Not Another Thermostat Probe Thread! Help??

I've been looking this up for a while but can't seen to come to a conclusion with probe placement.

A lot of people say it should be sandwiched between the heat mat and the outside bottom of Enclosure. My problem with this is that the probe is kind of thick so the uth would be uneven and wouldn't give consistant readings and I've seen NO ONE acknowledge this. Or maybe I just missed it.

Another way I've seen people go about it, was not even having the uth touch the bottom of the tub at all. The uth is flat on a surface but they had the tub sitting maybe less than an inch above the uth. So is this a good option and where would the probe go with this set up?

Then there's the probe on the inside which people seem to hate, but would seems more convient for people having problems with the sandwich method. Is it really that bad?

I just could never come to a clean conclusion giving the different options and the setbacks. I'm hoping someone could help me smoothen this out a bit. Any help is appreciated!

Btw, I'm using a single a single tub with a lid. No rack whatsoever.

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Hey, yeah in my setups, the probe is sandwiched between the uth and the bottom. you are correct that it leads to some uneven temps, I just circle the whole uth with the temp gun and adjust based on the highest temp reading. I was wondering the same thing as you when I started lol

I place mine in different locations to monitor temp and humidity, but I run a decent size tank. I monitor the hot side and cool side as well as in the hide which is in the substrate. The probe I use is a Vivarium Electronics TH-100 which monitors both humidity and temperature. Also saves the highest and lowest parameters in between clearing the memory. Pretty cool feature. Hope this helps!

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Originally Posted by Avsha531

Hey, yeah in my setups, the probe is sandwiched between the uth and the bottom. you are correct that it leads to some uneven temps, I just circle the whole uth with the temp gun and adjust based on the highest temp reading. I was wondering the same thing as you when I started lol

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How much of a difference is it between the different areas of the heat mat?

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Originally Posted by Springtails&Isopods

I place mine in different locations to monitor temp and humidity, but I run a decent size tank. I monitor the hot side and cool side as well as in the hide which is in the substrate. The probe I use is a Vivarium Electronics TH-100 which monitors both humidity and temperature. Also saves the highest and lowest parameters in between clearing the memory. Pretty cool feature. Hope this helps!

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Thanks for the response. I see this is a thermometer. I was referring to the thermostat probe used to regulate the UTH.

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I had the same problem when I sandwich the probe between the uth and tank/tub - The probe is too big! The thermostat I use is from Zilla, and their probes are big relative to other thermostats.

After some frustration playing with the temps, and dealing with an uneven uth, I resigned to placing the probe inside the tub/tank. It makes more sense to me anyway since the uth can measure the temps from where your snake is (Plus confirming this temp with a thermometer). This has been working fine with me. All I have to do is check daily to see if the probe is dry and not moved from its location. So far so good.

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Originally Posted by Cheesenugget

I had the same problem when I sandwich the probe between the uth and tank/tub - The probe is too big! The thermostat I use is from Zilla, and their probes are big relative to other thermostats.

After some frustration playing with the temps, and dealing with an uneven uth, I resigned to placing the probe inside the tub/tank. It makes more sense to me anyway since the uth can measure the temps from where your snake is (Plus confirming this temp with a thermometer). This has been working fine with me. All I have to do is check daily to see if the probe is dry and not moved from its location. So far so good.

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Doing it your way with the probe inside the RUB - it's best to hot-glue the probe into place then you can forget about it - just do random checks to see it's still secure .


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Originally Posted by ArcaneTB

I've been looking this up for a while but can't seen to come to a conclusion with probe placement.

A lot of people say it should be sandwiched between the heat mat and the outside bottom of Enclosure. My problem with this is that the probe is kind of thick so the uth would be uneven and wouldn't give consistant readings and I've seen NO ONE acknowledge this. Or maybe I just missed it.

Another way I've seen people go about it, was not even having the uth touch the bottom of the tub at all. The uth is flat on a surface but they had the tub sitting maybe less than an inch above the uth. So is this a good option and where would the probe go with this set up?

Then there's the probe on the inside which people seem to hate, but would seems more convient for people having problems with the sandwich method. Is it really that bad?

I just could never come to a clean conclusion giving the different options and the setbacks. I'm hoping someone could help me smoothen this out a bit. Any help is appreciated!

Btw, I'm using a single a single tub with a lid. No rack whatsoever.

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I just put 4 little blocks under the corners to raise and level the viv/ rub ..


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Keeping the thermostat probe inside the enclosure for belly heat is a bad idea.
Why?
Your animal can move the probe....
You animal can tip a water bowl....
Your animal can pee or poop on the probe....
All of these can change the reading of your probe.

