Repti Temp 500r Question

I bought my first ball(spider) today at the NARBC in Tinley Park. I also bought the Repti-Temp 500r. I placed the probe of the thermometer on top of the glass where the heat pad stuck to and the probe of the Repti-Temp hanging inside the terrarium, I set the Repti-Temp to the lowest setting and the temp based from the thermometer is 111F. What did I do wrong?

Double check the temp with a heat gun or even a second thermometer. It might not be all that accurate. I too have a 500r that I use for a sand boa, I placed the probe in between the pad and the glass, then the thermometer probe inside the tank on top of the glass.

I keep it half wayish and its about 105-110.

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Originally Posted by rperry03

Double check the temp with a heat gun or even a second thermometer. It might not be all that accurate. I too have a 500r that I use for a sand boa, I placed the probe in between the pad and the glass, then the thermometer probe inside the tank on top of the glass.

I keep it half wayish and its about 105-110.

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but ive i already placed the uth.. is it possible to take out the uth without breaking it?

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Originally Posted by pythonregius24

but ive i already placed the uth.. is it possible to take out the uth without breaking it?

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I have peeled off the zoo med and reapplied it with luck. Or you could glue the probe to the bottom of the glass. The uth is not meant to heat the whole tank, just a warm spot. Right now the probe is trying to read ambient temp and not surface.

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Originally Posted by rperry03

I have peeled off the zoo med and reapplied it with luck. Or you could glue the probe to the bottom of the glass. The uth is not meant to heat the whole tank, just a warm spot. Right now the probe is trying to read ambient temp and not surface.

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Thanks! Ill do that!

Attach the thermostat probe directly to the UTH, even if this means taping it to the underside of the pad. You don't want the probe inside the tank, because your BP could knock it loose as he gets bigger, and then the UTH would run unregulated (very hot, very fast).

i have a temp gun so it eliminates the need for any kind of cords inside my snakes cage therefore avoiding the risk of the snake getting tangled in them.
just like the others said though, the thermostat probe needs to be placed between the u.t.h & the underside of the cage so its able to sense when the u.t.h has reached the temp the thermostat is set to. it's an on/off sort of thing (it turns the u.t.h off when it reaches the desired temp setting & on again when it goes lower then the temp setting, therefore keeping the temps where you have them set.)
the thing with the repti-temp 500r though is because it is not digital, the overall room temp will effect how much & fast the u.t.h heats up so the thermostat will have to be constantly adjusted to keep the u.t.h under control so the temps will have to be checked frequently.
it is definitely NOT a "set & forget it" deal. :colbert:

There are two schools of thought with probe placement. The describe method is one way it keeps the interior clear and is a easier set up, it also leaves an air pocket around the UTH (glass likes even heat not uneven localized heat) that could be an issue. All t-stats set up like this will vary when the room temp changes the probe is not exposed to the room temperature there is no way for it to compensate for it. If you have stable unchanging room temps this is an excellent choice.

The other method is to place the probe inside the tank directly over the UTH on the glass bottom. (DO NOT USE TAPE!) This method allows for ambient air temps and will keep more accurate temperatures in rooms that change temperatures a lot. (I had a 14ºF drop over the last 14 hours for example)

The PROBE MUST NOT MOVE!!!!!

In both set ups the probe must not move it is critical. The external placement there is possibly less actions that can move it but if it moves it is an emergency. The internal placement the snake can pull it and still it must be held in place. I personally use hot melt glue to fix it down I can pull it off if needed and re glue it and return the snake when it cools. easy.

That being said I always recommend a back up t-stat to add a measure of safety to any set up, especially a interior placement. The 500r has one good thing about it it is cheap, you get what you pay for. I don't believe it to be trustworthy it is difficult to get set correctly and then even when it is it has a long throw between the temp it is set to and the temp it shuts down and starts up with. It can make a ok failsafe but agin setting it is a pain. My advise is to find something else. Sorry to say this but the difficulty in setting the unit make it such a poor choice that I find it unusable.

I use 500R without issues. But yes, that's because my house temp is stable. I have the 500R probe stuck between the UTH and the underside of the tank.

I now have the V-200 but I still use the 500R as a failsafe.

thanks guys for the input.

I live in chicago so the ambient temp will going to vary like crazy. So its recommended to glue the probe at the bottom of the enclosure right?

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Originally Posted by pythonregius24

I bought my first ball(spider) today at the NARBC in Tinley Park. I also bought the Repti-Temp 500r. I placed the probe of the thermometer on top of the glass where the heat pad stuck to and the probe of the Repti-Temp hanging inside the terrarium, I set the Repti-Temp to the lowest setting and the temp based from the thermometer is 111F. What did I do wrong?

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The probe from the thermostat should not be placed inside the enclosure. It should be touching the heat source to be able to control the temps. Placing it between the UTH and the tank works well, but you can also tape the probe onto the outside of the UTH with aluminum/foil tape. Then play around with the dial to get the right temps going. I find the best temp ranges a bit more turned passed the middle (turning the dial left--makes temps warmer)

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Originally Posted by mommanessy247

it is definitely NOT a "set & forget it" deal. :colbert:

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I may disagree with this a little. I've been using the ReptiTemp for two years and have pretty much kept the dial in remotely the same spot, not even messing with it for months at a time, and my temps have always been between 88F-94F (more so 89F-92F). Temps are monitored with digital thermometers as well.

It may just be more of the owner's preference but I think it shouldn't be messed with often. In my experience, the more you mess with something the more apt it is to break.

Are you checking the actual pad temps? We have the reptitemp and thought the temps stayed great. Well we got a herpstat and the heat pad was over 100 no wonder the snake stayed in the cool side.

Personally I'd use an internal placement for the probe and not place it on the UTH as you will get more a higher degree of stability. Personal preference do not use tape, on rare occasions a snake manages to get it off and stuck to them selves, bad news in general. Placing the probe on the uth in unstable room temps will give you unstable enclosure temps that I'd personally suggest to not be the best for the animal. What works for one may not work for someone else.

The probe must not move or be able to be moved. I cannot say it enough snakes have died because the probe got pulled by something. (the last post I saw it was a door catching the wire) where ever it is it must be well fixed and the cable neatly placed out of harms way.

I use a small blob of hot melt (with the snake safe in a holding container) on a pre warmed enclosure floor push the back end of the probe to the glue and then cover the whole thing in hot melt and run an inch up the wire and also tack the with into the corner at regular intervals. Firmly fixed cannot be over stressed with any and all probe placement.

Where you place it is up to you and what ever place you think will work and what seems to make sense to you.