UTH questions

Ok, I'm a noob to this so be gentle.....

What type of UTH do you all think works the best? I'm using a light to heat the tank right now, but the temp is barely reaching 75 at night depending on the ambient temperature in the room I keep him in. Also with the light I can barely keep any humidity in the tank. I've read dozens of bad reviews for UTH, so I was just looking for suggestions.

what are you using for a bedding?? what size light are you using?? how big is the tank, u need to specify before i can help ya. im new to this as well, but within 2 days ive learned sooooooooooooooo much

Well idk i like the zoomed uth. But with any pad/flexwatt u need a tstat hooked up to it. Or else your uth will get too hot and burn snake..

Right now it's a 10g tank (set up a 20g long but the damn thing had a decent stress crack on it so I had to switch for now). I'm using a 75 watt light. The bedding is Aspen bedding.

I asked a guy at the local petshop all of these questions, but the more research I do the more I realize he had no clue what he was saying.

I've got a Zoomed 55 gallon on my glass tank and a ExoTerra on my tub. The Exoterra seems to fluctuate (cool down) faster when my t-stat kicks off. The Zoomed seems to stay warmer longer. The Zoomed seems to be a little more sturdy/rugged than the ExoTerra.

I don't want to come across as pretentious, but you do have your UTH hooked up to a thermostat, right?

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Originally Posted by Nuzum1978

I've got a Zoomed 55 gallon on my glass tank and a ExoTerra on my tub. The Exoterra seems to fluctuate (cool down) faster when my t-stat kicks off. The Zoomed seems to stay warmer longer. The Zoomed seems to be a little more sturdy/rugged than the ExoTerra.

I don't want to come across as pretentious, but you do have your UTH hooked up to a thermostat, right?

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I don't have a UTH yet, I'm using a light right now. After everything I read about UTH I figured I'd ask around before buying one. Perfect example is that the guy at the pet store was trying to sell me one, but didn't mention anything about a thermostat!

u need a bigger light, and as far as humidity goes, try a differnt bedding like theres these blocks u can get that u soak and they expand, its plantation soil, mix it with some cypress mulch. it gives great humidity and u can mist it with a spray bottle once or twice daily. or try putting a damp towel accross the top of ur screen, that gave me a huge humidity boost!!!

I got our Zoomed UTH at Petsmart, and it's worked very well combined with the ReptiTemp 500R. Without being regulated, the UTH can reach lethal temps over 100 degrees.

While waiting for the 500R to arrive (it was ordered online) I kept our BP away from the heat with 2" of bark substrate. Now with the 500R, the substrate is merely a few sheets of newspaper with paper towel on top. Through trial and error, I learned that was the best way for temps to remain true and constant. :)

Ok, I kind of combined Ara and Patricia's advice.....

I bought the ZooMed UTH for 10-20g enclosures. I used the side mount application because of the piece of furniture the enclosure is on and the directions recommended it. Directly off of the UTH temps are reaching 84. I'm using the light I had to add to the basking spot, temp is getting to 89 in the basking spot, while the cool area of the tank is staying right about 82 (drops to 80 when the house cools down a bit, I'm in NJ and it's winter!).

For humidity I put a damp towel on top and it's keeping it right around 50. I haven't changed the bedding yet so I'm expecting a bit more of an increase when I do.

The snake seems happy today. It laid in the basking spot for a little bit after I set everything up and now he's just curled in his hid (he was staying mostly in the basking area before I got the UTH and was rarely in his hid).

Sorry for the ridiculously long post lol and thanks for the advice so far, I'm sure I'll have more questions in a few minutes :oops:

Well the uth works better on the bottom.

Reason being they like belly heat. Ara said get a bigger light. That i wouldnt do. Lights suck out humidity like crazy. If you was using a 10G tank u could put the zoomed on the bottom and used the feet to raise it off the ground or bottle caps (i use caps cuz they are higher).

Also you uth may read 84 now my uth has reached 120* not hooked up to a tstat. And yes there was NO snake in there at the time.

Your best bet would of been to just mount the uth on the bottom cover the time with foil or a damn cloth. The aspen holds humidity fairly well.

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Originally Posted by f4n70m

Well the uth works better on the bottom.

Reason being they like belly heat. Ara said get a bigger light. That i wouldnt do. Lights suck out humidity like crazy. If you was using a 10G tank u could put the zoomed on the bottom and used the feet to raise it off the ground or bottle caps (i use caps cuz they are higher).

Also you uth may read 84 now my uth has reached 120* not hooked up to a tstat. And yes there was NO snake in there at the time.

Your best bet would of been to just mount the uth on the bottom cover the time with foil or a damn cloth. The aspen holds humidity fairly well.

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With this setup, is it normal for the ambient air in the tank to drop dramatically? Since they'll be getting their heat from their belly instead of the air is it ok for the air temp to drop?

I decided to try this out since my humidity keeps dropping unless I mist pretty frequently, but the temp of the actual tank has dropped so far to 70 degrees! The aspen directly above the UTH is rising though, just recently put it on, it's at 79 so far and rising. Could this be a problem with the rest of the tank so cool?!

