk about thermostat and probe but not your thermometer again what type is it? (analog, digital with probe, temp gun)

Set your heating up as my photo that Rikoku posted and all will be good in your snakes world.
What are you using for substrate?
You never want the surface your snake can touch to be over 95 degrees. Your snake can and will burrow so this temperature should be the surface below the substrate.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

NEVER have the thermostat probe inside the enclosure always have it directly on the heat source.

You talk about thermostat and probe but not your thermometer again what type is it? (analog, digital with probe, temp gun)

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Sorry, I have both an analog thermometer (just above the substrate) and a digital thermometer with a probe (under the substrate), reading within 2-3 degrees of each other. Also i thought it would be better to measure the temperature for the thermostat where the snake will actually be, which is why i put the thermostat probe in the enclosure. It's against the wall with the heat mat so i do know the temperature of the wall surface hasn't gotten dangerously hot.

The snake has been alternating between the inside and the top of a hide on the warm end. Right now she's sitting there with her tail end in the hide and her front half on top...i assume she knows what's comfortable lol. The uth + a small lamp has gotten the temperature to 85, though I'm sure it's a little cooler inside the hide.

Also I'm using coco fiber

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Originally Posted by Jesi

Sorry, I have both an analog thermometer (just above the substrate) and a digital thermometer with a probe (under the substrate), reading within 2-3 degrees of each other. Also i thought it would be better to measure the temperature for the thermostat where the snake will actually be, which is why i put the thermostat probe in the enclosure. It's against the wall with the heat mat so i do know the temperature of the wall surface hasn't gotten dangerously hot.

The snake has been alternating between the inside and the top of a hide on the warm end. Right now she's sitting there with her tail end in the hide and her front half on top...i assume she knows what's comfortable lol. The uth + a small lamp has gotten the temperature to 85, though I'm sure it's a little cooler inside the hide.

Also I'm using coco fiber

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The analog is junk so you are not gonna get a good reading from that and the other if the probe is under the substrate but yet the UTH is not on the cage floor but on the wall you are not gonna get a real reading either.

Setup up your UTH properly, under the tank with the probe outside the enclosure between the tank and the heat source and than you will be able to have a proper reading.