Its not hard to set it up correctly and use a temperature gun to monitor the floor surface of your enclosure over the UTH and adjust the thermostat to account for heat loss.
Everyone seems to want to over think and over complicate this, it's not hard to set up.
If you feel your probe is too big to fit between the mat and floor then mount it to the underside of the mat. Just remember there will be a greater reading difference btween the thermostat and actual inside floor temperatures.

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Originally Posted by ArcaneTB

How much of a difference is it between the different areas of the heat mat?

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About 3 degrees variation

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

Keeping the thermostat probe inside the enclosure for belly heat is a bad idea.
Why?
Your animal can move the probe....
You animal can tip a water bowl....
Your animal can pee or poop on the probe....
All of these can change the reading of your probe.

Its not hard to set it up correctly and use a temperature gun to monitor the floor surface of your enclosure over the UTH and adjust the thermostat to account for heat loss.
Everyone seems to want to over think and over complicate this, it's not hard to set up.
If you feel your probe is too big to fit between the mat and floor then mount it to the underside of the mat. Just remember there will be a greater reading difference btween the thermostat and actual inside floor temperatures.

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This makes sense. Thanks for the response.

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Originally Posted by Avsha531

About 3 degrees variation

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Thanks. I'm going to try it out and see how it goes.

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As long as the probe is secure I don't see a problem putting it inside. Also, let's say this is your only snake and your able to monitor it frequently enough. I don't think anybody can say there's only one correct way to do this, since a lot of people may only ever keep 1 pet snake. I'm sure everybody disagrees lol. This is just my opinion.

P.S. in the case of a water bowl being tipped over, if you have a heavy enough bowl comparable to your snake it would be impossible for it to tip it over.

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Originally Posted by Crowley136

As long as the probe is secure I don't see a problem putting it inside. Also, let's say this is your only snake and your able to monitor it frequently enough. I don't think anybody can say there's only one correct way to do this, since a lot of people may only ever keep 1 pet snake. I'm sure everybody disagrees lol. This is just my opinion.

P.S. in the case of a water bowl being tipped over, if you have a heavy enough bowl comparable to your snake it would be impossible for it to tip it over.

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Yeah I only have one snake for now and not worried about the water bowl. As for securing it inside, I only have tape which is a bad idea. I heard about using hot glue which I currently dont have.

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I agree with pitontheprowl, who is an experienced herper. I trust the people who are tried and true and know what they are doing.

What at I have done since the bubble drove me crazy was to use styrofoam. I made a channel in it so the probe sits flush with the top, a channel for the cord as well. The uth is stuck to the glass and the tank sits on top of the styrofoam. The probe sits directly in the middle of the uth on the outside of the glass. Ttaylorr was a big help with this and has a diagram as well. My uth no longer has that damn bubble and it reads 90 no matter where I use my heat gun. Even temp.

oh, and nothing sticky ever goes inside the tank...ever! Kinda my pet peeve. Lol

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Originally Posted by Sunnieskys

I agree with pitontheprowl, who is an experienced herper. I trust the people who are tried and true and know what they are doing.

What at I have done since the bubble drove me crazy was to use styrofoam. I made a channel in it so the probe sits flush with the top, a channel for the cord as well. The uth is stuck to the glass and the tank sits on top of the styrofoam. The probe sits directly in the middle of the uth on the outside of the glass. Ttaylorr was a big help with this and has a diagram as well. My uth no longer has that damn bubble and it reads 90 no matter where I use my heat gun. Even temp.

oh, and nothing sticky ever goes inside the tank...ever! Kinda my pet peeve. Lol

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Ok let me make sure I'm understanding correctly.

By channels in your styrofoam, I'm assuming you mean a cut or slot on the top so it fits.

The tank sits on the styrofoam which would mean the probe is making contact with the bottom or underside of the uth.

Also, with the tank on the styrofoam, is the styrofoam just big enough for the probe or is it on the whole bottom of the tank. I'm assuming the former for ventilation purposes. I'm also using a tub of that makes a difference.

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I know he's experienced, I'm not disputing that lol. And I wasn't telling anyone to trust me also. I even said in my post it's just MY opinion, LOL. Nobody should use only one source to make a decision. 9/10 times what everybody does is correct in a lot of cases not just pets and other cases 9/10 times they're wrong. I think people can do it if it's only 1 snake or something. Just what I think.

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Originally Posted by ArcaneTB

Ok let me make sure I'm understanding correctly.

By channels in your styrofoam, I'm assuming you mean a cut or slot on the top so it fits.

The tank sits on the styrofoam which would mean the probe is making contact with the bottom or underside of the uth.

Also, with the tank on the styrofoam, is the styrofoam just big enough for the probe or is it on the whole bottom of the tank. I'm assuming the former for ventilation purposes. I'm also using a tub of that makes a difference.

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You got it. And a tub should be fine too.

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