Repti Temp 500r Question

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Originally Posted by pythonregius24

I bought my first ball(spider) today at the NARBC in Tinley Park. I also bought the Repti-Temp 500r. I placed the probe of the thermometer on top of the glass where the heat pad stuck to and the probe of the Repti-Temp hanging inside the terrarium, I set the Repti-Temp to the lowest setting and the temp based from the thermometer is 111F. What did I do wrong?

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The probe from the thermostat should not be placed inside the enclosure. It should be touching the heat source to be able to control the temps. Placing it between the UTH and the tank works well, but you can also tape the probe onto the outside of the UTH with aluminum/foil tape. Then play around with the dial to get the right temps going. I find the best temp ranges a bit more turned passed the middle (turning the dial left--makes temps warmer)

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Originally Posted by mommanessy247

it is definitely NOT a "set & forget it" deal. :colbert:

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I may disagree with this a little. I've been using the ReptiTemp for two years and have pretty much kept the dial in remotely the same spot, not even messing with it for months at a time, and my temps have always been between 88F-94F (more so 89F-92F). Temps are monitored with digital thermometers as well.

It may just be more of the owner's preference but I think it shouldn't be messed with often. In my experience, the more you mess with something the more apt it is to break.

Are you checking the actual pad temps? We have the reptitemp and thought the temps stayed great. Well we got a herpstat and the heat pad was over 100 no wonder the snake stayed in the cool side.

Personally I'd use an internal placement for the probe and not place it on the UTH as you will get more a higher degree of stability. Personal preference do not use tape, on rare occasions a snake manages to get it off and stuck to them selves, bad news in general. Placing the probe on the uth in unstable room temps will give you unstable enclosure temps that I'd personally suggest to not be the best for the animal. What works for one may not work for someone else.

The probe must not move or be able to be moved. I cannot say it enough snakes have died because the probe got pulled by something. (the last post I saw it was a door catching the wire) where ever it is it must be well fixed and the cable neatly placed out of harms way.

I use a small blob of hot melt (with the snake safe in a holding container) on a pre warmed enclosure floor push the back end of the probe to the glue and then cover the whole thing in hot melt and run an inch up the wire and also tack the with into the corner at regular intervals. Firmly fixed cannot be over stressed with any and all probe placement.

Where you place it is up to you and what ever place you think will work and what seems to make sense to you.