New Set Up Question

I just picked up 3 cb70 tubs that are heated by one foot of 11" flexwatt, controlled by a helix dbs-1000. My quesiton is. How long do these tubs take to reach the temperatures initial time around? Where does everyone place their probes also? I had it placed on the heat tape with a piece of aluminum tape, but the tstat said 95 and my tub temps were only at 76. So i took the probe out and placed it in the tub where the hide will eventually sit. Things seem to be climbing now but I don't think its going to be a reliable place when my snakes start destroying their rooms like they like to do. So does anyone have suggestions or pictures of probe placements. I'm going to try and get a picture up tomorrow of the way I have my tubs set up to see if anyone has any critics on the arrangement since I'm controlling all three with one tstat.

Thanks guys!

The only reason your temps are reading that low is due to the ambient temp being too low. I would place the thermostat probe back on the tape, heat the area where your rack is to ~80, and give it a day. You will have to adjust the T-stat to the correct temperature which will give you a hot side tub temp of 92, and I have found that it takes a while to heat up which is why you should give it a day:D !

Ok thanks, yea I woke up this morning and the tstat was reading 85 degrees, so I turned on the heat in my basement to 72 and things starting warming up a bit, I have to move the probe though still. Luckily I have 2 weeks before the new guy arrives, and my other two are still in their original homes so I have time to tweek. Thanks for the tip

Just a hint Rich. When you are tweaking an enclosure set it up completely...hides, your choice of substrate, a full water dish, lid on (if you're not using a rack with lidless tubs), room temp as it will be with herps in the room, etc. Just basically exactly as it will be minus the snake. That way you'll get a true idea of your temps and humidity as they stablize over a couple of days.

Does anybody have some pictures of their probe placement?

I'm having continued problems. I have some pictures though.

My T-Stat was showing 94 as the temp at the probes location.

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...o/000_0050.jpg


And here is where I placed my probe.
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...o/000_0049.jpg

And this is what the whole set up looks like.
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...o/000_0047.jpg

Ok so heres my problem. My t-stat is saying the probe is at 94deg, but when I place my hand on the heat strip it barely feels warm to the touch. The only time I actually got temps in my tub that were accurate was when the probe was in the tub and under the hide, but obviously this won't work when a snake is in there so I'm lost. For the time being I only have the probe attached to the mid tub with a hide and an accurite. I'm trying to get the temps and humidity down pact in one tub and then trying to adjust for all three. Did I screw up the heat tape somehow by placing a cross with the aluminum tape across it? I'm totally lost guys, I have until the 25th to get this squared away for my new arrival. I know what you guys are thinking a CB70 is way to large for a small snake, but I have 4 hides for it and plenty of foliage so I hope it won't turn out to be a problem. If anything I'll just need a smaller tub. But I would definitely appreciate some help getting the initial set up right. Thanks Everyone!

All your heat is escaping downward. Get some "reflectix"...a reflective insulating padding...from Home Depot or Lowes...and cover each piece of flexwatt with it. That'll trap the heat and reflect it back up into the tubs where you want it to go.

In my car and out the door I go...the probe location is good and what not?

Yeah, I think your probe is fine. You just need to get those bottoms covered. :)

Ok so I'm off to home depot, conviniently located 2 minutes away. I'll let you know how it goes after the change. I also got creative and taped my thermometer probe to the inside ceiling of the hide, is this a good spot for it. In the past i've just let them rest on the substrate.

Thanks alot Judy

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Originally Posted by Spaniard

Ok so I'm off to home depot, conviniently located 2 minutes away. I'll let you know how it goes after the change. I also got creative and taped my thermometer probe to the inside ceiling of the hide, is this a good spot for it. In the past i've just let them rest on the substrate.

Thanks alot Judy

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My pleasure, Rich.

The only problem I have with taping the probe inside the hide is that snakes have an uncanny ability to get into any amount of tape left in their enclosure. And once stuck, they're not exactly equipped to get it off. ;) :P

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Originally Posted by JLC

My pleasure, Rich.

The only problem I have with taping the probe inside the hide is that snakes have an uncanny ability to get into any amount of tape left in their enclosure. And once stuck, they're not exactly equipped to get it off. ;) :P

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Good point...although that aluminum tape is pretty thin and sticky, so once its on its pretty flushe with the hide....i'll have to think about something else. What do you do for your temp probe?

I went to home depot but they didn't have reflectix, and the guys didn't know where I could even find it...but they did know what I was referring to. I expained my situation and I had to get creative so I bought this stickie insulation backed with aluminum, i think the guy said its normally used to cover steam pipes or something. I thought I'd give it a shot so when I came home I stuck aluminum foil on the sticky side and placed that face down against the heat strip. Taped it up good and I'll see what happens in the coming hours.

Edit: Does anyone else go back 3 or 4 times to edit spelling errors? :oops:

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Originally Posted by Spaniard

Good point...although that aluminum tape is pretty thin and sticky, so once its on its pretty flushe with the hide....i'll have to think about something else. What do you do for your temp probe?

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I just slip it under the edge of the warm hide. Actually, once I'm sure the basic temps are dialed in right, I move mine around to get temps under each hide. (She has three all together) So it'll sit under one for a week or so, and then I'll move it to another.

