Under Tank Heaters?????

Looking at getting new thermostat. Looking at the helix dbs 100 but should i get grounded or standard also is everything prewired and ready to use out of the box, also how many heat sources will it control

For my monitors, I just use regular heat pads that we would use for our selves. They don't get too hot to burn like the under tank heat mats, and the regular heating pad had adjustable settings, so I can adjust the temperature easily.

Currently use Zoo-Med UTH's and never had a problem. Building a rack and switching to flexwatt just because I plan on expanding and it'll be easier. If I was just keeping a few snakes the UTH's would be perfect.

UTH is the way to go! I didnt use one with a thermostat first and it actually cracked my tank. Thank goodness there was no snake in there yet. But now i use them with thermostats and love them :banana:

UTH all the way! :)

UTH's are awsome if you only have a few animals.. but flexwatt is easier if you have a larger collection! :gj:

Nature doesn't come with a UTH deal, so why should mine? The bulb should warm the base of the tank enough for proper digestion.

Heh,

Actually nature does one heck of a UTH - it's called planet earth.

If the sun heats a pile of rocks they hold the heat and release it slowly over a period of time even if the sun goes down. :)


dr del

Isnt that what the lamp does? Lamp=Sun

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Originally Posted by unhip_crayon

Isnt that what the lamp does? Lamp=Sun

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A lamp is not nearly as powerful as the sun. Use lamps all you want but they do have downsides when using them with ball pythons.

Ball pythons are nocturnal and get zero benefits from the sun. In the wild, they don't lay out in the sun and are rarely seen "basking" at night. They normally stay in termite mounds and rodent burrows all day and all night unless they are hungry. The termite mounds and rodent burrows stay insulated and keep a constant temp through the day and night. Using both the heat from the earth and the the heat that comes from the ground heated by the sun.

Also, heat lamps in closed setups like we use to keep our snakes, kills the humidity and will often cause a bad shed.

Lamps are just an inefficient way to provide heat for a ball python. For other species, lamps work great, but not for ball pythons. Belly heat is much more efficient and practical than shining a bright light on a hide box. Ball pythons absorb most of their heat from their belly, not the top of their body.

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Originally Posted by unhip_crayon

Nature doesn't come with a UTH deal, so why should mine? The bulb should warm the base of the tank enough for proper digestion.

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Well correct me if im wrong. But nature didnt come with a cage that traps a snake in forcing him not to leave correct?

Now by saying that if a snake is to cold/hot they can move to a warmer place seeing as they have a big open space to choose where he or she can move to in the wild. If you confine it to a tank and he/she is to hot/cold and nowhere in the tank can they get the heat they would like where they supposed to go?

Between this comment and your climbing ball cage which u want to under feed. I have a feeling we will see a topic where your asking how to get ur bp to eat

Good luck tho :gj:

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

1) A lamp is not nearly as powerful as the sun.

2) Ball pythons are nocturnal and get zero benefits from the sun.

3) They normally stay in termite mounds and rodent burrows all day and all night unless they are hungry. The termite mounds and rodent burrows stay insulated and keep a constant temp through the day and night.

4) Also, heat lamps in closed setups like we use to keep our snakes, kills the humidity and will often cause a bad shed.

5) Ball pythons absorb most of their heat from their belly, not the top of their body.

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1) Well, the sun is millions of kilometers away, where as the lamp is inches away and focused in an enclosed volume. The heat produced is equivalent and in some cases greater.

2) I've got day and night lamps. The night lamp provides the heat while remaining unseen by the bp since its not in its visible spectrum.

3) Covering the insides of your hides in mulch or some type of insulator will work great and increase humidity levels.

4)Heres how I plan on increasing humidity levels, tell me what you think. I've got an old decorative fountain my moms throwin out with a working pump. So I plan on building a tiny waterfall thats about 10-12 inch's high which should increase humidity.

5) Lamp heats ground, ground heats snakes belly.

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Originally Posted by f4n70m

Between this comment and your climbing ball cage which u want to under feed. I have a feeling we will see a topic where your asking how to get ur bp to eat

Good luck tho :gj:

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hahaha Probably

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Originally Posted by f4n70m

Now by saying that if a snake is to cold/hot they can move to a warmer place seeing as they have a big open space to choose where he or she can move to in the wild. If you confine it to a tank and he/she is to hot/cold and nowhere in the tank can they get the heat they would like where they supposed to go?

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My light will be on one side of the tank with a basking spot. I have two hides on the hot side. One is elevated and should be the warmest, the second is underneath which should be the coolest. And a third hide will be on the other side of the tank which should be about room temp.

The waterfall will not increase humidity as much as you think and it would be difficult to clean if you snake decided to crap in it.

