Need help with warm side

[Jackinthabox]

Hello I have a question about hot side heat. I have 2 pvc enclosures side by side. They measure 3w x 2d x 2h I have a herpstat 2 and each one has a 40w reptile basics RHP on each side of the divider wall. Both panels stopped working within 2 days of one another. They are only a week old. The instructions on the RHP specify to place the thermostat prob about 3 inches below the panel. That wouldn’t give us an accurate read on where the snake is going to be ( 20 or so inches below panel). We put the probe on top of it’s warm hide. Now before buying the panel I had emailed and spoke to a representative from Reptile basics and described the situation and that we were trying to create a warm side from the RHP about 2’ above the substrate. They recommended the 40w and didn’t say anything about any other heat source to create the high 80s low 90 that I was aiming for. So the panel has pretty much been running on 100% power to get close to the 90 degree setting we have it on. Are they not supposed to be on full power for that long? Now it maintained an 87-88 pretty much the whole time but never a 90. Do we need to get another thermostat and get heat tape as well? I got the RHP over heat tape to maintain ambient in winter as well as to create hot spot. Both my panels are down and being sent back tomorrow for repair or replace. Do I need a pro heat panel? Do I need uth and panels? I left proheat a message but they are out of office till the 19th and I want to get this figured out ASAP. Thanks for any input.

[Bodie]

I use pro product RHPs in all my cages. They are great and I highly recommend them. I do have a couple of questions..... First what type of critter are you keeping in the cage? Second when you say it now maintains 87-88, is that your hot spot or ambient temp? 88 is hot for the ambient. Four of my cages are the same size as yours. My RHPs are my sole heat in every cage i have but one. That one would be my BP cage. I use the RHP for ambient (81) and a uthratherm heat mat for the hot spot (89). If i tried to use the RHP in my 2ft tall cage to create a hot spot of 89-90, my ambient would be very close to that temp also (which would be too hot) do to the fact that the cage is tall. In my ETB cage, because the perches are so much closer to the panel I can keep an ambient temp of 83 with a hot spot on the top perch of 89. Also all of my RHPs are 60 watt

[Jackinthabox]

I use pro product RHPs in all my cages. They are great and I highly recommend them. I do have a couple of questions..... First what type of critter are you keeping in the cage? Second when you say it now maintains 87-88, is that your hot spot or ambient temp? 88 is hot for the ambient. Four of my cages are the same size as yours. My RHPs are my sole heat in every cage i have but one. That one would be my BP cage. I use the RHP for ambient (81) and a uthratherm heat mat for the hot spot (89). If i tried to use the RHP in my 2ft tall cage to create a hot spot of 89-90, my ambient would be very close to that temp also (which would be too hot) do to the fact that the cage is tall. In my ETB cage, because the perches are so much closer to the panel I can keep an ambient temp of 83 with a hot spot on the top perch of 89. Also all of my RHPs are 60 watt

I have 2 ball pythons. The temps I gave were for my hotspots. My ambient was low 80s. You think that’s why the panels went bad? Because they were running on 100% for several days? It’s aggravating because I emailed reptile basics and specifically asked them about that Prior to this build. They told me I would get what I was looking for from the one panel. Now I’m probably going to have to return my herpstat 2 and buy a herpstat 4 for uth too. Do you think the snakes will be alright for awhile? Temps right now are low to mid 80s. I bought a temporary uth to set up until I can get ahold of pro products

[Bodie]

100% for several days is alot. Once my panels settled in, they rarely go above 25 to 30% to maintain ambient. Like I said there is only on cage I have that I use two heat sources, my BP cage. RHP for ambient and ultra therm for the hot spot

[PitOnTheProwl]

What is the ambient temperature in the room?
Why would you need a herp4?
Either get two singles or another double.....

[Jackinthabox]

100% for several days is alot. Once my panels settled in, they rarely go above 25 to 30% to maintain ambient. Like I said there is only on cage I have that I use two heat sources, my BP cage. RHP for ambient and ultra therm for the hot spot

Doesnt pro products make heat tape or heat pad? Where is your thermostat probe located for the uth? How deep is your substrate?

[Jackinthabox]

What is the ambient temperature in the room?
Why would you need a herp4?
Either get two singles or another double.....

Ambient in summer is around 75
winter around 64-65 lowest. Warms up throughout day. We have thermostats in house set lower because our baseboard heat is super expensive in winter. Costs us around 300 a month for 900 sqft house. I was thinking a herpstat 4 so I can have a probe for each uth and a probe for each RHP

herp 4 would be cheaper than another double. Plus take up less space

[Bodie]

Doesnt pro products make heat tape or heat pad? Where is your thermostat probe located for the uth? How deep is your substrate?

Pro products do not make uth or heat tape. I use a separate thermostat probe that is sandwich between the uth and the outside bottom of the cage. So with that said, you will be heating up the inside surface through the thickness of your cage. With mine I have my thermostat set at 95. By the time the heat travels through the cage (3/8) PVC, the inside surface temp is 89 which is checked with a temp gun. That temperature is not the top of the substrate but the bottom of the cage which is what you want. Your snake will move the substrate out of the way anyways. So in a whole I have two heat sources with their temps controlled independently. As i said earlier I have this "setup" only for my BP. All my other cages I use just the RHP

[Jackinthabox]

Pro products do not make uth or heat tape. I use a separate thermostat probe that is sandwich between the uth and the outside bottom of the cage. So with that said, you will be heating up the inside surface through the thickness of your cage. With mine I have my thermostat set at 95. By the time the heat travels through the cage (3/8) PVC, the inside surface temp is 89 which is checked with a temp gun. That temperature is not the top of the substrate but the bottom of the cage which is what you want. Your snake will move the substrate out of the way anyways. So in a whole I have two heat sources with their temps controlled independently. As i said earlier I have this "setup" only for my BP. All my other cages I use just the RHP

Thanks for the help. Sounds like I need to just keep the panels for ambient and get a heat mat. My herpstat2 is still only 2 weeks old so im pretty sure I can return it and exchange for a herp4. You think I should stick with reptile basics panels or call and get the proheat? They should be receiving them back from me tomorrow at which point they should either replace them or repair. I can cancel them and ask for a refund. What I liked about them was it blended in to my black interior whereas the pro doesn’t. I care more about quality obviously but if they are comparable I think I would rather have the reptile basics. You recommend ultratherm for the uth?

[Bodie]

I have never used reptile basic RHPs so I can not give an opinion. I know there are peeps you use them with no problems. I do use pro products and highly recommend them. I guess I am bias but you will not be disappointed with pro products. I do purchase my ultratherm heat mats through reptile basic. Just so you know, RHPs from pro products are white if that matters. And yes I do recommend ultratherm heat pads, but that is just my opinion.