Aspen depth?

Hey everyone! Tryin to get my temps right in my tub and i think the biggest thing that's making it difficult for me is how thick of a layer of aspen i have on the bottom of the tub. I had about 1.5" at first with hot temp at 85*F and herpstat temp at 125*F. Now i hardly have any bedding in there (1/4" or so) and the temp is around 95*(have accurite probe under side of hide).

So how thick of a bedding do you have in you're tub setup? Anyone else run into this problem? When i get my bp i don't want him moving the bedding and burn himself..

Thanks,
Mike~

O..also, does anyone know roughly how hot is too hot for the bottom of the tub to be? I have my flexwatt taped directly to the bottom of the tub with a layer of this on the opposite side of the flexwatt.


Mike~

that insulation is over kill. you dont need to tape it to the tub. tape it to the rack shelf and turn up the t-stat to achieve the 90-94 inside the tub. i have to set t-stat on 94 to get 91 inside tub using newspaper.

The hot side temp IN THE TUB right on the plastic should be no more than 95*. It doesn't matter how much aspen you have in, they will burrow if they need to be warmer.

Ok, i think im starting to figure it out.. Now i have a very thin layer of aspen and put the accurite probe directly on the bottom of the inside of the tub and not the substrate. Herpstat is at 101.5* and the hot side probe reads 93* but cool side is at 73 :(

O, and flameethrower - I have the insulation on both the board that the tub is sitting on and the bottom of the tub over the flexwat and bottom of tub. I think it helps distribute the heat a little more..just need a little more on the cool side.


Thanks for the reply's!

Mike~

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MikeG

Ok, i think im starting to figure it out.. Now i have a very thin layer of aspen and put the accurite probe directly on the bottom of the inside of the tub and not the substrate. Herpstat is at 101.5* and the hot side probe reads 93* but cool side is at 73 :(

O, and flameethrower - I have the insulation on both the board that the tub is sitting on and the bottom of the tub over the flexwat and bottom of tub. I think it helps distribute the heat a little more..just need a little more on the cool side.


Thanks for the reply's!

Mike~

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The hot side is good then. Anyway you can raise the tub to a higher place in the room? That may help with the ambient temp, otherwise I would get a small space heater.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

The hot side is good then. Anyway you can raise the tub to a higher place in the room? That may help with the ambient temp, otherwise I would get a small space heater.

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Not really...:( And i live in a small apartment, if i put a space heater in here around the tub im pretty sure the whole place would be burning up lol

I re-did the reflextix i had on the tub again last night so that there is one big piece on the bottom covering the flexwatt and the cool side. I was hoping that would help trap some of the warm air and move it to the cool side...but nope. When i checked it today hot side was at 96* cool side 71* herpstat was at 100. So getting the warm side the right temp is easy now. O, i even put that insulation on 3 sides of the tub as well..still 71..about room temp.

Think it would be wise to get another 3" strip of flexwat and put it on the cool side, but attach it to the insulation that is on the board that my tub is resting on instead of the tub itself?

Thanks again!

Mike~

Just remember that flexwatt cant be trapped without ventilation. The manufacturer suggest a 1/4" of room to let any hot spots dissipate to reduce fire hazards.

When we had a single tub in use, we got styrene (styron? not sure lol) foam board you can purchase from home depot, and made a little box that could go over the tub to help with heat distribution.

But, I will be the first to tell you that if you have to, putting a strip of heat tape down the length of the tub to help raise ambient is fine. Just make sure that it never gets too warm. You're only looking to raise it a few degrees.

The other thing with aspen, especially when you use it with larger snakes, is to remember to fluff it up as part of your regular enclosure maintenance. It's a lovely substrate to use but it does tend to get compressed under the bulk of say a large female ball python, especially inside her hides. I'm always amazed that a quick finger fluff will release an amazing amount of trapped heat coming up from the UTH. May as well not waste that heat I figure. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MikeG

Not really...:( And i live in a small apartment, if i put a space heater in here around the tub im pretty sure the whole place would be burning up lol

I re-did the reflextix i had on the tub again last night so that there is one big piece on the bottom covering the flexwatt and the cool side. I was hoping that would help trap some of the warm air and move it to the cool side...but nope. When i checked it today hot side was at 96* cool side 71* herpstat was at 100. So getting the warm side the right temp is easy now. O, i even put that insulation on 3 sides of the tub as well..still 71..about room temp.

Think it would be wise to get another 3" strip of flexwat and put it on the cool side, but attach it to the insulation that is on the board that my tub is resting on instead of the tub itself?

Thanks again!

Mike~

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Have you tried covering the top with a blanket or towel? Make sure not to cover any of the air holes though.