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Originally Posted by JLC

I just slip it under the edge of the warm hide. Actually, once I'm sure the basic temps are dialed in right, I move mine around to get temps under each hide. (She has three all together) So it'll sit under one for a week or so, and then I'll move it to another.

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Thats what I normally did under the warm hide, but when she started going in the hide it would read her body temp so I was never sure of the exact temps, and I don't like that. Sometimes temps would be in the 80s and give me a shock.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Spaniard

I went to home depot but they didn't have reflectix, and the guys didn't know where I could even find it...but they did know what I was referring to. I expained my situation and I had to get creative so I bought this stickie insulation backed with aluminum, i think the guy said its normally used to cover steam pipes or something. I thought I'd give it a shot so when I came home I stuck aluminum foil on the sticky side and placed that face down against the heat strip. Taped it up good and I'll see what happens in the coming hours.

Edit: Does anyone else go back 3 or 4 times to edit spelling errors? :oops:

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That sounds like it should work fine. Give it a day or two and see how those temps do for you. Depending on how thick your substrate is, it may still read a bit cool on top of the substrate compared to the actual temp on the t-stat probe. That's why I like using just two sheets of newspaper...don't have to crank the t-stat up too high in order to get the top of the substrate warm enough.

And I often go back once to fix spelling or typos if I notice, them. ;) Not usually more than that, though, unless I've written a small book. :P

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Originally Posted by Spaniard

Thats what I normally did under the warm hide, but when she started going in the hide it would read her body temp so I was never sure of the exact temps, and I don't like that. Sometimes temps would be in the 80s and give me a shock.

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I think this is a case of driving yourself nuts by micro-managing everything. :P If you're sure the t-stat is set correctly and the standard temps inside the warm hide are in the safe range....then it doesn't matter what it reads when the snake is in there. Whether the therm probe is reading it or not, the temps will be the same.

Well I guess its old habit. The temps in my basement flucuate a little in the winter and I was running them with dimmers (glass tanks) so I was constantly needing to know what the temperatures were, but I guess thats different now with the Helix

I hear ya. It's a whole different ball game with dimmers than it is with t-stats.

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Originally Posted by JLC

I hear ya. It's a whole different ball game with dimmers than it is with t-stats.

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13000 pennies well spent.

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Originally Posted by Spaniard

13000 pennies well spent.

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I'll drink to that! :carouse:

:P

Alright maybe I am a micromanager:D But what I don't understand is how the probe says that its 95 degrees but when I put my hand on the floor of the tub is barely warm 80 deg and there are some spots on the heat tape that are not getting warm at all, is this normal behavior? I just have a weird feeling like something is off. I even turned the tstat to 98 to see if the tub would get a little warmer but nothing.:confuzd::sigh2:

Hun, your problem is that your heat tape IS 95 degrees, and since your body temp is 98+- degrees, it feels only slightly warm to you. The tstat is only measuring what the flexwatt temps are.

I recommend raising the temperature on the thermostat to around 98-99 degrees and see what you get in the tub. It should be around 94.

You can also tape the thermostat probe to the bottom of the tub, put 2 sheets of newspaper over it and then set the cage up as normal. I have 2 thermostat probes in one of my tubs(Amani's Sterilite 1995, as it is the control tub), and the probes are taped with duct tape. She messes up her tub alot and moves her hides everywhere, but those probes don't go anywhere. Temps are set at 94 for warm side and 83.5 for the cool side. Everything stays perfectly level that way and it works well for me.

Try taping the probe underneath the newspaper/whatever bedding you are using, and see how that works. You may have to set the thermostat to 95 or 96 to get the proper temps on top of the substrate, but whatever works :)

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

Hun, your problem is that your heat tape IS 95 degrees, and since your body temp is 98+- degrees, it feels only slightly warm to you. The tstat is only measuring what the flexwatt temps are.

I recommend raising the temperature on the thermostat to around 98-99 degrees and see what you get in the tub. It should be around 94.

You can also tape the thermostat probe to the bottom of the tub, put 2 sheets of newspaper over it and then set the cage up as normal. I have 2 thermostat probes in one of my tubs(Amani's Sterilite 1995, as it is the control tub), and the probes are taped with duct tape. She messes up her tub alot and moves her hides everywhere, but those probes don't go anywhere. Temps are set at 94 for warm side and 83.5 for the cool side. Everything stays perfectly level that way and it works well for me.

Try taping the probe underneath the newspaper/whatever bedding you are using, and see how that works. You may have to set the thermostat to 95 or 96 to get the proper temps on top of the substrate, but whatever works :)

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I think I'm gonna stop using the aspen in the winter since its hard enough in my cooler basement to heat the tub and just use some newspaper. I wasn't thinking getting the tubs set up would be such a pain, I'm glad I gave myself some time to do this. Thanks for supporting my MBD...Manic BallPython Disorder...definition: psycological need for exact temps!

Okay,

So I'm slowly getting closer to my goal. After insulating the bottom of the tubs, removing the aspen, and placing the probe in the tub on the warm side; I have managed to get the proper temps on my warm side. But my cool end is still sitting at 74 degrees. Space heater really isn't possible as my mother is neurotic and would lose sleep thinking the house is gonna burn down. My temps in my basement are at a constant 72 degrees during the winter. Do you think a 3" strip would be good enough to get my temps in the 80s or am I going to have to get another 11" strip?