Confused about UTH And Thermostat

i read somwere on snakes forums that the probe should be on the substrate in the snakes hide and thats how i made it. well i will change it altought i doubt it will have any advantage since im using newspaper as substrate and layered not shreded so its the same temp as the glass but im soon changing into wood chips. could that be the problem why my tempgun is marking 101-105F and the thermostat is still on??

also i want to check the tempgun because i dont have a thermometre inside i check temps with tempgun since i was told its the most accurate thing to buy.

Are you shooting the temp gun right onto the glass? If so, you might be getting a wrong reading since it can't take temps of reflective surfaces very well.

no im shooting it at the newspaper

:) Yes, your problem is that the thermometer probe is on top of the substrate. But don't feel bad, it's a common mistake. Even I used to think that where the snake spent its time was where the probe should go. But no, the probe is best placed right on the floor of the cage over the heat pad. Don't worry too much about the temps on top of the substrate, if the snake is cold they will burrow down. :D

And yes, aluminum foil tape is the best tape for the probe on the UTH. For the probes inside cages on the thermometers, I use velcro since NO tape should EVER be used inside a cage.

so does the prob go on the inside or outside?because mine are on the inside of my vision cages and if thats not right i will fix asap...thanks

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Originally Posted by Marc from CT

so does the prob go on the inside or outside?because mine are on the inside of my vision cages and if thats not right i will fix asap...thanks

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The thermoSTAT probe goes on the outside right on the UTH, and the thermoMETER probe goes inside the cage under the substrate, right over where the UTH is.

Ok Now I Encountered a Program , i did as said here i putted the probe under the tank over the UTH (i have enough space for both the UTH and the probe to fit so no need to tape) and now the thermostat is turning off quickly so i think its working as it should. i changed my substrate to wood chips and the tempreture with the tempgun over the wood chips is reading about 79 - 81F isnt this too low for a ball python? i putted a very thin layer of wood chips. please somebody can tell me whats happening?!

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Originally Posted by DarkSmoke

Ok Now I Encountered a Program , i did as said here i putted the probe under the tank over the UTH (i have enough space for both the UTH and the probe to fit so no need to tape) and now the thermostat is turning off quickly so i think its working as it should. i changed my substrate to wood chips and the tempreture with the tempgun over the wood chips is reading about 79 - 81F isnt this too low for a ball python? i putted a very thin layer of wood chips. please somebody can tell me whats happening?!

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Check the surface temperature of the glass right where the UTH is. I would use a probed thermometer for this. You want this temp to be no higher then 95*. You will probably have to turn up your thermostat higher than 95* to obtain a temp inside the tank in the low 90's.

my problem right now is that in malta the max thermostatsi found are 35C about 95F and i have wich i bought them 60euros and i don't wish to throw them away, and i don't have a probed thermometre only a tempgun, is there a different way to do this?

for example can i put a piece of news paper were the UTH is on the glass so i get the correct reading with the tempgun ?

Hi,

Ah yes I have encountered that temp range problem before. :(

I would get the temp gun ready and just scoop away the substrate inside the hot end hide and quickly shoot the floor. This should let you know how close to the right temps you are getting at the moment. If the temp gun doesn't read glass very well you could try using a piece of low tack painters tape to temporarily give you somehting to shoot at.

What type of thermostat did you get? And is there a gap between the tank floor and the heatmat?


dr del