Need help with heating t8 evenly, have a huge gradient =[

So, I will start off by letting you guys know that I have a ball python and he is housed in an animal plastics t8. I have flexwatt running as well as an RHP, both on the same sides as it gets pretty cold here. I am in a basement and the temperature is usually around 66-68 degrees. As it's coming into the colder months here in New England I'm worried about my buddy. The issue I'm having is that the temperatures on the hot and cooler side are very far apart. On the hot side the ambient is 80 when I use my temp gun the floor is reading 90-91 which is great. But when getting over to the cool side the ambient is around 74 and the floor just about the same at 74. I'm worried that this is too much of a jump in temperatures. Severus (my bp) rarely goes to the cool side unless its late at night and he's exploring climbing his tree and such. I just recently ordered a Herpstat 2 to help better regulate my heating elements as I currently am running a cheaper petstore thermostat, that probe is under the tank wedged between the PVC and the Flexwatt. I use acurrite thermometers on either side of the tank to gauge the ambient and humidity and as I stated I use a temp gun to check the floor temps and just adjust the thermostat accordingly.

I have been reading all over the forums and people (in cold climates) have no issues with the RHP reaching somewhat over to the cool side. That being said, I do know that RHP acts like the sun and heats the floor and objects under it's rays, but it has risen the ambient temp a bit since I've had it which has been awesome.

Any help/suggestions/duh-moments are gladly appreciated

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6e847cb39f.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f3ad8a6883.jpg

Here are some pictures of my setup


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how many watts is the RHP? i use an 80 W RBI RHP that's mounted in the middle of the enclosure and it works well. you might need a higher wattage.

Nope just fine. I have an ambient around 82ish and the hot side is 90 and cool side is 76. Works great. so long as the temps you just mentioned stay around that you are good to go. May need to up the RHP temp a tad to get the cool side a few degrees warmer but that's about it.

Now for something you might not like. Remove that skull. They can get stuck and trust me, you do not want to have to remove your snake from it. Those skulls are not meant for snake enclosures outside of really, really small reptiles of which a ball python is not.

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Originally Posted by SDA

Nope just fine. I have an ambient around 82ish and the hot side is 90 and cool side is 76. Works great. so long as the temps you just mentioned stay around that you are good to go. May need to up the RHP temp a tad to get the cool side a few degrees warmer but that's about it.

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you don't think 74° F is a bit too low for someone running an RHP? i can see why OP is concerned; not about the range in temps just the 74° F.

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Originally Posted by SDA

Now for something you might not like. Remove that skull. They can get stuck and trust me, you do not want to have to remove your snake from it. Those skulls are not meant for snake enclosures outside of really, really small reptiles of which a ball python is not.

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this this this, OP. there was a recent post of a nasty injury caused by a snake squeezing into one of those which was too small.

I have an 80 Watt as well, but its all the way to the right on the hot side.

It's not ideal but not going to kill their snake. I edited it to put in a few degrees warmer on the RHP as I had initially read it as 76 not 74 ;)

Still as long as they can thermoregulate and the hide, which is not placed at the far side of the cool end is warmer than 74 they are fine. My right bottom front corner of my enclosure for example read 73 this morning but I was not worried because the hide read 78

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Originally Posted by SDA

Nope just fine. I have an ambient around 82ish and the hot side is 90 and cool side is 76. Works great. so long as the temps you just mentioned stay around that you are good to go. May need to up the RHP temp a tad to get the cool side a few degrees warmer but that's about it.

Now for something you might not like. Remove that skull. They can get stuck and trust me, you do not want to have to remove your snake from it. Those skulls are not meant for snake enclosures outside of really, really small reptiles of which a ball python is not.

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Oh no!!! I will absolutely remove it immediately. Thank you so much for letting me know, I will place another large reptile basics hide in it's place.

[QUOTE=tttaylorrr;2571456]you don't think 74° F is a bit too low for someone running an RHP? i can see why OP is concerned; not about the range in temps just the 74° F.


correct, my worry is that it's just pretty low from the recommended ranges I've learned. I take the temp gun all over the cooler side, under hides, etc and it is still the same. The hide he is currently in right now is a bit more in the middle but generally he is right under the log under the RHP. I could up the RHP to achieve higher ambient temps on the cool side but it worries me that the floor temps will then be too hot for him.

What do you have the temp set to on the RHP and what thermostat are you using and if it is a herpstat, are you using dimming or proportional for the RHP (dimming works far better for me on RHPs)?

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Originally Posted by SDA

the hide, which is not placed at the far side of the cool end is warmer than 74 they are fine

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good point!

And thank you to everyone who is helping me! I get pretty worried at times. I lost power this morning briefly which is bound to happen a couple times in the winters here, so I made a plan for what I'd do if it was for an extended period or if his tank dropped to a certain degree.

Right now, I'm even concerned while the power is still on so I want to try and rectify it before it gets any colder here. Prior to it becoming as cold as it has been (which isn't even that bad yet), the temperatures were more regulated properly.

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Originally Posted by SDA

What do you have the temp set to on the RHP and what thermostat are you using and if it is a herpstat, are you using dimming or proportional for the RHP (dimming works far better for me on RHPs)?

