1st Time RHP User - Need Some Help

[ckuhn003]

Well I finally got around to setting up my AP T10 w/ RHP and I have some questions. I've gotten mixed responses on where to put the Thermostat probe so I decided to dangle the probe 3/4th the way down on the cool side wall (opposite the RHP).

Currently in my enclosure (for testing purposes), I have a hide on each side, bone dry Reptichip and an empty water bowl in the middle. I'll add more 'stuff' later when I'm ready for my 'future Boa' or existing BP to move in.

My questions are where should I be taking my temps (I have a temp gun and several AcuRite units?

Here's some of my readings after w/ an hour between adjustments:

HerpStat (set to 83): Hot Side Hide Top: 93 and Under Hide 86. Cool Side Hide Top: 80 and Under Hide 78. Ambient (unit on cool side) is 81. Humidity w/o H2O: 78

HerpStat (set to 81): Hot Side Hide Top: 86 and Under Hide 82. Cool Side Hide Top: 78 and Under Hide 77. Ambient (unit on cool side) is 79. Humidity w/o H2O: 77

I'm used to UTHs and measuring belly heat. Is that still important and will the temps under the hide get hotter then the tops (eventually)? Should I be measuring other places in the enclosure?

[ckuhn003]

Here’s a picture of my setup (for testing purposes)




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dakski]

Ckuhn003,

I have a RHP on the hot side of my Boaphile tanks. I also have heat tape underneath (redundancy and heat tape heats the ground while the RHP heats the air too).

I run them both off the same thermostat.

I have the probe directly between the two devices (12 inch high tank with 9 inches of clearance give or take below RHP to ground where heat tape is and the probe is placed at about the 5 inch high from ground mark).

If you only have the RHP, that's fine, and I would do the same thing. Put the probe directly between the ground and the RHP, if not even closer to the RHP (depending on what you have in there - bigger animals with more waste means closer to RHP is better so they don't pee or poop on the probe). You will have to play with it a little. It may read 86F on the probe and be 90F on the ground, or the other way around.

I have two tanks, with identical heat requirements, running off the same thermostat with the probe in one tank. I have the probe in Shayna's tank because she's only 1600G and would have trouble messing on it. That probe/thermostat also runs Behira's tank (1 tank above Shayna's), but since she will be rather large, I have no probes in her tank. Keep in mind, both tanks have identical heating elements.

So, to be clear.

1. Probe should placed below heating element (RHP), but not super close to the ground where it can be fouled up easily. It should NOT be on the cool side if the RHP is on the hot side.

2. Check all temps at the ground with a temp gun. Do not rely on the thermostat probe. Even if accurate, temps can very different at the ground, on the cool side ground, etc.

For what it's worth, I check the ground all over the tanks to see ambient temps, but I also hit the sides and walls in back to get ambient air temps. That's probably overkill, but I worry a lot about these things .

Good luck and let us know if you have any other questions.

[ckuhn003]

1. Probe should placed below heating element (RHP), but not super close to the ground where it can be fouled up easily. It should NOT be on the cool side if the RHP is on the hot side.

2. Check all temps at the ground with a temp gun. Do not rely on the thermostat probe. Even if accurate, temps can very different at the ground, on the cool side ground, etc.

For what it's worth, I check the ground all over the tanks to see ambient temps, but I also hit the sides and walls in back to get ambient air temps. That's probably overkill, but I worry a lot about these things .

Good luck and let us know if you have any other questions.

Thanks Dakski...always super helpful but it looks like we've taken different approaches. And I'm not sure if either one is right or wrong or better for that matter. I was told by Bob @ ProProducts to put my probe on the cool side and set it to the max temp desired for the cool end. With this setup, the panel will create a variable basking area and gradient towards the cool end.

What I'm confused about is where to take temp readings and where should they be? I measured inside the hide, top of the hide (hot and cool side), floor, etc...

Are any of the readings I took ok (listed in 1st post)??

[dakski]

If Bob at pro-products said X, and X is working, I don't think it's wrong.

I was just telling you what I do. Keep in mind most of my tanks are 6X2' and I have RHP and heat tape on the hot side with probe and that creates a nice gradient all the way to the cool side, where I have a separate heat tape set to 78-80F for cool side temps (running off a separate thermostat). It gets down to about 80-82F by the time I reach that heat tape on the cool side.

I think AP do too, but Boaphiles are fantastic at holding heat in and the cool side heat tape doesn't run too much, it's really just insurance.

To answer your question, ground temps with the heat gun. If it's 93F on top of the hide but 86F in the hide, the latter number is what you should pay attention too.

Wasn't clear what you were putting in there, a BP or a Boa.

Either way:

Hot spot - 87-89F

Ambient temp/average temp on ground in the middle of the tank: 82-84F

Cool side: 79-81F

The big difference between BP and BCI/Boa is humidity. BP's can be 50-60% with higher levels when shedding. Boa's really want to be closer to 60% with spikes when shedding. Temp wise, they are very similar. As mentioned, Shayna and Behira's tanks run off the same thermostat.