It anything, I would use a combination of a uth to maintain a hot spot and a lamp to maintain ambient temps. Using a lamp to create a hotspot of 90 means that somewhere else it the cage could be much hotter then 90. With a uth and a thermostat you can controll temps very precisely.

In the end, a uth and a thermostat is a cheaper alternative to lamps, which need replacement fairly often.

So how often do lamps need to be replaced on average? And do UTH's need to ever be replaced? Any UTH and thermostat recommendations?

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Using a lamp to create a hotspot of 90 means that somewhere else it the cage could be much hotter then 90.

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With my lamp, the hottest spot in the tank is right under it, everywhere else is a bit cooler

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Originally Posted by unhip_crayon

So how often do lamps need to be replaced on average? And do UTH's need to ever be replaced? Any UTH and thermostat recommendations?

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Lamp bulbs need to be replaced as often as normal household bulbs that are on all day do. So every few months.

A UTH will rarely need to be replaced. It only needs to be replaced if it malfunctions and stops heating up properly. It would be a year or two before this would happen to a good UTH.

I prefer zoomed UTHs for single setups and reptitemp 500r thermostats for single setups.

Or you can buy 5 or more flexwatt heat pads, clips and wire shipped for the same price as one zoo-med heat pad.

I have 2+ year old flexwatt that looks brand new(when dusted off, lol)

I heard the same warnings. I just hooked my UTH to a lamp dimmer until I could find a REPTITEMP 500R online for cheap.

either use a dimmer or a reptitemp 500r on your UTH and you will have no problems. They can both be found for under $25 also, so its not that expensive.

ball pythons need belly heat to dygest food with ease.

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

When it comes to heating choices I'd also say buy quality and buy from a quality supplier. Of all the corners you can cut when making purchasing choices for a snake's enclosure, I really don't think the heating decision is the place to worry about the pennies. Buy good quality stuff, from a trusted supplier, use a tstat and use it according to the specs for that piece of equipment.

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Absolutely correct. Buy good quality stuff, don't pinch pennies on the heating supplies, it will cost more in the long run. As for under the tank heat mats, I have always used them, and still have some that are approx. ten years old and still work fine. Use a thermostat and everything should be good.

I put my tank heater on the side and ALWAYS use a thermostat. Sherlock burrows a lot so I do not feel safe putting it under the tank.

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Originally Posted by Emaris

I put my tank heater on the side and ALWAYS use a thermostat. Sherlock burrows a lot so I do not feel safe putting it under the tank.

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If you use a thermostat in conjunction with a good digital thermometer then there is now way for him to get burned unless something malfunctioned.

UTH's are great with tstat w.o one they are a snakes worst nightmare

For setting up:
http://www.southtexasreptiles.com/st...d=1#post184330

I love this post I found on another forum. I don't know if it will answer all of your questions, but the series of pictures really made sense to me. Hope it helps.

i love my switch to a uth...but yeah, you need to have it hooked up to a thermostat to avoid it shorting out and getting WAY to hot for your snake

I use a UTH that covers about 1/4 of the tank on one end, where my python's main hide is. He spends a lot of time in there, so I'm sure to check the heat every day to make sure it's consistant. It's also hooked up to a regulator, which helps a great deal when there are seasonal temp changes.
Additional question...does anyone use any sort of pad to keep your snake from sitting directly on the UTH?

Flexwatt on Herpstats FTW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I use zoo med uth with a dimmer. It was tricky at first to keep the temps good but, now it's doing great and does help the humidity.

With a thermostat their aren't any problems with them.

I bought one of THESE ULTRAQTHERM HEAT PADS that a vendor was selling at Repticon. It comes from Reptile Basics and the guys told me it is perfect for plastic tubs because it won't get above 96 (or so) degrees. They claim since it is a lower wattage pad there is no need for a stat. I got home and checked the site FAQs and it states the same thing. You can read it HERE. Well, of course I have a stat on it anyway and sure enough after two days of use it has yet to get over 96. I really like it and have it taped to the shelf and not directly to the tub. I would recommend these to tub users.

I wanted to add that I bought a 41qt tub that is made so bottom of it raised just slightly so that there is a gap between my shelf and bottom of the tub. I then used those little rubber feet (just like the once that come with a ZooMed heat mat) to get it just a tad higher. I put tin foil on the shelf and then the Ultratherm on the foil to direct the heat upwards (instead of taping it to the tub). The temp in the hotspot has been staying steady at 96 so far. I love that UltraTherm.

I was just wondering how anyone would go about setting up a thermostat in a wooden enclosure (not a rack)?

My plan is to have a wooden enclosure, with a UTH on one side (holes drilled in the wood for ventilation of excess heat), then the UTH covered with vinyl/glass/ceramic tiles or something... Where would I want the t-stat probe?