the good 'ol temp question(s) (1st time snake/bp owner)

[daleeso]

hello everyone,

im a first time snake/bp owner. i have owned the snake for 6 days now. she fed yesterday for the first time (a hopper mice-live). she is a female spider about 15-16". i have her on a 10Gallon aquarium and on the "hot side" i have a UTH on the bottom of the tank with one of her hides right above i and an infrared bulb above the enclosure which i keep on all the time.. the "cool side" has kept a constant temp of 81F and humidity overall has been anywher from 50-55%

i dont have a thermostat to regulate temp yet so im not sure what temp exactly the UTH is emitting but the thermometer i have inside the enclosure on the hot side has read a constant 84F. since i've had her she doesnt go into the hide thats right above the UTH except for yesterday when she fed and was only there for a bit before leaving the hide.rather she would bask right beside it or on top of it and usually at night
should i be worried? any suggestions advise would be greatly appreciated

[cmack91]

first off, those uth's have been known to get 120+, so they really need a tstat, second what kind of thermometer are you using?

[Compher]

Definitely going to want to do something with the UTH as soon as you can. A thermostat or dimmer would be the best. Another thing to remember is floor temp vs ambient temp.

From what the care sheet says, you're going to want the ambient temp around 80, trying never to go below 75. and the floor temp to be around 80 on the cool side and 90 on the warm side. The best way to measure floor temp is with a probed thermometer or a IR thermometer laser gun thing. (I just got one it's awesome).

The bulb is actually not really required unless your house is cold and the ambient air gets too low.

Also since you're a first time owner, a good thing to look out for is when the shed cycle starts. The belly will turn pink and few days later the eyes will turn blueish. This is when you up the humidity, or you will have shedding problems like i'm currently having.

[daleeso]

wow! did not know UTH and emit that much heat. thanks for the info.

as far as my thermometers, i have a accurite hygrometer on the cool side of the enclosure which is the one reading a constant temp of 81F and humidity at 50-55%. on the hot spot of the enclosure i have an accurite digital thermometer on the inside of the enclosure which is the one reading the 84F temp (the hide and UTH are right below it and my infrared bulb/light above them all)

i already ordered and IR temp gun and thermostat which i should be getting by tuesday. hopefully they can aid in getting the temp to a more suitable level at least when it comes to the UTH as i may now believe this is the cause of her not going into that hide.

thank you everyone

[cmack91]

is the thermo on the hot side inside the hide or on top of the hide?

[daleeso]

[QUOTE=cmack91;1670945]is the thermo on the hot side inside the hide or on top of the hide?[/QUOTE

i have the thermo on top/above the hide. its one of the digital thermo with a suction cup (if thats what its called..LOL) so i have it stuck to the glass and right above the hide on the hot side. i guess what its reading is the ambient temp of the hot side. once i get my tstat im hoping to control the heat the UTH is emitting and hopefully she will start going to this hide on the hot side of the enclosure.

[cmack91]

try throwing it inside the hide, it might be too hot in there for her, on my hot side, i have 130w lights, and above the hide is 93 but inside the hide is only80-83, so there can be a big difference between in and out of the hide