Glass Tank Temps Making Me Nuts

I will second the idea of getting another thermometer that actually has a probe on a wire. I'm not a big fan of infrared temp guns and find they are main cause of panic in these situations. :) Your heat lamp could very well be emitting infrared thats causing a problem, or tank reflection, ect. The cheap digital thermometers can be off by a couple of degrees but they are usually more consistant in the readings.

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Originally Posted by JohnNJ

Using another UTH with a rheostat is simple enough. If I get the floor temps right on the hot and cool sides and the humidity correct, does it matter what the ambient temp is? I would love to get away from using a red heat lamp. The ambient temp would, most likely, be around room temp of 67-72F. Is belly heat enough?

JohnNJ

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Anyone have an opinion on my question above?

Thanks.

*bump*

So, that ambient is pretty darn low and I would not be comfortable with it that low for my snakes. Sadly, flex watt does not bump up ambients. Also, rheostats only work well (reliably) if your external temperature (of the room) stays really constant-- like a degree or two of constant.

Hate to sound like a broken record, but the only fix for low ambients that I have found, and that doesn't zap the humidity, is an RHP. You can affix it to a wood top that you make for your cage and then insulate the sides and back of the cage. I think that this would work.

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Originally Posted by starmom

So, that ambient is pretty darn low and I would not be comfortable with it that low for my snakes. Sadly, flex watt does not bump up ambients. Also, rheostats only work well (reliably) if your external temperature (of the room) stays really constant-- like a degree or two of constant.

Hate to sound like a broken record, but the only fix for low ambients that I have found, and that doesn't zap the humidity, is an RHP. You can affix it to a wood top that you make for your cage and then insulate the sides and back of the cage. I think that this would work.

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What happens in a tub in a rack system if the flex watt doesn't raise the ambient temp, in a 70F room?

People with large sized collections use portable heaters and just heat the whole room to the ambient temp they are shooting for. I'm beginning to contemplate that myself since I now have a rack-full and then some.

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Originally Posted by JohnNJ

What happens in a tub in a rack system if the flex watt doesn't raise the ambient temp, in a 70F room?

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Racks are different. I have 4 of the Reptile Basics racks and they have no problems with keeping the ambients up. Smaller area is being heated and the tubs are enclosed by the rack system. I also need to insulate them in the winter time though!

My ambient temps are really hard to keep up. For some reason the in-house heaters upstairs don't work, and it seems like my two bedrooms aren't insulated >.< If I don't heat the room it gets down to around 60 degrees, which is bad for my BPs, but bad for me too because I hate cold.

I went out to Lowe's the other day and bought a space heater for $40. It uses alot of power so I can't constantly run it, but I can run it all day to keep the temp at 80, and at night it only drops down to about 73. The heater has a digital screen that shows what the current temperature of the room is. Work's nicely. I just wish I could always have it on, it's too loud to run at night :P

To help with ambient temps here, I also use an oil-filled space heater on a timer. It's whisper quiet, so great to run at night...which is mostly when its on. helps keep my ambients up above 75 at least, which is great for the corns and just acceptable for the BPs who have a UTH on each end of all their enclosures.

Insulating all racks, loose tubs, and especially tanks helps a lot as well, and I will often wrap baby blankets around enclosures in addition to permanent insulation on really cold winter nights. So far, so good. :)