Just got a new Pastel Ball Python....

Hey guys I went out to walmart and picked up one of the accurite thermometers that measures the inside and outside temps and humidity. I put the probe on the glass right above the heat pad and its reaching around 120 degrees....

I ordered the repti therm 500r and it should be here tuesday. Should my snake be fine in his cage until tuesday comes around as long as I make sure he has a good amount of substrate down? Or should I just use the 50 watt red bulb and turn off the heating pad until tuesday?

Hi,

Well my advice would be to go buy an inline lamp dimmer (they are around $10 ) and use that to control your heating pad until the thermostat arrives.

Then, when you are ready to try a second heating pad connect it to the thermostat through the dimmer - that should let you get the temp right on both pads with a bit of tweaking.

That way you solve the immediate problem without wasting money on kit you can't find other uses for in the future. :gj:


dr del

Yeah I guess I am going to have to get a light dimmer :(

This snake is making my pockets skinny. But I would rather my snake be healthy and safe from burns than be cheap right now lol.

Thanks for all the help guys. My girlfriend is bringing her camera over in a couple hours. I am putting a background on my tank and setting up the dimmer soon. I will take pictures of my snake and my tank setup to see what you guys think.

Okay guys, I got the Lutron Lamp Dimmer and I successfully got my heating pad to stay around 90 degrees.

But now the new accurite digital thermometer I got is reading the ambient air temperature to be at 85.5 degrees. Is 85+ degrees too hot for the ambient air temperature?

Alls I am using is a 50 watt reb bulb for the middle of the tank to heat up the ambient air. I don't know why its getting to 85 degrees or if thats even healthy. Let me know guys. Thanks

Hi,

Where about is the base unit of the acurite?

Is it at ground level on the cool end?

By the way I usually ended up putting the heat lamps on dimmers if needed as well - just to save desperately swapping bulb sizes to try and find the right one. :giggle:

While I remember;

Once the temp is holding steady in the warm end hide you can move the probe into the cool end hide to see how it is holding as well.

I don't usually pick a spot to permanently place the acurite probe until I have checked all over the place above and below the substrate.

Once I know that everything is dialed in I simply only want it to monitor for changes - generally I end up picking inside the hot end hide.


dr del

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dr del

Hi,

Where about is the base unit of the acurite?

Is it at ground level on the cool end?

By the way I usually ended up putting the heat lamps on dimmers if needed as well - just to save desperately swapping bulb sizes to try and find the right one. :giggle:

While I remember;

Once the temp is holding steady in the warm end hide you can move the probe into the cool end hide to see how it is holding as well.

I don't usually pick a spot to permanently place the acurite probe until I have checked all over the place above and below the substrate.

Once I know that everything is dialed in I simply only want it to monitor for changes - generally I end up picking inside the hot end hide.


dr del

---

I stuck the probe of the accurate to the glass right above the heating pad underneith the substrate. It is reading about 91.5 degrees which should be perfect.

I place the accurite itself in the hot area in the corner. The red bulb is in the middle of the tank. The ambient air temperature is reading between 85-86 on the hot side. I havnt checked the cool side yet. I will do so now to see if theres a nice temperature difference

okay I had the accurite in the cool side of the tank for about 12-13 minutes now and the ambient air temperature is still reading about 85.5 degrees. Is this too hot for the ambient air temperature?

Hi,

It's a little higher than I would normally aim for - what reading do you get when you put the probe inside the cool end hide and leave it for an hour or so?


dr del

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dr del

Hi,

It's a little higher than I would normally aim for - what reading do you get when you put the probe inside the cool end hide and leave it for an hour or so?


dr del

---

well the accurite thermometer that i have only has 1 probe and your supposed to stick it to wherever your going to keep it. I would have to like scrape it off the area of where I already have it lol.

i already put the unit itself in the cool side of the tank and it had the same reading (85-86 degrees). I am starting to get really bothered by this. It seams like if get 1 thing fixed, another thing messes up.

right now these are my readings

Heating pad - 91.0 degrees
Ambient air - 85.4 degrees

Should I just move the 50 watt red bulb to the hot side (over his hot hide) and then move the accurite unit to the cold end of the tank and wait for an hour or what? Im really lost and completely out of ideas with this.

Hi,

Actually since it is in a tank with a snake you dont want to be sticking it anywhere unless you are using something like a hotglue gun. :)

If you have tape in the enclosure please take it out. :please:

But keeping the probe mobile is by far the best idea until you have everything dialed in.

And don't worry - you are actually making good progress and are almost there already. :gj:

Adding another lamp dimmer to your heat lamp for example would let you get everything perfect easily.

But I thought you had intended to stop using the lamp and use a second UTH? Have I picked up the wrong end of the stick?


dr del