2 UTHs?

[Shayne]

Quick question...

So, I made the complete noob mistake of going with a glass tank so as you could've guessed, I'm fighting humidity issues. Can't seem to get it above 46, 47%. I have half the screen lid taped to help trap humidity but left the other side mostly open as to be able to run a CHE since the single UTH (which covers 50% of the tank floor) can't seem to get the ambient temps to 80, or so. I'm aware the CHE is killing my humidity but I'm kinda in the "trial & error" phase right now.

Question is, would it be okay to remove the CHE, finish taping the other side of the lid, leaving maybe a small opening for ventilation, and install a 2nd UTH on the other side (covering the whole floor from underneath) in hopes it will keep the ambient around 80? Hope this makes sense.

Thanks for reading!

[PitOnTheProwl]

The point of an UTH is to create a hot spot on the floor.
A properly regulated mat will not do much to ambient temperature, hope you have it on a thermostat and the glass under your substrate should be where you are taking your temp reading from.
What wattage is your CHE?
Option is to raise the temperature in that room.

[Dianne]

The only way I would consider a second uth is if were on a lower temperature (80F) so your snake can thermoregulate. However as PitOnTheProwl mentioned, this won’t really change ambient temperatures. Yes, heat rises so you do get some lift but not like a che provides. I would look at insulating the tank by covering 3 sides with rigid insulation (hardware store) or foam board (Wal-Mart or craft store). You can also add this to the tank lid to further insulate, just protect it from the lamp. This will help retain the heat. For humidity you can try different substrates, large water bowl, or provide humid hides.

And as always, all heat sources need to be regulated by a thermostat. For uth the probe ‘should’ be between the uth and the bottom of the tank. The probe on my 2 quarantine setups is very thick, so I’ve taped it to the back side of the heat mat...so probe, heat mat, enclosure vs heat mat, probe, enclosure. The probe is kept tight to the heat mat with tape and the weight of the enclosure on top of it. I also regularly spot check surface temperatures with a digital heat gun. You always want to measure temp at the glass or cage floor. Snakes will burrow, so you do not want the heat tape to get hot enough to burn.

[Sunnieskys]

I use a tank with a Che. I measure cardboard to cove the entire top of the screen. Trace a spot for my lamp. Cut that out a little bigger than the lamp. Cover it all with foil. My humidity in my 40 stays 60-65. My ambient temp stays at 80. I posted a tutorial for it in the caging section. It's how,to use styrofoam for your uth but my lid is in there too.

[Shayne]

The point of an UTH is to create a hot spot on the floor.
A properly regulated mat will not do much to ambient temperature, hope you have it on a thermostat and the glass under your substrate should be where you are taking your temp reading from.
What wattage is your CHE?
Option is to raise the temperature in that room.

Yes, I'm running 2 "JumpStart" thermostats - 1 for the UTH under the hide and the other for the CHE on the other side. Yes sir, they're mounted underneath the glass tank on the outside. Just to clarify, the probe should be under the hide, below the substrate, directly on the glass and reading around 90 degrees, correct? Or does it need to be above the substrate but up against the bottom of the hide? CHE is a 100w.

[Shayne]

The only way I would consider a second uth is if were on a lower temperature (80F) so your snake can thermoregulate. However as PitOnTheProwl mentioned, this won’t really change ambient temperatures. Yes, heat rises so you do get some lift but not like a che provides. I would look at insulating the tank by covering 3 sides with rigid insulation (hardware store) or foam board (Wal-Mart or craft store). You can also add this to the tank lid to further insulate, just protect it from the lamp. This will help retain the heat. For humidity you can try different substrates, large water bowl, or provide humid hides.

And as always, all heat sources need to be regulated by a thermostat. For uth the probe ‘should’ be between the uth and the bottom of the tank. The probe on my 2 quarantine setups is very thick, so I’ve taped it to the back side of the heat mat...so probe, heat mat, enclosure vs heat mat, probe, enclosure. The probe is kept tight to the heat mat with tape and the weight of the enclosure on top of it. I also regularly spot check surface temperatures with a digital heat gun. You always want to measure temp at the glass or cage floor. Snakes will burrow, so you do not want the heat tape to get hot enough to burn.

Right now, I have 3 sides covered with stiff foam insulation, half the screen lid covered with tape (on the OUTside, of course), about an inch of Reptile Prime coconut substrate on the floor, 1 lg. and 1 med. water bowl. Gonna move one of the bowls closer to the UTH and see if that helps along with covering the other side of the screen lid leaving an opening for the CHE. Thanks for the "probe" info. Makes sense to me now. I was thinking of moving the probe to the top of the substrate, under the hide but I won't now. Yes, I do spot checks with a laser temp. gun throughout the day like an obsessed mother. Top of substrate stays between 79-81 and the inside of the hide stays 89-91. Sound good?

Thanks for the advice!

I use a tank with a Che. I measure cardboard to cove the entire top of the screen. Trace a spot for my lamp. Cut that out a little bigger than the lamp. Cover it all with foil. My humidity in my 40 stays 60-65. My ambient temp stays at 80. I posted a tutorial for it in the caging section. It's how,to use styrofoam for your uth but my lid is in there too.

Will be finishing up the other side of the screen today and see where that gets me. I'm gonna go check out your tutorial. Thanks so much!

[PitOnTheProwl]

Yes, I'm running 2 "JumpStart" thermostats - 1 for the UTH under the hide and the other for the CHE on the other side. Yes sir, they're mounted underneath the glass tank on the outside. Just to clarify, the probe should be under the hide, below the substrate, directly on the glass and reading around 90 degrees, correct? Or does it need to be above the substrate but up against the bottom of the hide? CHE is a 100w.

Probe shouldnt be inside the enclosure. It should be between the glass and mat. Fluids can cause the probe to give a false reading. Also a burrowing animal can move it.

How thick is your substrate above the mat? Should be less than a 1/2 inch.
What are you using to measure your surface and ambient temperatures?

[Shayne]

Probe shouldnt be inside the enclosure. It should be between the glass and mat. Fluids can cause the probe to give a false reading. Also a burrowing animal can move it.

How thick is your substrate above the mat? Should be less than a 1/2 inch.
What are you using to measure your surface and ambient temperatures?

Ahh ok, makes sense about the probe. I'll move it in the morning. Thankfully, I had ordered another UTH just as a backup as I've heard removing them will more than likely damage the heating element.

Substrate is about an inch. This is what I was told to do by someone whom I trusted for advice. Thanks for the correction. Will take care of that tomorrow as well.

I'm using a laser temp gun for daily spot checks and have 2 thermo/hygrometers (one on each side of the tank).

Thanks for the help!

[Shayne]

IIRC, I was told more substrate would help with holding in heat in a glass tank. Looks like I may be upgrading to a PVC enclosure mainly due to the humidity issues I'm also having.

[PitOnTheProwl]

You can raise the humidity a little if you place the water bowl either partially on the heat mat or directly under the CHE.
As far as heat mats, you can make it reusable. Get aluminum tape and cover the sticky side of the mat with it. Sticky side to sticky side. Then use more foil tape round the edges to secure it to the bottom of the tank.