Can I get by with just a Radiant heat panel?

[Zoe]

Thanks! Well, I am shopping around for a smaller RHP. When I get it, I'll disconnect the heat pad and see what happens! My plan is to build up the substrate on one side and find a hide material that is more conductive of heat, see if I can't get it to 89-91 in the hide.

From experience, I find the RHP VERY effective at heating the glass tank (note that it does have a wood lid and cork board on the back). Mine is 80W and it's barely on (the indicator light flickers), and it adds about 10 degrees to the tank. It goes up a smidge higher in the winter when it's colder in the room, but still barely. Even in a larger tank, I can't imagine how hot it would get at full temp. I'm shopping for a 40W at the moment.

[larryd23]

I would keep the RHP for ambient temperature and the UTH for belly heat.

As others have said, the sensor for the thermostat goes between the UTH and the glass tank bottom. Using your temp gun, you should measure the temperature directly on the glass tank bottom without any substrate.

Don't worry if the surface temperature above your UTH is lower than 90 degrees after you add substrate. Your BP WILL move the substrate out of the way if he wants more heat.

And you can save some money by not putting down too much substrate. By the time your BP weighs a few hundred grams he'll be pushing around anything and everything that's in his way.

[redshepherd]

Needing "belly heat for digestion" is a myth, it's really not necessary! If you have a properly regulated RHP with correct ambient temps on the warm side, you don't need a heat pad.

[Zoe]

I would keep the RHP for ambient temperature and the UTH for belly heat.

As others have said, the sensor for the thermostat goes between the UTH and the glass tank bottom. Using your temp gun, you should measure the temperature directly on the glass tank bottom without any substrate.

Don't worry if the surface temperature above your UTH is lower than 90 degrees after you add substrate. Your BP WILL move the substrate out of the way if he wants more heat.

And you can save some money by not putting down too much substrate. By the time your BP weighs a few hundred grams he'll be pushing around anything and everything that's in his way.

Oh he's a young adult, still doesn't move any substrate around for anything. Lazy boy He may also just not know that he needs to dig down for more heat. Not that he's ever had any issues digesting or anything so the status-quo is fine... just a lot of cords for not much heat payoff, I think.

[Zoe]

Needing "belly heat for digestion" is a myth, it's really not necessary! If you have a properly regulated RHP with correct ambient temps on the warm side, you don't need a heat pad.

Thanks, this is what I suspected, as I don't think they would get belly heat in the wild - except for coming out at dusk and hanging out on a sun-warmed rock for a bit, I suppose, which I can simulate.

I'm gonna do it! I'll report back if it works out well or if the whole thing implodes.

[Zoe]

In case anyone is interested, I wanted to give you an update:

I went ahead and got a 40W radiant heat panel (the old was 120W... yikes).

I hooked it up to the thermostat and set it to about 93F (1-2" under the surface of the RHP). The first problem was it wasn't strong enough unless the temperature in the room was 80F+. Then, when the temp was that high, the whole tank was too warm (84F on the cool side).

So, I had to build up the substrate on one side of the tank about 4" higher than the other side, using driftwood branches to contain the extra substrate. For the cool hide, I use a corner hide that can be butted up against the glass, and with very little substrate on the ground, and build up a little mound of substrate around it - with the intention to further insulate the cool side hide from the heat. Not sure if that is making any difference.

With the warm hide that much closer to the RHP, I was able to lower the RHP and create a better temp balance. The cool hide is now 79-80, inside the warm hide is 88-90, the top surface of the warm hide is 90-92, and the ambient temp is 80-85. He is using both hides, and I'm happy with the new setup, knowing that even if the thermostat fails he is at pretty low risk of overheating even with the RHP at full blast (at least, not quickly) and at no risk of burning. Also glad to cut down on wires and potential failure points.

[seercirra]

I've never heard of a burrowing BP. For lots of people the only substrate is a few sheets of newspaper. If your heat mat is so far away from the surface of the substrate that it cannot get it up to ~90f, you need to remove alot of that substrate. A heat mat (in my experience, yours may vary so check) won't get hot enough to burn a snake. If you just plug in the heatmat without a thermostat and let it get as hot as it can get before shooting a temp gun at it, you'll see it reaches a max of about 110f - about 44c. The minimum temp for causing a burn to human skin (after 5-6 hours of contact) is 44c. Snake scales are far more resiliant than human skin, besides, BPs can see heat and they aren't stupid.

If you start mounting substrate on one side to correct the temps, it's going to drive you crazy because your snake doesn't care and will mess it up all the time. I reccomend just a heat lamp on a dimming thermostat to regulate the ambient temp and a heat mat for the warm hide, also on a thermostat. Don't worry about having tonnes of substrate, 3 sheets of newspaper laid flat is fine. The point of substrate is mainly to soak up urine. The amount you need is the amount it takes to soak up a pee.

[redshepherd]

I've never heard of a burrowing BP. For lots of people the only substrate is a few sheets of newspaper. If your heat mat is so far away from the surface of the substrate that it cannot get it up to ~90f, you need to remove alot of that substrate. A heat mat (in my experience, yours may vary so check) won't get hot enough to burn a snake. If you just plug in the heatmat without a thermostat and let it get as hot as it can get before shooting a temp gun at it, you'll see it reaches a max of about 110f - about 44c. The minimum temp for causing a burn to human skin (after 5-6 hours of contact) is 44c. Snake scales are far more resiliant than human skin, besides, BPs can see heat and they aren't stupid.

If you start mounting substrate on one side to correct the temps, it's going to drive you crazy because your snake doesn't care and will mess it up all the time. I reccomend just a heat lamp on a dimming thermostat to regulate the ambient temp and a heat mat for the warm hide, also on a thermostat. Don't worry about having tonnes of substrate, 3 sheets of newspaper laid flat is fine. The point of substrate is mainly to soak up urine. The amount you need is the amount it takes to soak up a pee.

Please never tell anybody to use a heat source without a thermostat lol.

BP's don't "burrow", but they do push aside substrate and will sit at the bottom of the enclosure.

Only Ultratherms get to around 115-120 F max, but some other brands of heat mats get up to 130 F within 10 minutes if not regulated by a thermostat.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Your option are pretty simple

A/ You offer a cool side 76/78 and a hot side 86/88 how you provide that is up to you there are methods that offer less heat loss and are more cost effective.

B/ You offer ambient temp alone around 85 the way you do this is again up to you.

If the animal has access to temps in the mid 80's it will digest properly.

[WhompingWillow]

For our 4x2 PVC enclosure we use a Reptile Basics 80 watt RHP as the single heat source. It works great. Hot spot is 88-99, ambient on the cool side is around 81. RHP's heat up objects moreso than the air, so unless your home is kept pretty cool, I'd think having both a RHP and UTH would be overkill. Our house is around 74/75 in summer and 70 in winter. Thermostat for RHP is currently set to 87, we'll probably have to bump it up when it gets cold out.