Am I doing this right? (Tub set-up)

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Originally Posted by Inarikins

So the 'meter on the hot side says 110, the ambient refuses to go above 75 and the humidity is 84%(!!!). I can't turn the rheo down any further without turning it off completely. I'll make more holes in the morning because I'm too tired to do it right now but that should help with the humidity. Water dish is on the cool side of the tub.

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To help with the high hot spot temps:
-Reduce the thickness of your substrate layer to about 1/2 - 1 inch thick.
-Elevate the tub so that there is air flow under it. If your Under Tank Heat source did not come with rubber feet, you can simply glue plastic bottle caps under each corner to raise it up. This should help until you can get a thermostat.

Changed the substrate thickness, and the little feet are already installed. I doubled the number of holes on one side (I'll make the other side the same way in just a bit) Hot spot is now reading 104, ambient is 77, and humidity is still 79% but going down (Though I woke up in the middle of the night and it said 99% so that's better than it was).

i really would suggest forgetting about the rheostat, i've had nothing but problems with them. they're wildly inaccurate and require too much tinkering. 104 is still much too hot for a ball python.

not sure if it will burn your snake, but it's not worth the risk.

invest in a thermostat. i think one of the cheapest ones is a Repti Temp 500R. i have a couple of them, they're much better than rheostats even if they're not as accurate as a more expensive proportional thermostat like a Herpstat or Helix.

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Originally Posted by SquamishSerpents

i really would suggest forgetting about the rheostat, i've had nothing but problems with them. they're wildly inaccurate and require too much tinkering. 104 is still much too hot for a ball python.

not sure if it will burn your snake, but it's not worth the risk.

invest in a thermostat. i think one of the cheapest ones is a Repti Temp 500R. i have a couple of them, they're much better than rheostats even if they're not as accurate as a more expensive proportional thermostat like a Herpstat or Helix.

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If I had the means to get my hands on a thermostat right now, I would have a thermostat and not the rheo. As it is, I'm taking it back because there's no way it's ever going to get the mat cool enough for long enough for me to feel safe about it. I'll try a dimmer for now and get a thermostat as soon as I can get one.