Temperature question

What temp should the air be inside my tank on the hot side?
I have my heat pad set at 90 with a rehostat. (Will be getting a tstat as soon as i can.) But the air temp gets to low 80s. Without nightime heat lamp on the hot side to keep temps up.

The entire tank can be 77-82. That's a good range. Most shoot for a tank at 80 with a 90 hotspot.

Ambient temp of 80 is fine. As long as the hot spot is where it should be. If your heat pad is set to 90, is the hot spot at 90? All of my UTHs are set to a higher temp in order to achieve about 90 inside the enclosure at the hot spot. Have you read over the caresheet? It really will answer a lot of questions about husbandry.

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Originally Posted by Skittles1101

Ambient temp of 80 is fine. As long as the hot spot is where it should be. If your heat pad is set to 90, is the hot spot at 90? All of my UTHs are set to a higher temp in order to achieve about 90 inside the enclosure at the hot spot. Have you read over the caresheet? It really will answer a lot of questions about husbandry.

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They are using a dimmer. I little low is better than to hot from a temp change.

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Originally Posted by KMG

They are using a dimmer. I little low is better than to hot from a temp change.

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OH! Didn't see that! I thought he meant one of those crappy Petsmart rheostats you can find in the reptile section. They're awful for fluctuating temps, but 100 times better than a dimmer.

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Originally Posted by Skittles1101

OH! Didn't see that! I thought he meant one of those crappy Petsmart rheostats you can find in the reptile section. They're awful for fluctuating temps, but 100 times better than a dimmer.

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Im using a zoomed rheostat. I bought it because i was told i needed either a rheostat OR a tstat. I wasnt clear on the difference and bought the cheaper one. Aaand im a she. Not a he lol

And also, my temps get as low as 75 on the cool side without a nightime heat lamp on

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Originally Posted by deathangel579

Im using a zoomed rheostat. I bought it because i was told i needed either a rheostat OR a tstat. I wasnt clear on the difference and bought the cheaper one. Aaand im a she. Not a he lol

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Apologies lol I guess it's steriotypical to say "he" on here when you're unsure...even being a female myself! There are people on here who swear by those cheap rheostats, but you really have to have extremely consistent temps in your house/room in order to make it work, and not many people are usually willing to take the chance of a temp spike since they aren't very reliable like most thermostats. I guess it's safer to keep the rheostat at a lower temp, but once you get a reliable thermostat it will take some trial and error to figure out what to set it at. Given my room temps and different fluctuations, mine are set at around 100-102 in order to achieve 92 inside the enclosure with a temp gun. But when I lived up north, and I lived in an old drafty house in the winter, I had to keep mine as high as 108 in order to get the same temperature.

As long as it doesn't drop below 75 I wouldn't worry.

A rheostat is a dimmer. I would honestly rather the dimmer vs. The cheap tstat sold at pet stores. Dimmers are much better in strictly controlled rooms.

As soon as i can afford it, im getting a herpstat and a temp gun. I was given wrong information and spent money on a rheostat.

And also, from my understanding, tstats have probes. Ive already stuck my heatmat to my tank. Where do i put the probe?

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Originally Posted by deathangel579

As soon as i can afford it, im getting a herpstat and a temp gun. I was given wrong information and spent money on a rheostat.

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Herpstat is great, I have two. I also use Hydrofarms for backup, and I have a couple Johnsons which aren't awful. Works well it's just big and clunky and unnecessary lol. Temp guns are found pretty cheap, and probably the best thing I've bought for all my critters.

$17 for this one. I have had it for a couple years and it works great. I actually got it back in the day for $10. :gj:
http://www.amazon.com/Nubee%C2%AE-Te...ds=ir+temp+gun

Great. So now i need a back up one also.

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Originally Posted by deathangel579

And also, from my understanding, tstats have probes. Ive already stuck my heatmat to my tank. Where do i put the probe?

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Have you ever seen Flexwatt? I know you've probably put a lot of money into this already, but I think we all wasted a lot of money starting out. Those sticky UTHs are awful, because if you try and remove it you can damage the inside wires and cause severely inconsistent temps including hot spots. I switched completely over to Flexwatt, because it's cheap and can be cut down to whatever size you need. The probe needs to be attached to the heat source, so if you remove the UTH you might damage it, but there isn't really any other place to put the probe.

