help with temps?

so i went and got a few thermometers (couldn't find digital anywhere) and a... barometer? anyway, the hot side is at 80, the cool side at 72 and the humidity (outside of the humid hide) is about 27%. i have a UTH and heat lamp on the hot side and nothing on the cool in a 55g tank. any suggestions for making this ideal??

What kind of thermometers? Are you sure they are accurate? .... With a UTH and a heat lamp on one side of the cage, temps should be higher than 80 .... That said, sounds like your going to need a bigger/more powerful UTH and a higher wattage heat lamp. Are you shutting the lamp off at night or is it a red/blue bulb?

Once you get the hot side up to par with bigger/more powerful UTH and lamp, you could move the UTH you currently have to the cool side (or just add the new stuff to the empty side and leave it where it is) and use a lamp dimmer/rheostat to adjust it so that the cool side temps are around 83 degrees.

Sorry that I don't have a simpiler answer for you.

-adam

they're round thermometers with a needle... that's the best i can describe them. i have the biggest UTH i've seen so far. i don't shut off the light at night, i have a basking bulb that i use in the day and a red heat bulb at night. is that good? should i buy another heat lamp and have one at each end?

I hate to say it, but those round stick on thermometers are really pretty crummy.

You're probably going to need a much higher wattage bulb on the hot side (temp should be in the low 90's) and you can probably get away with using the bulb you have on the cool side to get those temps up above 80.

55 gallons are hard to heat with bulbs cause they are so tall. But with the some experimenting with different combinations of wattages you should be able to work it out.

Switching those bulbs out every night must be a pain in the butt.

-adam

yeah, switching them sucks but she has day and night so it's worth it. i looked all around for better (digital) thermometers and couldn't find any. i checked walmart, target and pet stores. can you give me a specific model or website to order from? i'm not sure that i know exactly what i'm looking for. also, both bulbs are 100w, is that still not enough?

I agree. The analog thermoms are very inaccurate. Did you check Walmart? They have a digital thermometer/hygrometer (2 temp readings, 1 humidity reading) for $15. If you want to go cheaper, you can get just the thermometer for less than $7 (one temp reading) and a dual thermometer for (I believe) around $9 or $10.

i'd gladly go buy those if the people at walmart had any clue what or where it was. any link to a specific item would help significantly.

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Originally Posted by bp_pandora

also, both bulbs are 100w, is that still not enough?

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If you're temps are not correct than no, it's not. You might need to look into using ceramic heat emitters which i think run all the way up to 250 watts (maybe even higher) and then you wouldn't have to switch them out. You could always try bigger bulbs first, but i don't think you're going to find more than 150w and those might not be strong enough. Maybe with running bulbs on both sides of the tank it will help a little more? You're really going to have to start experimenting. Maybe even running three bulbs across the top to keep the temps up. 50 - 100 - 150 all the way across? It's hard to tell over the internet, you kind of just have to keep trying things until you get it all set.

Walmart and Target both have the digital thermometers. They are near the tools and fans in both stores. I would confirm that those temps are accurate with a digital before I went spending a ton of money. I don't trust those round plastic ones at all.

-adam

I never find them @ Walmart online...however they are usually in the fan/light/outside thermometer section. Go to that section and look through those isles, you'll be sure to find it. The brand name is Acurite. Gimme a sec, I'll see if I can find a pic.

Go here. The one named 'AcuRite Digital Min/Max Digital Thermometer with Humidity Gauge & Light' is similar looking to the one Walmart sells (but the one at Walmart has 2 temp readings and is much cheaper), scroll towards the bottom of the page, you'll see it.

Just an FYI .... they generally don't sell them online because it can cost more to ship them than they are worth.

-adam

Ah, never thought of that....well, that's probably why you can't find them online then.

Radio Shack.. here is a link to one that I have. Works great, the probe on it is long, 8, 10, 12 feet.....maybe longer.

http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...5Fid=63%2D1035

That would work, but for the same price, the one at Walmart also measures humidity.

thanks, that helps a lot

Forgot to mention this earlier.

I have many tanks for Leos, a few pvc cages for Balls and racks for both. I started using a temp gun about 6 months ago. With the amount of temps I have to check daily I could not live without one. I have both a PE-1 and a PE-2 from www.tempgun.com . I highly recomend getting one. They make taking your temps a breeze.

