temps and humidity not right, hungry bp

ok so i finally got a digital thermometer. i placed the probe under the substrate on the glass above the heating pad. at first it said it was like 106, 104, 102 degrees. it finally went down to 97. the ambient temp was measuring high too. and my humidity was measuring at 83%!!

i had the thermostat for the heating pad set to 90 degrees, so i lowered it a little to see if that would help. i ran out for an hour to go grocery shopping and came back to see the in temp at 79, out temp at 97 and the humidity at HI %. it didn't even have a number. i dont know what to do because now my bp is also all over the tank going on the screen top, on the sides, on the climbing branch. at first i thought maybe he was uncomfortable but then i remembered that it is feeding day at the petstore, but we changed his day to monday so he could settle in (only have had him for 4 days) and so that my step son could be home for the feeding.

he's definitely hungry though because i walked up to the tank and he opened his mouth all the way. i need to fix a few things, like i wanted to put something down under the substrate just in case so he doesnt burn his belly, thin out the substrate a little because even though the glass is hot, the substrate is very cool. it's reptibark and i may have too much down, i don't know. i also wanted to look at the thermometer to make sure its working right. but i don't want to stick my hand in while hes this hungry.

what should i do?

a friend suggested i unplug the uth for a little bit if its as high as it is (it went back up to 100). so i did that for now and i am going to keep checking the thermometer for when to turn it back on

if you have the uth hooked up to a thermostat you dont have to unplug it to lower the temp...just lower the thermostat setting & it will in turn lower the temperature the uth is getting to.
that "Hi" humidity reading just means its maxed out past your hygrometers reading ability. as long as theres no condensation with the humidity that high it should be ok, just be sure to allow for some ventilation through the top screen.
i keep my screen almost completely covered with a wet hand towel (soaked but not dripping) & cover 3/4 of the screen.
oh & if you've only had him for 4 days you might wanna give him at least a week to settle in with no handling, no feeding...just cage maintenance. some people here will even say 2 weeks.

Where is the thermostat probe and what kind of thermostat and pad is it? Does your thermostat indicate temps?
The hi just means (in all of mine) that it is 90% and higher. I keep most of mine in the basement with windows open and because were having rain now they are all HI. But 60-70% any other day...all sheds are perfect ;)
Are you sure he just wasnt yawning? I understand snakes like feeding schedules but other than eyeballing every movement and peaking their heads out of their hide I never saw any of mine open their mouths because they wanted food.

Once I had the flexwatt go sky high and they were all on top of their hides trying to escape the heat. Luckily or they would have been cooked!

i lowered the thermostat and it didn't do much. i turned it down all the way to 30 and the thermometer was still reading at about 100 or 101 degrees. i actually just unplugged it now and turned the lamp on until the glass itself cools. the thermostat probe is right next to the thermometer probe under the substrate on the glass. the thermostat does not show temperature. the thermostat is a zilla thermostat, the heating pad is a small zoomed. with the lamp on the temps are going down, as is the humidity. humidity got down to 40% so i misted the enclosure through the screen top and it went up to 54%. he is calmed down now, resting on the little climbing branch i have in there. when i first put the lamp on he kept sticking his head up to it and smelling it with his tongue.

latest reading after shutting off the uth and misting
http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/...n/105_6131.jpg


http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/...n/105_6130.jpg
i want to fix all the wires but like i said i'm not sure if i should be putting my hand in there right now with him acting the way he has been tonight.

the strange thing is, everything was fine before. i didnt change anything, all i did was add in the thermometer/hydrometer. i went grocery shopping and everything had spiked and parker was freaking out. i dont really understand how everything got so hot. granted i couldnt read it correctly for the past few days, but he's also been fine in his hides and only coming out at night. i gotta say i panicked when i saw him moving around so much and saw the temps/humidity as high as it was.

Substrate can insulate against a UTH. It might be 100 on top of the glass, but way lower on top of the substrate. Do you have an infrared temp gun to take measurements on top of the substrate.

I ended up removing all my thermometers and just using a gun.

edit, added:
It's best to use a dimmer to keep your heater from getting too hot and a thermostat to tell it when to turn on/off. Safer to use mild heat more often then a torch less often.

Heater -> dimmer -> thermostat -> power

i have temp gun coming in the mail. got a PE1. i know the glass is way hotter than the substrate, but it was the ambient temps spiking that really worried me. those were in the high 90s as well.

the humidity went up again. i have everything off, including the lamp, to let it cool down so i can turn the uth back on. its at about 80 degrees ambient temp, 85 on the glass... but the humidity spiked up tp 81% again. i don't know what i should do to get it back down. he's moving around again, not sure if thats because its 930 at night or if its because hes uncomfortable and stressing again.

i think i am going to replace the substrate eventually, definitely thin it out at first to see what happens. it could be too much of it. could it be the reptibark making it humid? should i get aspen or something instead maybe?

Just a few suggestions that might help. Get some black contact paper and darken the back and the sides of the tank. I personally used black poster board with velcro strip so I could remove the paper for cleaning. Also I would get two matching hides one for the warm side one for the cool side. BPs like to feel secure. Make sure you tape the whole end of the probe down sometimes that will throw of your reading. I'm not sure which thermostat you have. I bought a Zoo Med for one of my UTHs and I couldn't get it to bring the temps down for nothing. I ended up replacing it with a Hydrofarm (you can get them from Amazon around $30). I have learned alot from this site and I am still learning. I took the advice to let my BP settle in for a week before trying to feed and handle. Good advice. You will get it right don't worry. Your doing the right thing asking for help.

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Originally Posted by DellaF

Just a few suggestions that might help. Get some black contact paper and darken the back and the sides of the tank. I personally used black poster board with velcro strip so I could remove the paper for cleaning. Also I would get two matching hides one for the warm side one for the cool side. BPs like to feel secure. Make sure you tape the whole end of the probe down sometimes that will throw of your reading. I'm not sure which thermostat you have. I bought a Zoo Med for one of my UTHs and I couldn't get it to bring the temps down for nothing. I ended up replacing it with a Hydrofarm (you can get them from Amazon around $30). I have learned alot from this site and I am still learning. I took the advice to let my BP settle in for a week before trying to feed and handle. Good advice. You will get it right don't worry. Your doing the right thing asking for help.

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i do plan to black out the sides with something, as for the matching hides the tank was expensive and my 3 1/2 year old step son was adamant about wanting it in the enclosure. my bp doesnt seem to mind, he spent equal time in both. what kind of tape should i use to tape the probe down? i have a zilla thermostat that i was keeping at 90. here is a pic of my thermostat
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA300_.jpg