I did it!!

Congratulations! That's a beautiful snake. I love the blushing on his/her sides.

Do you have the thermometer probe stuck to the SIDE glass, or the bottom? You need to be checking the temps where the snakes belly is, on the bottom.

Buying a second dimmer for the pad is a tough one. I think if it was me, I'd put the heat pad on the dimmer til the thermostat comes, and then just use the 50w bulb til then.

Plug just the heat pad to the thermostat. I'm not sure if ranco is proportional or on/off. If on/off, your light would be flashing constantly. If proportional, the light probably wouldn't get enough power to do much good most of the time. The main purpose of the thermostat is going to be keeping that heat pad from getting too hot for your snake.

Steve

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Originally Posted by hoo-t

Congratulations! That's a beautiful snake. I love the blushing on his/her sides.

Do you have the thermometer probe stuck to the SIDE glass, or the bottom? You need to be checking the temps where the snakes belly is, on the bottom.

Buying a second dimmer for the pad is a tough one. I think if it was me, I'd put the heat pad on the dimmer til the thermostat comes, and then just use the 50w bulb til then.

Plug just the heat pad to the thermostat. I'm not sure if ranco is proportional or on/off. If on/off, your light would be flashing constantly. If proportional, the light probably wouldn't get enough power to do much good most of the time. The main purpose of the thermostat is going to be keeping that heat pad from getting too hot for your snake.

Steve

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It's stuck to the side >_< I'll peel it off and restick it to about an inch or two off the bottom. Ranco is on/off. But what about the heating pad taking too long to reheat after they shut it off? I wouldnt mind the flashing bulb, but I want to make sure the snake is as comfy as possible

Well, I would think that if you put the probe for the thermostat directly on top of the heat pad, set to say 92 degrees, as soon as the heat pad cools to 91 degrees, its gonna come back on. It really doesn't have a chance to cool down too much. And thats why the lights are REALLY gonna be flashing! The heat pad should be fluctuating between around 90 - 94 degrees (if set to 92). My thermostats are proportional, so its a little different, but they are constantly kicking on and off.

Steve

What a sweet face!! And cute alien heads! Congrats!

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Originally Posted by _BoidFinatic_

I would suggest that the heating pad not be hooked up to the dimmer or thermostat. Let the UTH run on its own...

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Thats a very interesting theory... could you explain why this would be a good idea please?

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Originally Posted by ddbjdealer

Thats a very interesting theory... could you explain why this would be a good idea please?

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By having the UTH run at a constant until he gets rid of the light bulb(if he does), he can run the light bulb with the dimmer and just use it as 'added' heat. Why have the UTH start up slowly again after being shut off when the same could be done with the bulb with no 'stress'?

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Originally Posted by _BoidFinatic_

By having the UTH run at a constant until he gets rid of the light bulb(if he does), he can run the light bulb with the dimmer and just use it as 'added' heat. Why have the UTH start up slowly again after being shut off when the same could be done with the bulb with no 'stress'?

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Having a UTH running constantly can produce temperatures of 120 degrees!! Which will result in a severely burned snake. By using a dimmer on the UTH you can keep a more constant temperature, assuming the room temp doesn't fluctuate too much. An on/off thermostat will shut off and have to heat back up, but that is why you aim for 92-94. You set the temp for 93 (or whatever temp gets you 93 in the cage) with a 1 degree of variablilty. That way you are always within that range.

Any uncontrolled heat source is just asking for trouble and burns.

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Originally Posted by tigerlily

Having a UTH running constantly can produce temperatures of 120 degrees!! Which will result in a severely burned snake. By using a dimmer on the UTH you can keep a more constant temperature, assuming the room temp doesn't fluctuate too much. An on/off thermostat will shut off and have to heat back up, but that is why you aim for 92-94. You set the temp for 93 (or whatever temp gets you 93 in the cage) with a 1 degree of variablilty. That way you are always within that range.

Any uncontrolled heat source is just asking for trouble and burns.

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UTHs only heat up between 95- 100 degrees. Assuming you keep mulch/aspen on top of it(as Rhapsody does), the temp. will be significantly less. I think that the output of the light bulb would be the only thing that needs to be regulated. Keeping the python directly on the heating pad without any substrate could be risky.

I use aspen bedding for all my bps. As I was making my rounds this morning, I found at least 6 of them that had moved the aspen to the side, and were laying directly on the floor of the tub. Since my heat tape is on a thermostat, no worries.

By the way, using a temp gun, I have found that running at full power, my flexwatt can reach temps as high as 120 degrees fahrenheit.

Steve

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Originally Posted by hoo-t

I use aspen bedding for all my bps. As I was making my rounds this morning, I found at least 6 of them that had moved the aspen to the side, and were laying directly on the floor of the tub. Since my heat tape is on a thermostat, no worries.

By the way, using a temp gun, I have found that running at full power, my flexwatt can reach temps as high as 120 degrees fahrenheit.

Steve

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I agree. I have my UTH's on thermostats for that exact reason. When left just plugged into the wall, it reached temperatures of 110 - 115 degrees. With the thermostat, the hot temps flucuate between 89 - 94 degrees. I use repti carpet so most of the heat gets through. Also, I would be sure to place probe under the hot side hide as temps can build up quickly in there.

Peace.