UTH max temp

I have a rheostat to keep my UTH in check. But I was just wondering how hot does the UTH actually have to be before it can hurt a snake? Like at about what temp does it go from being too hot to dangerously hot?

I keep mine on a dimmer switch and stabalize at 91... but I have heard that they go up to 115.... I do not want to ever see that one!

I got a reading of 120 on mine the other day, when I was trying it under my new tub... not sure about the accuracy (the probe may have been placed wrong), but I was quite shocked to see that! :O I would assume anything above 100 is unsafe, since that's about what they would encounter in the wild. As for myself, I lower the dimmer any time it goes above 93-94.

Yeah, they can get around 120 degrees. Not something you want a snake trapped on for a while, they can literally "cook."

I wonder why they are made to go to such high temperatures?

Probably because if they didn't, they couldn't sell thermostats, I guess.

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Originally Posted by unrezt

I wonder why they are made to go to such high temperatures?

Probably because if they didn't, they couldn't sell thermostats, I guess.

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Well, for one, their max temp depends on the size of the object they are heating.

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Originally Posted by mrshawt

Well, for one, their max temp depends on the size of the object they are heating.

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Why?

Their max temp would change if they were not stuck onto anything?

Yes, because air conducts thermal energy different than wood, metal, glass, plastic, etc. Also, if it wasn't attached to anything, the thermal energy produced would be spread evenly throughout the air around it. When it's stuck to something, the majority of the thermal energy is transfered to that object (a tank, for example).