The rest of the tank shouldnt be so cold. U may need to still use the lamp to raise the temp a bit. But if its on a dimmer u can dim it down so it dont put out so much heat. Just enough to raise it. That or u could raise the temp in the room itself.

Reason they say to avoid lamps is because it sucks out the humdiity. And plus belly heat is better for them. The uth is best placed below so they can get that belly heat. But also u may still need to use the lamp if u cant keep the temps up if u cant raise the temp in the room

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Originally Posted by f4n70m

The rest of the tank shouldnt be so cold. U may need to still use the lamp to raise the temp a bit. But if its on a dimmer u can dim it down so it dont put out so much heat. Just enough to raise it. That or u could raise the temp in the room itself.

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Originally Posted by f4n70m

Reason they say to avoid lamps is because it sucks out the humdiity. And plus belly heat is better for them. The uth is best placed below so they can get that belly heat. But also u may still need to use the lamp if u cant keep the temps up if u cant raise the temp in the room

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Seeing as my heating bill is astronomical already, I think I have to leave the light on! Unfortunately it's not on a dimmer though, so I'm going to have to change that. I did switch the UTH to the bottom and it has risen the temp of the aspen decently. Thanks for all the advice so far, you have all been extremely helpful!

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Originally Posted by Seak

Seeing as my heating bill is astronomical already, I think I have to leave the light on! Unfortunately it's not on a dimmer though, so I'm going to have to change that. I did switch the UTH to the bottom and it has risen the temp of the aspen decently. Thanks for all the advice so far, you have all been extremely helpful!

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Reson i say a dimmer may help is because say u cant use a space heater or any way to heat the room. You would have to use a lamp. Unless some1 else knows a diff way, You could try to cover top with foil to keep heat in

But as far as dimmer say u got a 75W bulb. It puts out to much heat u can dim it down to put out less. Also uses less power :P

You may want to get like a infrared bulb so it doesnt really bother him. Because like 24/7 will stress it out

Edit*

Listen ATLEAST dim the uth man. Your uth will reach 120* and burn ur snake. You DONT want that. The uths get to hot at least with a dimmer u can control how hot it gets to some extent

Best bet would be a thermostat but they get kinda expensive

Edit x2*

Also its best to use like a acu rite at walmart $12 that has a probe u place inside the cage on the uth to get the exact temp. :P If you dont have one already

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Originally Posted by f4n70m

Reson i say a dimmer may help is because say u cant use a space heater or any way to heat the room. You would have to use a lamp. Unless some1 else knows a diff way, You could try to cover top with foil to keep heat in

But as far as dimmer say u got a 75W bulb. It puts out to much heat u can dim it down to put out less. Also uses less power :P

You may want to get like a infrared bulb so it doesnt really bother him. Because like 24/7 will stress it out

Edit*

Listen ATLEAST dim the uth man. Your uth will reach 120* and burn ur snake. You DONT want that. The uths get to hot at least with a dimmer u can control how hot it gets to some extent

Best bet would be a thermostat but they get kinda expensive

Edit x2*

Also its best to use like a acu rite at walmart $12 that has a probe u place inside the cage on the uth to get the exact temp. :P If you dont have one already

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I bought the ReptiTemp 500R based off what someone on this forum said so that the UTH doesn't burn him.
The room he's in is open to the rest of he house, so a space heater wouldn't work. A dimmer for the light sounds like my best bet so far, so I think that's what I'm going to look into.

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Originally Posted by Seak

I bought the ReptiTemp 500R based off what someone on this forum said so that the UTH doesn't burn him.
The room he's in is open to the rest of he house, so a space heater wouldn't work. A dimmer for the light sounds like my best bet so far, so I think that's what I'm going to look into.

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Oh u do got a tstat? Thats really good then. Kepp ur uth hooked up to that.

You could try to cover the top with foil this helps keep in humidity.

Some1 also reccomended to me a bit back to buy stuff like a mix between cardboard/styrofoam at like walmart and put it around the sides of the cage to help keep heat it. Could always try covering the top see how that goes. It would keep heat it. If not them a dimmer switch on the lamp so u could control how much heat the lamp is putting out if u only need to raise it a bit

I have similar problems. Got an UTH hooked up to a dimmer but still have to use a bulb to keep the ambient temps up (which shouldn't drop below 75f BTW!), thereby killing my humidity! Just bought one of those newfangled ceramic bulbs which don't give off any light and are not supposed to dry out the atmosphere so much. I've yet to try it though! Good luck!

I'm in the same boat, needing an overhead lamp to heat the ambient air. Yes, that drastically drops the humidity. We get perfect sheds, though, so the humidity must be good. Here's what I do:

UTH (stuck onto the bottom to create belly heat) plugged into the 500r. That 500r has space for TWO things to plug into it, so the overhead lamp is plugged in as well. That way, the lamp is going on and off along with the UTH. It gives the humidity a chance to stay a bit higher than if the lamp were on constantly.

During the coldest part of winter these past couple of months, when necessary, the overhead lamp was plugged directly into the wall outlet, remaining on constantly.

