temporarily keeping my bp in a dresser?

[KMG]

I use a Che in my aquarium enclosure for me and my daughters BP it does a great job of heating and also sucking every last drop of moisture out the enclosure. I think I spend more money on water misting the cage then I would on a oil heater to up the room temp. It does work for now though till we get our pvc cage. Just a little devils advocate for ya

Using a che on a tub will not do that as badly. It heats well but the better sealed tub holds humidity much better than a glass tank. I kept my ETB in a tall tub like that while waiting on my custom cage without issue. Honestly it was easy.

[CALM Pythons]

Nothing about this thread sounds good. Its better to leave the snake with his hot spot to lay on and nothing else before that other disaster waiting to happen. People used Hot Spots only for 30-40 years before we had these other products. Several people use Flex Watt only in their PVC enclosures. As far as the Heat Lamp or CHE id be careful with any HEAT EMITTER since I haven't heard anyone mention controlling them with at least a dimmer.

[KMG]

Nothing about this thread sounds good. Its better to leave the snake with his hot spot to lay on and nothing else before that other disaster waiting to happen. People used Hot Spots only for 30-40 years before we had these other products. Several people use Flex Watt only in their PVC enclosures. As far as the Heat Lamp or CHE id be careful with any HEAT EMITTER since I haven't heard anyone mention controlling them with at least a dimmer.

The lamp stand I mentioned can work the same as a dimmer.

If you raise the lamp it lowers the temp.

If you lower the lamp it raises the temp.

Just like a dimmer as long as the room temp is fairly stable it works great. I like it better than a dimmer. I have used those too and I swear I get better results with a lamp stand.

[CALM Pythons]

The lamp stand I mentioned can work the same as a dimmer.

If you raise the lamp it lowers the temp.

If you lower the lamp it raises the temp.

Just like a dimmer as long as the room temp is fairly stable it works great. I like it better than a dimmer. I have used those too and I swear I get better results with a lamp stand.

Ive only used a CHE over a tank for quarantine & it was a bad experience. It was on a dimmer and I notice the fluctuation of room temp changed it drastically. I decided to run 2 UTH's on a herostat 2 instead. One side of the enclosure 80 and the other 90. The ambient temp doesn't really bother me when the entire floor of enclosure is heated.. If the room temp was very Cold then that would be another story.

[KMG]

Ive only used a CHE over a tank for quarantine & it was a bad experience. It was on a dimmer and I notice the fluctuation of room temp changed it drastically. I decided to run 2 UTH's on a herostat 2 instead. One side of the enclosure 80 and the other 90. The ambient temp doesn't really bother me when the entire floor of enclosure is heated.. If the room temp was very Cold then that would be another story.

Yep, if the room temp fluctuates a stand or dimmer is a poor choice imho.

[Digitalepiphany]

Can a che not be used on a thermostat?

I'm having a similar problem. Room temps in high 60s, and flexwatt can't keep up. Hot spot occasionally hits 80.

My idea was to build a temporary shelf out of insulation board. Open only in the front. Hopefully, that would help to contain some of the heat. Any thoughts on that?

[Digitalepiphany]

Also, these are 18qt tubs with 4" flexwatt, each on its own thermostat. The thermostats are most likely on/off, because they're pretty inexpensive. I plan on upgrading eventually.

Currently, I have the thermostat probe in the tub (directly above heat tape), and 2 - 4" flexwatt (12" long) on one tub. One taped to the back, and one underneath the tub. Room temp is 68°. I can't get my tubs hotspot over 81°. I've even replaced the flexwatt on the bottom with a 12"x12" heat mat with the same exact results. I've also cranked the thermostats to 100°. Same temp inside the tub.

I don't pick up my snakes till next month, so I'm trying to perfect this before then.

Do you think the thermostats are the problem?

[KMG]

Also, these are 18qt tubs with 4" flexwatt, each on its own thermostat. The thermostats are most likely on/off, because they're pretty inexpensive. I plan on upgrading eventually.

Currently, I have the thermostat probe in the tub (directly above heat tape), and 2 - 4" flexwatt (12" long) on one tub. One taped to the back, and one underneath the tub. Room temp is 68°. I can't get my tubs hotspot over 81°. I've even replaced the flexwatt on the bottom with a 12"x12" heat mat with the same exact results. I've also cranked the thermostats to 100°. Same temp inside the tub.

I don't pick up my snakes till next month, so I'm trying to perfect this before then.

Do you think the thermostats are the problem?

First, flexwatt and uth do nothing for the air temps. They should only be used for the hotspot.

Second, the tstat probe should never be inside to monitor heat from below. It needs to be outside the tub. Placing it anywhere on the flexwatt will work. Since each level is on its own tstat I would place each probe in the corner beside the tub.

Third, yes a che can be used with a tstat but the a non proportional(on/off) one may not work that well. I've run a che on a tstat but used the proportional setting to deliver varied power instead of full on and full off in a non proportional setting. A che takes time to heat and cool, much more than a bulb so you will probably find wide temp fluctuation using a on/off tstat.

Something to be mentioned about a che is they work much like a spot light heat bulb, meaning they deliver a fairly focused beam of heat. If you're trying to heat several layers of tubs a flood light heat bulb may work better.

Forth, get a IR temp gun. Do not measure your temps with the tstat probe alone. Use the IR temp gun to check your surface temps inside the tubs. Many times the tstat will be set near and even over 100F but that because you lose heat through the different layers. You need that IR temp gun to assure the surface temps are where you want them.

Whatever substrate you use it needs to be thin over the heat source, 1/4 inch at most.

[Digitalepiphany]

Second, the tstat probe should never be inside to monitor heat from below. It needs to be outside the tub. Placing it anywhere on the flexwatt will work. Since each level is on its own tstat I would place each probe in the corner beside the tub.

I only have it in the tub right now because I haven't been able to get the temp high enough. I have a heat gun. It's only reading 81° on the hotspot.

I think I'll try my insulation board idea and see how that works out. Still have a few weeks till I pick up my snakes, so hopefully I can figure something out before then.

[Virago]

thanks for the suggestions guys. im now using a ceramic heat bulb about a foot above the tubs lid. thermostat reads 78 degrees for the ambient temp and heat gun reads 75 for the floor temp. i honestly didn't thing the ceramic bulb would penetrate the lid enough to be effective but i was wrong i guess. time to get my first ball python yay.