Heat?

[Maple Syrup]

Hello,

As a heat source for my BP I use an UTH and an infrared heat lamp. (The latter I recently added.) What I am unsure of is the usefulness of an UTH; it is hot when directly touched (too hot, in fact), but with any kind of substrate on top, the heat seems minimal? In short, it doesn't seem like there is much heat penetrating the substrate, which I use coco-fiber for after switching from wood shavings.

Obviously I have to have substrate on top of the UTH, it just doesn't seem to transfer any heat past 1/2 inches of substrate.

Am I missing something?

[SamO]

First off, if you don't have the UTH regulated by a thermostat, you need to unplug it. An unregulated UTH can/will burn your snake. Once you get a thermostat and have it installed correctly then plug the UTH back in.

As for the rest of your question, I'll let those who run similar setups answer, cause they can do it better.

[tbowman]

If the UTH is hot to the touch, you definitely need to have it on a temperature controller. Make sure you are accurately measuring your temperatures before deciding whether something is too warm or too cold. Don't guess.

[frostysBP]

Unplug the uth asap...get a thermostat to regulate it...the snake will move substrate around to get to the heat if its running unregulated you can and will end up with something like this

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[PitOnTheProwl]

Substrate is not a way to regulate and an UTH is to provide a hot spot not heat more than that.

[Maple Syrup]

Yes I have a thermostat connected to the UTH set for 90˚F. Currently with the infrared bulb I have the "hot" area of the enclosure sitting around 80˚F in total, according to the thermometer that I stuck to the side of the glass.

For me I would just expect the substrate to feel warmer to the touch than what it does? Based on what the substrate feels like it doesn't seem like she could be getting much heat if she basks in that area?

I just thought the substrate would feel warm to the touch more so than what it does?

[tbowman]

Human skin temperature is somewhere in the low 90s. Anything lower than that is not going to feel warm to the touch.

Buy a temp gun and be sure.

[pbyeerts]

Yes I have a thermostat connected to the UTH set for 90˚F. Currently with the infrared bulb I have the "hot" area of the enclosure sitting around 80˚F in total, according to the thermometer that I stuck to the side of the glass.

For me I would just expect the substrate to feel warmer to the touch than what it does? Based on what the substrate feels like it doesn't seem like she could be getting much heat if she basks in that area?

I just thought the substrate would feel warm to the touch more so than what it does?

The hot side should be in the 90sF and the cold about 80F. Most of us put our thermostats for the UTH around 95F since the temp will naturally vary. A temp gun is a must for accurate temps


Pamela and GINGER, my wonderful BP

1 dog, 3 cats, 1 macaw, 1 husband, 1 daughter, and GINGER


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