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I have not received the Herpstat since I just ordered it last night. I did read up about the settings though for when I do get one. I am currently using a Zilla brand (petco i think) thermostat which I know is not ideal at all and can be dangerous so thats why I ordered the Herpstat 2. The temp i have it set at currently is 105 as the probe for it is under the PVC also regulating the Flexwatt..which could also be part of the issue

I have similar house conditions and a similar setup (T10 equivalent sized PVC enclosure so only 3 inches taller) and an 80 watt RHP so might be able to help. Its a pain to get those floor temps on the far cool side high but like I mentioned if you get the hide near there in the upper mid 70s then the right side is not as much of a concern as long as the ambient stays in the lower 80s.

Edit: If you have questions on the herpstat 2 let me know, that's what I have a well. It is a godsend for getting temps under control.

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Originally Posted by SDA

I have similar house conditions and a similar setup (T10 equivalent sized PVC enclosure so only 3 inches taller) and an 80 watt RHP so might be able to help. Its a pain to get those floor temps on the far cool side high but like I mentioned if you get the hide near there in the upper mid 70s then the right side is not as much of a concern as long as the ambient stays in the lower 80s.

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Thank you, I appreciate the help and vote of confidence. Id just definitely like to see it up a few degrees (like 76-78) and i'd feel better but I am worried about risking the hot side getting too hot in the process =/

For perspective: I live in South Dakota. Its 30° F outside, 69° in my house. My RHPs have no problem maintaining temperatures. I have an 80 watt Pro Products in each T-8.

You may want to confirm how many watts you are running and that it is operating correctly.

Me personally, I run ONLY RHP's in my AP t8's and set them on a quality thermostat (Vivarium Electronics is what I use but Herpstats are awesome as well).......then the temperature probe hangs on the COOL end of the cage the furthest distance away from the RHP...this was the advice of Bob at Pro Products as your BP will always have a proper temperature that they can "escape to". I run 65 watt pro-products rhps

I then set the thermostat to 80F....which keeps the hot end right around 92F in a 68-70 degree house.

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Originally Posted by SiXandSeven8ths

For perspective: I live in South Dakota. Its 30° F outside, 69° in my house. My RHPs have no problem maintaining temperatures. I have an 80 watt Pro Products in each T-8.

You may want to confirm how many watts you are running and that it is operating correctly.

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All right I will absolutely do that, thank you. Could the thermostat be the problem too? I know that it's not good to run both the RHP and the flexwatt on the same thermostat which is another reason I got the Herpstat 2, but i felt it was worth leaving it the way it is (mostly okay) rather than unplugging the flexwatt and losing more heat until the Herpstat comes

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Originally Posted by Christiane

All right I will absolutely do that, thank you. Could the thermostat be the problem too? I know that it's not good to run both the RHP and the flexwatt on the same thermostat which is another reason I got the Herpstat 2, but i felt it was worth leaving it the way it is (mostly okay) rather than unplugging the flexwatt and losing more heat until the Herpstat comes

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i really do think you'll see better results with the Herpstat. with more stable regulation, it could potentially bump up that cool side by a degree or two. just keep us posted once you get the Herpstat up and running.

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Originally Posted by KevinK

Me personally, I run ONLY RHP's in my AP t8's and set them on a quality thermostat (Vivarium Electronics is what I use but Herpstats are awesome as well).......then the temperature probe hangs on the COOL end of the cage the furthest distance away from the RHP...this was the advice of Bob at Pro Products as your BP will always have a proper temperature that they can "escape to". I run 65 watt pro-products rhps

I then set the thermostat to 80F....which keeps the hot end right around 92F in a 68-70 degree house.

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I've read a few people saying that it works very well doing that, which I plan to test out when I get my new thermostat. That confuses me a bit to be honest, but lots of people say they also disagree but try it with success. When I have a few days off I'll test it out so I can be checking on it.

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Originally Posted by Christiane

I know that it's not good to run both the RHP and the flexwatt on the same thermostat which is another reason I got the Herpstat 2,

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That is your problem in my opinion. You should not be running two completely different heat sources off of one thermostat unless it SPECIFICALLY designated to do so. Your RHP isn't getting enough juice to heat up your enclosure properly as a result. Furthermore, your Herpstat is a proportional unit which controls and regulates the current rather than an off/on unit that you're probably running now....much better product.

I tend to trust the guy who sells the RHP to zoos and breeders all over the country personally over someone else, but that's just me.

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Originally Posted by KevinK

That is your problem in my opinion. You should not be running two completely different heat sources off of one thermostat unless it SPECIFICALLY designated to do so. Your RHP isn't getting enough juice to heat up your enclosure properly as a result.

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Fair enough. Unfortunately, but fortunately, that makes me feel better in a way because I have already ordered the herpstat. I will update when I get the herpstat and let it regulate a bit in the proper way. Thank you all for your help I really appreciate it.

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Originally Posted by KevinK

I tend to trust the guy who sells the RHP to zoos and breeders all over the country personally over someone else, but that's just me.

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No I absolutely agree. I am still pretty new and just trying to find the best way to best take care of my boy. I started out with a tiny glass cage and the second I joined up on here I quickly learned a whole lot pretty fast and made lots of adjustments to best take care of him. Some things I'm still learning and luckily I have this site and cool people helping along the way. Fortunately, Snape has always eaten thus far on schedule and seems to be doing okay even through my blunders. I'm always open to learning new and better ways to be a better snake mom

Absolutely, you learn as you go as we all did.