UTH Not Enough?

Hey all! I have a UTH that I do not think is cutting the mustard. I have ordered a thermostat online, but it has yet to arrive. I checked my digital thermometer in the enclosure this morning, and it was down to 78! During the day it gets up to around 80. I know a thermostat will keep the tank from getting too hot, but it won't make the heat pad get hotter right? How am I supposed to keep the enclosure warmer without using a heat lamp? I have a heat lamp that came with the tank, but from what I understand the heat lamp should be unnecessary with the UTH. I know that they have bigger sizes of UTH, but I have a 20 gallon tank, and the larger ones would seem to be too large.

Typically the UTH only provides a hot spot. In order to increase ambient temps, you may need to supplement with another heat source, such as a heat lamp or a CHE. A CHE definitely requires its own thermostat. I have my heat lamps on dimmers.

Edited to add that a UTH also needs a thermostat, so it's good that you ordered one. A digital thermometer (ie, Accurite) measures air temps. A temperature gun measures surface temps.

So what should the air temp vs the substrate surface temp be? I tried to read up on all this before I bought him/her, but there was never a mention of air temp vs surface temp in anything that I read. It was always just "the temp should be ______". There are so many small things that I have already ran into that is never even mentioned in any of the articles/references that I read...UGH.

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Originally Posted by indygunnerguy

So what should the air temp vs the substrate surface temp be? I tried to read up on all this before I bought him/her, but there was never a mention of air temp vs surface temp in anything that I read. It was always just "the temp should be ______". There are so many small things that I have already ran into that is never even mentioned in any of the articles/references that I read...UGH.

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The most important thing is to provide an appropriate temperature gradient so the snake can choose how warm or cool it wants to be. On the cool end you should aim for approximately 78 to 80 degree air temps. My warm side air temps vary depending on the type of set up (ie, if it's a PVC with heat panel, glass tank with UTH and heat lamp, or glass tank with just heat lamp), but they're typically 81-85 degrees. The hotspot should be be 88 to 90 degrees surface temp.