Good point Shrap ... I like the PE-2 cause of the <dr. evil voice>"laser"</end voice>!!! :D

-adam

As someone mentioned earlier the accurite thermometer/hygrometer from wal-mart is probablly your best bet. I found them in the hardware section with all the tools, smoke detectors, etc. I got a digital temp gun from radio shack for $30. It doesn't have the nifty laser though :(

Now if only the humidity equivalent of a temp gun wasn't 500$....

I've never seen one, but I guess they have something like that for use in carpentry...(heard this on another forum..never seen one).

I have soem taylor analogs that I got from the beanfarm that never go above 80...lol.. I hate those freakin things. I personally use the ones from big apple with the dual probes.. Saves on some space which is a must in my snake room..I have actually had a 55 that had perfect temps 24/7. I used a hagen 100 watt bulb and 11" flexwatt. All was controlled thermostatacilly(sp)... And the room itsself is controlled...Get ya a raytek for those surface temps...

You can get a digital hygrometer at WalMart for $9.99 or so, too, a lot less than they sell for online, and use that in conjunction with a temp gun.

As far as the hygo's I like the fluker analog get ups.. They are right on but cost I think about 8 bucks...

looks like i'm going to walmart again once all this ice melts. there's a layer of ice on everything here today so i don't think i want to risk it.

Check in the hardware section. Normally there will be an aisle with large outdoor thermometers that are pretty easy to spot and the digital stuff will all be right there with it. Typically this is the same area as paint, mailboxes, plumbing supplies, etc.

You might have to really bug somebody to help you find it since they put up all the christmas stuff and most of the gardening stuff is near impossible to find.

It might also be next to all the weather proofing window stuff, that's where I found mine.

ok, i've got it! it's got the indoor/outdoor temps so i have the whole indoor thing at one end and the outside thing at the other. sound good? should i just leave it in there all the time? now i just need to get the tank warmer.

ok, so the warm side is 88 and the cool 73. what's the best thing i can do to bring that up? i've got a lg UTH and basking lamp on the warm side, with a red heat lamp on the cool. i've got to stop spending money for a week or so, too. :?

radio shack makes a wireless thermometer/hydrometer combo sells for around 40 bucks. i have one it is ok. a company called amprobe sells hydrometers(digital) for around 100 bucks. i have one of these and the radio shack one is close enough for our purposes. 1-5% isn't that big of a difference for our needs. the accurite thermometers from walmart/target are good too.


vaughn

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Originally Posted by bp_pandora

ok, so the warm side is 88 and the cool 73. what's the best thing i can do to bring that up? i've got a lg UTH and basking lamp on the warm side, with a red heat lamp on the cool. i've got to stop spending money for a week or so, too. :?

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What wattages are your bulbs? Try increasing them.

-adam

they're both 100. i'll get higher wattage bulbs soon.

I would place the probe in the warm side hide so you can tell the belly heat in there.

but the water is on the cool side and she often spills it. can the thermometer get wet? i think it only said the probe is submersible/weatherproof. would that be safe or would i ruin it?

there's no need to leave the thermometer in there all the time. Just drop it in once a day when you check on her and verify that the temps are correct. That way, when your not there, you don't have to worry about it getting wet. :wink:

I've actually seen ball pythons drag digital thermomerters into their water bowls, just by crawling around the probe cord.

-adam

http://www.indoorhealthproducts.com/810ce.htm
cool stuff, free shipping

edit: wow, not to mention they are 30 minutes away from me

Thermometers don't get instant readings so if you don't leave it in the enclosure all the time you would have to leave it in there for at least 10 minutes to get an accurate reading. I would just leave it in there just make sure its up off the "ground" so you don't have to worry about it getting wet.

well as it is right now (on the warm side with the probe on the cold) it's reading 90/78. that's good, right? i know it takes a while for the thermometer to read accurately, that's why i'm leaving it in there. anyway, i look at it all the time :)

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Originally Posted by lucky8926

Thermometers don't get instant readings so if you don't leave it in the enclosure all the time you would have to leave it in there for at least 10 minutes to get an accurate reading. I would just leave it in there just make sure its up off the "ground" so you don't have to worry about it getting wet.

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10 minutes plus is a bit of an exaggeration. But even if it were correct, is 10 minutes really that long to wait? I would think that if you threw the thermometer in there a couple of times a week before you clean the cage and change out the water, by the time you were done the readding would be correct.

From experience, I am not a big fan of keeping cords or batteries inside of a ball pythons enclosure while unsupervised. But thats just me.

