I got my UTH and thermostat in...

and I taped it underneath the tank with foil tape with the probe for the thermostat in the middle of the pad between it and the glass. I have the digital themometer probe towards the bottom of the glass on the side of the tank above the middle of the pad (clear as mud? lol).
I currently have the temp set to 92. Is that good or too high? And how long will it take for the temp to go up? It got pretty low (according to my digital thermometer) so I turned the lamp on for the moment.

Should I adjust anything?

It depends, leave it be for a couple hours and check the temps. This part is all trial and error to find the right temp to set.

^ Completely unrelated, but LGray, you're an answer beast! ;)

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Originally Posted by CatandDiallo

^ Completely unrelated, but LGray, you're an answer beast! ;)

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:hijackd:
Thanks, I just have no life lol.

You have been such a huge help, thank you! :love:

Does everything sound like it's set up/positioned ok?

For the UTH and thermostat it sounds right. Good luck :)

Thank you! :)

One more question if you don't mind, but 2 layers of paper towel are ok to use, right? Will it still allow enough heat to get through?

Sounds alright :)

Awesome, thank you! :)


And I love the names of your snakes. Absolutely adorable. :)

So I have it set to 95 now and the tank still won't go above 86 unless I have the lamp on, even with foil on the top.
Does it take longer than 5 hours or did I do something wrong?

What size is your tank? UTH won't heat a tank by itself unless the height is low.

Check the temps of everything with an ir gun...snake, hide, substrate. Make sure your snake is 88-92f and ambient gradient is correct.

I use a 60watt heat emmiter on one side of a 30"l from 10a-630p on a timer and belly heat is always set at 96 but the substrate is 88.

It's only a 15 gallon tank.

try covering half to trap some heat

I have it covered partly with multiple layers of foil. It's more than half, maybe 2/3 covered?

I've been checking with my temp gun and the substrate will only get above 85 as well if I use the heat lamp also.
Is it even worth it to use the UTH if it doesn't seem to be doing anything, even when I have it set at 94 or 95? It just doesn't seem to be doing anything temp. wise.

What are you using for substrate and how thick is it? You should be checking the temps under the substrate more than on top, since he is more than likely going to burrow under it anyways.

2 layers of paper towels. And I just checked under them and the temp was quite a bit higher.
So now I'm confused. Is the UTH not supposed to be enough to raise the ambient temp on it's own? Or should I be less concerned about the ambient temp and more about the surface temp? And should I move the thermometer probe onto the floor under the paper towels or keep it on the side?

Personally Im more concerned with belly heat, then making sure gradient temps are correct. As long as I start out with ambient temps above 80 on the hot side it's easy to get them up.

I think we're going to get a dimmer for the lamp today. It seems like it needs to be on just enough to get the ambient temp up a bit, but doesn't need to be on full strength with the uth.

Sorry for being such a pita, I'm just paranoid when it comes to my pets (and kids lol).

Don't know what type of light you have, but some cannot be dimmed.

It's a ZooMed lamp.

Ok the first question is what is your room temps? What is the UTH you have they come in different sizes but also different wattages for a given size.

Try placing the thermometer probe inside the hot side hide. The temps inside the hide will likely be different. I am guessing that this is a small snake? They small ones don't need as much high temps as the larger so 88-90 is fine for little ones. (they will actually raise the hide temps while digesting a degree or two)

Ambient temps cannot be ignored. But there is a bit of an order to things deal with the hot side then the cool side and then humidity and after all that is stable and correct look to the ambient temps. Often once the cool side and hot side are correct it is not much if anything to get the ambient air temps correct. Sometime just a touch of insulating material will solve ambient temp problems.

Be careful of paper towels, damp rodents can stick to them and the snake can eat the towel with it, little snakes have little chance of digesting a sheet of paper towel and cannot pass it either. My vet says she has done two surgeries on snakes having eaten paper towels since she set up shop. Rare but the chance is still there. Newspaper would be safer.

I don't feed him in there, he has a seperate feeding tank. :)

And the uth is an Ultratherm heat pad, 11x11 under a 15 gallon tank (it takes up just under 1/2the tank). It can get the glass pretty warm but doesn't do much for the heat in the tank. I got a dimmer for my lamp and I'm hoping that will help heat up the tank just enough without having to go full strength.