New VE-2 Snake Rack Temps/Humidity

[dsbarnet]

So I recently received my VE-2 rack and have my girl in the larger tub it will fit, I forget the name for it, but I had a few questions.

The first is if the temps I have the thermostat (Herpstat 2 Redline) set to are too high. I currently have it set at 101 and it's on pulse so to maintain that setting its only usually at 40% power. The reason why I ask this is I have randomly come across people in old posts saying that heat tape shouldn't be set higher than 95. Is this true? Because in all honesty I am almost to where my temps need to be, but to really get there I will probably need to go up another degree or two. Ambient temps are fine however as I have sacrificed my comfort in my room by using a space heater while I am in the room. It is set up with a thermostat so it shuts itself off and I also unplug it when I leave the room as my room surprisingly holds in heat really well as long as I close my door. My main concern is still whether I am actually running the heat tape too hot or not.

For reference I have a thermometer hot glued to the bottom of the tub over the heat and I also have an IR gun. I've measured exactly on the tape its hotter than the setting in some spots and lower in others. The bottom of the tub and surface of the substrate is usually at 86/87 and I am trying to get to 89/91 as that is where my girl seemed to be happiest at when she was in her glass terrarium.

I was going to ask about how to fix my humidity issues, I am using coco fiber and the humidity is constantly sitting at 99%. The substrate isn't really wet at all, I've added holes, and I have sized down the water dish. Honestly I may just buy unprinted newspaper though because none of the other suggestions I have found around the forum are helping so it seems like going to a drier substrate is probably going to be the best solution. I do have aspen, but I am not a huge fan of it because it isn't the really fine shavings of it and if she eats any of it it will stress me out. But if there are any other suggestions regarding the humidity that would be great.

Sorry for the long post, as stated earlier the heat tape and whether I am setting it too high is my main concern. I would like to last it as long as possible.

Thanks in advance for all replies!

[Brambalam]

I also have a VE-2 and am having humidity adventures. What I've done is, butcher paper for substrate, smaller water bowl with less water in it, holes for circulation and a fan angled towards the rack. The fan makes all the difference, dropping the humidity from 96% to about 75%. Things still climb to to high 90's when someone urinates, but I haven't had a problem with condensation on the sides since enlisting the fan. I hope this helps.

[SDA]

Got a few people that have VE racks and herpstats that hopefully can chime in but I would be concerned about placement of the probe in relation to contact of the heat tape and the heat tape in contact in relation to the bottom of the tub where the tempt probe is in order to resolve the problem that you have to run it at 101 to get a tub temp of 86. That is a drastic amount of thermal loss and I know for a fact that PP (what RBI tubs are made of) are not that good insulating materials.

For example... I have an RBI cage and a herpstat 2 along with THG heat tape. The inside of the PVC (same material as the VE rack) is only 2 degrees cooler than the probe temp reached by being in direct contact with the heat tape. If you add in the layer for the tub, it should not be more than a 5-6 degree variation depending on contact of tub to tape. This brings in line with having the heat tape at 95. Should get he tub at 90. Should not have to raise it to 101.

Just as a question... surface of substrate temps are not that important, snakes can push and burrow to get to heat so inside bottom of tub is all really that matters. Just making sure the 86 temp is just read from the tub bottom and that 86 is not just substrate temp.


Hopefully someone can help to get placement perfect to get temps right.

[Brambalam]

I'm sorry I didn't address that part. I electric taped the probe to the tape itself, off to the side where the tubs bevel inward. I can now set the thermostat to 94 and get a hotspot of 88-90.+ I don't have a herpstat, mine is an on/off for now so it will drop a few degrees under and push for a little extra as it goes.. But nothing outside reason. I do keep a very close eye on its placement, but it's a fair trade compared to the issues I had before.

[dsbarnet]

I placed the probe towards the middle of the tape straight out from that little tunnel the VE racks have for the probe and its wire to go through. The thermometer probe is almost directly over where the tstat probe is

[dsbarnet]

Anybody with the heat loss issue like me? I still haven't figured it out. I'm still having to run the tstat at 101/102 to obtain 88/89. I however fixed the humidity issue by switching to a packing paper as a substrate

[Godzilla78]

Anybody with the heat loss issue like me? I still haven't figured it out. I'm still having to run the tstat at 101/102 to obtain 88/89. I however fixed the humidity issue by switching to a packing paper as a substrate

The electrical tape is an insulator, it could likely be the problem, and could be causing the probe temperature to be off. Try some other tape to tape it directly to the heat tape. I think I am just using a thin piece scotch tape for mine, and only have about 1 degree of heat loss readings.

[SDA]

That is a good point. Never tape the probe head directly. Only tape the cord portion. Taping the probe head directly can give incorrect readings.

[dsbarnet]

Alright I will take it off the probe when I go to hand her. I also contacted reptile basics and they said it should be fine as long as I stay under 105 for the heat tape.

[enginee837]

The ve-2 comes with a pre cut place to put your probe on the inside next to the pre-installed heat tape. I recommend reading the instructions and reinstalling it as recommended. I have 6 - ve-2's and they work beautifully. Ambient ijn the room is 73 deg, hot spot on the floor of the tub is 90, ambient is about 86, humidity is 70. Regardless of size of tub used it is within 1.5 deg of each tub.