-adam

I agree with Adam, I have seen batteries explode before! And that was at room temps, think of heating htem in an enclosed environment. Probe or temp guns... My probe thermometes take about 3 min to get correct temps and checked against my raytek are within .25 of a degree of each other....

If you put it in the enclosure before you do your cleaning then the lid would be off or doors would be open allowing heat to escape so your reading wouldn't be correct. I have never seen or heard of batterys exploding unless they are heated to extreme temps and by extreme I mean 150 plus degrees. I really don't think the 95 degrees that your enclosure might get up to on the hot side is going to cause a battery to explode.

I have seen 2 type of battery explode the little ones in laser pointer and a AA battery... You trust it if you like but Ill just play it safe for my animals....

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Originally Posted by lucky8926

I have never seen or heard of batterys exploding unless they are heated to extreme temps and by extreme I mean 150 plus degrees.

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So just because you haven't seen it or heard of it means it will not happen? I'm sorry, but I can't accept that.

And are you still contending that it could take 10+ minutes to get an accurate digital thermometer reading? I apologize again for disagreeing with you, but I can prove that to be not quite right either.

And as far as the lid being off, it doesn't have to be while you are washing and drying the water bowl and hide boxes right? That's when I would choose to measure the temps.

Monitoring temps can be done accurately without leaving the thermometer in the cage 24x7. I'm not saying that it's "better" or "the only way", just the way that I prefer because I feel that it's best for my snakes.

-adam

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So just because you haven't seen it or heard of it means it will not happen? I'm sorry, but I can't accept that.

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wow, did I just hear you say that?

I think that the chances of a battery exploding are so miniscule that it really isnt somthing to worry about.
(wow, did I just say that?)

my temps are at 90/79. they'll go down at night when i shut off the basking light, but does that seem sufficient? if it is then i'll take out the thermometer, i just wanted to watch it 24/7 while i'm adjusting it.

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Originally Posted by green_man

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So just because you haven't seen it or heard of it means it will not happen? I'm sorry, but I can't accept that.

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wow, did I just hear you say that?

I think that the chances of a battery exploding are so miniscule that it really isnt somthing to worry about.
(wow, did I just say that?)

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AHHHH ... somone fell for it!!!! GOOD! :twisted: ... That's why you have to take precautions to make sure that it doesn't happen.

If you read the thread you'll see that I advocated monitoring the thermometer while in enclosure, and not just leaving it there waiting for tragedy to happen.

Sure, I believe that a battery could explode, but I think it is far less likely to explode and do damage while being watched for just as long as it needs to be in an enclosure than it would be if just left in there constantly. With proper measures it can be safe.(sounds familair right? :lol:)

I don't feel that leaving electronics in a cage with your snake for weeks at end is at all safe, just like i don't feel that leaving a live (deleted for the sake of one day of peace) in a cage with your snake for weeks at end is at all safe. :lol:

A couple of my favorite sayings are: "There are two sides to every coin" & "Question everything!"

-adam

(two other thought on your response green_man - 1. i could get awfully defensive about you throwing that back at me if I wans't such a laid back kinda guy. 2. Nice try ... LOL)

lol, nice try? what was I trying to do?
It was a simple observation.

Adam said:

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My point is that if someone personally has never had a snake INJURED by being fed a live rodent how can they tell other people that they shouldn't feed live because their snakes could get hurt or because there is risk? Because someone told them it is true?

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So just because you haven't seen it or heard of it means it will not happen? I'm sorry, but I can't accept that.

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you said it nicely when you said there are two sides to every coin.
I am simply stating that the chances are miniscule that a battery will blow up. Just like you said there are thousands of safe live feedings without injury, I am saying there are millions of batteries used without blowing up. I mentioned the above observation in attempt to show that yes, there are two sides to every coin.
I did not mean to offend :)

No offense, I'm just trying to watch my step ... I'm REALLY TRYING to stay out of trouble and I had a feeling that after reading my posts here, someone would bring up "the other thread that shouldn't be mentioned".

Sounds like we're kinda on the same page about perceived vs. actual risk being two very different things sometimes? That's pretty cool!

-adam

:police: :handshake:

lol

I'm not saying that it couldn't happen but like greenman said the chances are very slim. In my short 26 years i've been alive and all the thousands of electronic items I have owned I have NEVER had a battery blow up in any of them.

it's cool when car batteries blow up! louder than a gunshot! that's the only kind of battery that i've seen blow up though. "the other thread that shouldn't be mentioned"? i'm confused adam, quick explanation?