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  • 05-24-2011, 07:46 PM
    OtterGoRun
    Definitely do yourself a favor and get the better thermometer/hygrometer and a thermostat ASAP. It will make your life so much easier.

    How much of the tank is taken up by the UTH? If it's too small or too large, it can also contribute to problems maintaining temps.
  • 05-24-2011, 08:54 PM
    kitedemon
    The cheap dial type are quite bad there are good dial types but none of them say reptile on them, and some of them are not cheap. Enough has been said on that the first worry is temps, the humidly is not nearly critical as temps.

    Which out accurate temps this is much harder but with cool room temps there is a lot of heat loss to the air. Ambient temps are very important as snakes have large lungs and air temp regulates core temps.

    I'd suggest until you get better temp reading try to add insulation to the tank to slow the cooling of the enclosure. The easiest is to place a blanked to heavy towel around the sides and back you can't place it over the lamps to don't. Try that and see if it helps the temps come up some. If it does then we can work on a better solution.
  • 05-25-2011, 03:07 AM
    mark and marley
    i agree with everyone.stick on therms are way inaccurate.i have two of those zilla digital probe therms and they are more accurate.i tested them against my friends infrared temp gun.i would suggest one of those.i wish i bought one of those instead of two tird analog therms and two digital probes.they enable you to check the temps anywhere in your tank by just pointing the gun.i didnt read all the posts so i dont know if anyone already mentioned the temp gun.i battled the temps and humidity when i first set up my 20gl.i was using an infrared heat lamp at 50watts it got a decent heat but coupled with the uth pushed it too hot and the heat lamp just dried everything.i wouldve probably had a snake jerky:tears:.
    what works for me is cypress mulch mixed with some sphagnum moss with moss placed strategically in places throughout the tank,around the water dish,around the tree,clumps on the bridge.a humidity hide helps as well if your tank dries out alot or if your snakie wants that extra humid hiding spot.my tank has a screen top and that totally messed with me.i did the towel trick,the foil,the saran wrap.foil and saran didnt work for me or the humidity and looked tacky.so i went to lowes and got two pieces of plexi glass cut to the same size,taped em together and put glow in the dark stars in between the two pieces.then i put two little shelf holding things on the side of the screen to prop up the plexi glass so theres not so much heat and humidity escaping while allowing air flow.if its a hot day ill slide the plexi to expose more of the screen or cold ill close it more.thats just what worked for Marley and me.hope i helped some.im no expert but i could write a novel in a post so sorry for that.:oops:
  • 05-25-2011, 03:15 AM
    mark and marley
    oh oh oh i almost forgot i have two uths on the hot side not over lapping just side by side long ways.they take up about 1/3 of the tanks bottom.both are hooked up to a rheostat which ill be changing out with a thermostat soon.im getting sick of adjusting the knob every once in awhile. i know i shouldnt have to use two uths but one heat source wasnt cutting it.heat lamp and uth too hot.one uth alone too cold.i didnt understand it since my room temps are generally in between 75-84.
    Good day
  • 05-25-2011, 04:17 AM
    ogdentrece
    UTH's are more about belly heat, which means they'll heat up the floor your snake is on to heat him up. So you wont be able to measure the temperature your UTH is providing unless you have them actually on the floor of the enclosure. But I'd say the least you should do is get a thermometer with a probe, one because analog are very inaccurate and two because its really hard to have floor temp readings with those. The temps inside the warm hide would also be much warmer than those outside too. Also make sure you didnt make the same mistake I did and use a whole thick layer of bedding.
  • 05-25-2011, 08:49 AM
    Plissken
    Re: humidity and temperature....ugh
    My humidity is generally good with all my snakes, but temps fluxuate because of the temps here..one day it's over 80 F with 80% humidity, then it drops at night to 50 F with 10% humidity...all over the board when I am...seems to really effect the snake room. I have a humidifier in the room and water in all the enclosures, i keep my house thermostat at 69 degrees, but some days it feels cool and dry in the snake room, other days it's super hot and humid...seems i'm constantly adjusting the dimmer switches on the lamps...humidity seems pretty stable though...thanks to a spray bottle.
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