To raise humidity there are 2 wet paper towels: One is inside a bowl with a bit of water. The other is on top of the warm hide. Since that hide is a big tortilla holder, the top is flat and holds a wet paper towel perfectly. Not damp, but as wet as they can be. During shedding, I'll also dab water directly onto the paper towel substrate around the tank, just not where the snake is actually lying on to prevent scale rot.

I check the AccuRite readings throughout the day. So far, this set-up has worked great! Good luck with your set-up! This forum is a wealth of information. :)

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Originally Posted by Patricia

I'm in the same boat, needing an overhead lamp to heat the ambient air. Yes, that drastically drops the humidity. We get perfect sheds, though, so the humidity must be good. Here's what I do:

UTH (stuck onto the bottom to create belly heat) plugged into the 500r. That 500r has space for TWO things to plug into it, so the overhead lamp is plugged in as well. That way, the lamp is going on and off along with the UTH. It gives the humidity a chance to stay a bit higher than if the lamp were on constantly.

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Prob i see with that is the fact ur kicking the light on and off. I can see u blowing bulbs A LOT faster then if u just left it on a dimmer

Way i see it if a bulb last 1 year hooked to a dimmer 24/7 that $11 a year

If u get bulbs last 3 months due to turning on and off A LOT during the day ur spending a lot more

So far so good today, I keep checking on the tank (this really is an addictive pet to own!) and with a damp towel on top it's keeping humidity right around 45% which is a huge improvement from what it was.
Ambient temp for the tank is right around high 78 low 80 depending on if the heat in my house is blowing or not.
But what temp should I let the UTH reach before it shuts off? I have it set to 90 right now and kick on at 87, but that is just off of guessing on my part.

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Originally Posted by Seak

So far so good today, I keep checking on the tank (this really is an addictive pet to own!) and with a damp towel on top it's keeping humidity right around 45% which is a huge improvement from what it was.
Ambient temp for the tank is right around high 78 low 80 depending on if the heat in my house is blowing or not.
But what temp should I let the UTH reach before it shuts off? I have it set to 90 right now and kick on at 87, but that is just off of guessing on my part.

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Should get a acu rite to put the probe on it to get a reading on the inside of the tank on the uth

Also the probe for the tstat where is it placed at?

UTH temp should be like 90-93 not over 95 tho

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Originally Posted by f4n70m

Should get a acu rite to put the probe on it to get a reading on the inside of the tank on the uth

Also the probe for the tstat where is it placed at?

UTH temp should be like 90-93 not over 95 tho

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The probe is inside of the tank, above the UTH, under the bedding.

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Originally Posted by f4n70m

Prob i see with that is the fact ur kicking the light on and off. I can see u blowing bulbs A LOT faster then if u just left it on a dimmer

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That's good to know, thanks. The overhead lamp is the one that came with the snake when I bought it back in June (came with tank, lamp, hide, tongs, etc.), and it's the same bulb. When it does eventually die, Petco is only a couple of miles away, so no problem running out to get a replacement. (The bulb dying, not the snake, LOL!)

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Originally Posted by Seak

The probe is inside of the tank, above the UTH, under the bedding.

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I would NOT recommend that at all. What if the snake moves the probe? Spills water? Pees, poops on it?

Then ur readings will not be of the uth but its new place or whatever is on it :colbert:

Thats bad! Cuz say the snakes moves it off the uth then what? Its gonna read the temp of the glass and let the uth temp rise.

What you want to do is use gorilla tape, duct tape whatever and tape the probe to the underside of the uth outside of the tank that it wont be messed with,.

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Originally Posted by Patricia

That's good to know, thanks. The overhead lamp is the one that came with the snake when I bought it back in June (came with tank, lamp, hide, tongs, etc.), and it's the same bulb. When it does eventually die, Petco is only a couple of miles away, so no problem running out to get a replacement. (The bulb dying, not the snake, LOL!)

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lol idk i just dont like having to buy the bulbs so i paid $10 for a lamp dimmer :salute:

Can uth's be used on wood as that is my stand for my tank

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Originally Posted by Laxhitman316

Can uth's be used on wood as that is my stand for my tank

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Well im not to sure. But seeing as ur uth should only be like max 93* i dont think so. I had mines sitting on wood and didnt have a prob.

f4n70m - I moved the probe, thanks for the advice....it seems like such common sense now lol

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Originally Posted by Laxhitman316

Can uth's be used on wood as that is my stand for my tank

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As long as you have the tank raised a bit so there is room for the heat to dissipate you shouldn't have a problem.

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Originally Posted by Seak

f4n70m - I moved the probe, thanks for the advice....it seems like such common sense now lol

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Yup common sense. But hey i didnt think of it either until some1 told me same thing :rolleyes: now i tell u

I didnt even think of that. Guess the obvious slips our mind sometimes

My ZooMed seems to hold a more moderate temperature than my ExoTerra--I don't dare mount the ExoTerra on the bottom, only the side, because it gets up to 140F and the snakes'll burn themselves. But even my ZooMed is around 120F. The snakes won't actually sit on it; they sit NEXT to it. Good thing they're smart!

I'm going to need to get a decent rheostat for both of the UTHs.