Edit: you don't need a backup. I have multiple racks and enclosures for all types of reptiles, and I keep backups on mine for "just in case". I wouldn't have one for just one enclosure.

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Originally Posted by deathangel579

Great. So now i need a back up one also.

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Not with a Herpstat. I have 4 without an issues. A backup tstat is more for the snake you bring home that you didn't plan on. :D

Fat finger post, disregard.:taz:

Hydrofarm is the one im planning on getting. Sorry guys. Im new to all this and dont really know whats what

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Originally Posted by KMG

Not with a Herpstat. I have 4 without an issues. A backup tstat is more for the snake you bring home that you didn't plan on. :D

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:gj::gj::gj::gj: I do keep them on my racks and Boaphile that have the Johnsons. It works fine, but it just sketches me out that it's not really a Herpstat :D

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Originally Posted by KMG

$17 for this one. I have had it for a couple years and it works great. I actually got it back in the day for $10. :gj:
http://www.amazon.com/Nubee%C2%AE-Te...ds=ir+temp+gun

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How accurate is it? I looked at that one and most reviews say its not

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Originally Posted by Skittles1101

Have you ever seen Flexwatt? I know you've probably put a lot of money into this already, but I think we all wasted a lot of money starting out. Those sticky UTHs are awful, because if you try and remove it you can damage the inside wires and cause severely inconsistent temps including hot spots. I switched completely over to Flexwatt, because it's cheap and can be cut down to whatever size you need. The probe needs to be attached to the heat source, so if you remove the UTH you might damage it, but there isn't really any other place to put the probe.

Edit: you don't need a backup. I have multiple racks, and I keep backups on mine for "just in case". I wouldn't have one for just one enclosure.

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The fix to that is place foil on the sticky part of the uth and then use foil tape to attach the uth to the cage. This makes removing it easy.

These are also a good design for some cages. They work well on my PVC ones. http://www.reptilebasics.com/ultrath...ter-uth-11-x11

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Originally Posted by deathangel579

Hydrofarm is the one im planning on getting. Sorry guys. Im new to all this and dont really know whats what

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Everyone starts somewhere. Everyone wastes a ton of money at first. You'll get it.

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Originally Posted by KMG

The fix to that is place foil on the sticky part of the uth and then use foil tape to attach the uth to the cage. This makes removing it easy.

These are also a good design for some cages. They work well on my PVC ones. http://www.reptilebasics.com/ultrath...ter-uth-11-x11

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You just blew my mind with that. I've never seen that before in the three years I've been here, and it's brilliant lol. I have about 12 sitting in my closet that I don't use because they are sticky :rolleyes:

So ok, i need a tstat. I know that. But what can i do since ive already attached the UTH to my tank?

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Originally Posted by deathangel579

How accurate is it? I looked at that one and most reviews say its not

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I've actually seen a lot of people use that. I use these, a little more expensive but it works very well.

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Originally Posted by deathangel579

How accurate is it? I looked at that one and most reviews say its not

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Its always given me good numbers until the batteries need changing but one 9v last a long time.

I just checked mine. I guess amazon has a bunch of copies as that one looks identical to what I have. But mine doesn't seem to be available any longer. Sorry!

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Originally Posted by deathangel579

So ok, i need a tstat. I know that. But what can i do since ive already attached the UTH to my tank?

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Did the exact same thing about 3 weeks ago when we brought Boston home. We're also 1st time BP owners. My 10 year old son and I were so excited to get the tank set up, we stuck the UTH on before even thinking about the Herpstat probe. Sometimes ur able to carefully peal back a part of the UTH and slide the probe into the middle. Depending on how stuck the UTH is you may tear it and sadly have to purchase another. The foil and foil tape is a GREAT idea!! Gets me thinking about is the foil would cause problems with the UTH down the road tho. Not sure but maybe someone else has tried it and will have some feedback to share :)

If i mess up my UTH i dont have the money to replace it right now. So thats not really an option. But thank u