Thermostat Probe Placing?

[mzh3de]

So I've been reading up on thermostats, and I've seen some people say to tape it to the wall of the tank while others tape it to the heat mat. But, I've seen people say that taping it to the heat mat is a potential fire hazard- I need advice on where to place it.

[tttaylorrr]

i'm assuming you're talking about probe placement, correct?

NO TAPE INSIDE A TANK, EVER! sorry for the caps, but this is critical knowledge that somehow gets overlooked.

you can't place the thermostat probe in the tank because with a snake moving around it creates variables that can mess with the thermostat reading and cause a temp spike or drop, e.g. urine, poop, pushing substrate, etc.

the probe should be sandwiched between the UTH and the outside bottom of the enclosure. you can use aluminum tape to adhere the wire to the bottom or the UTH itself but you should not tape OVER the probe head so that it's covered.

i've never heard of a UTH probe being a fire hazard; they're designed to be around heat. the whole point of using a thermostat is to eliminate burns and avoid fire hazards as the thermostat will not allow the UTH to become hot enough to be hazardous.

[mzh3de]

Cool, good to know about the tape, thanks Only thing is, the tank I'm getting is wood, and every source I've seen says to place the heat mat inside the tank for wood, outside for glass/plastic. I'm so confused

[tttaylorrr]

Cool, good to know about the tape, thanks Only thing is, the tank I'm getting is wood, and every source I've seen says to place the heat mat inside the tank for wood, outside for glass/plastic. I'm so confused

well now that changes everything! i don't have experience with wooden vivs but many here who do use a UTH inside the enclosure. there's a user here (@Booper) who has wooden vivs so you might want to message them about their heating arrangement. there's also another post by a user who placed the UTH between two pieces of glass to put in the viv (i'm trying to find the post).

EDIT: found the post! you could message this user as well for more info.

[Regius_049]

Cool, good to know about the tape, thanks Only thing is, the tank I'm getting is wood, and every source I've seen says to place the heat mat inside the tank for wood, outside for glass/plastic. I'm so confused

When using wood enclosures, you will likely have to place the heat mat or pad inside the enclosure. This can typically be done to no ill effect with some careful consideration.

1. I would not use heat tape inside an enclosure. It is more predisposed to overheating and has less secure wiring (usually) for an environment with moisture, water, and a living animal.

2. I would try using an ultratherm heat pad first, which can be bought here relatively inexpensively. The do not run as hot and are UL certified for safety. The wiring is enclosed in plastic and the heat pad itself is completely covered in polyurethane, which is more or less water / urate proof. You can just wipe it off. When using ultratherm or any other heat pads, try and place the wire and wire connection area close to the back of the enclosure. This keeps as little of the wire in the cage as possible.

When installing the heat pad, you can tape it down using aluminum tape designed for heating applications with the thermostat probe tape directly on top of it so the snake cannot get between the probe and the heating element. Taping the probe under the heat pad would also be good, but given the roughly 1/4" diameter of probes, it requires that the heat pad be less flat against the cage bottom and more easily pulled up by a large snake. Something like as shown here:



Since yours is inside the cage though, I would cut the ends and make sure they are very flat. Once this is done you can cover it with substrate to help protect it. Alternatively, I have heard of people attaching UTHs and probes using silicone, but this is more permanent and can have its own set of problems.

3. On the more expensive side, you can use a heat pad that is designed for dog / farm applications and is intended to be waterproof. Kane manufacturing makes polyethylene heat pads (18" x 18") that work well for this purpose, but are on the more expensive side. I believe people also often use these for turtles and tortoises. This would be a solution that is designed to take abuse from larger animals, but as previously mentioned, has a higher price tag. You can also buy these with an attached rheostat to control temperature.

[mzh3de]

Thanks guys, this helps a ton