Help, bad thermostat??

[Nephil]

I keep getting issues and it's exhausting to stress for each one of them. After 2-3 months of no issuess w temp i saw that the cool side keeps overheating to 29°(C). I use a probed thermometer and 2 heat mats to warm up my BP's container and each is attached to a thermostat. I noticed that the cool side just suddenly started to have problems, and before i set my thermostat to warm up till 26°,but after seeing the high temps i switched to 25°, with no change. The thermostat still always shows 26°, it stays like that for a while, and then it lowers but if it ends up under 25° it turns the power on and the temp rockets to 29° (on my thermometer) then after the stat reached "26°" everything seems to cool down bit by bit, but then it overheats again and it goes on like a roller-coaster. What the hell is happening?? I also want to clear out that it's probably not my thermometer's problem, cause even though the thermostat says it's 26° the ground feels very warm, warming up hides and just anything in the enclosure. I also want to add that my thermostat reads temp slower than the thermometer.

[Hugsplox]

What kind of thermostats are you using? I had a similar problem when using a normal on/off thermostat with a CHE. I'd set it to what temp I wanted, thermostat would let it get there and turn off, but because CHEs stay hot for awhile with no power the temp would always still get a little higher than I wanted. I compensated for this by just turning down the temp it was set to.

What could be happening is your heatpad is getting where it needs to be, the thermostat turns off, but the surface is still hot, the pad is still hot even without power while it cools down as you mentioned. Are you keeping in a glass or PVC enclosure?

Of course it could also be faulty equipment. The good news is, at those temps you're probably not going to hurt your snake, BUT it's good that you're paying attention because if there's something faulty with the thermostat you could overheat to the point of injuring your animal.

[Nephil]

If i remember well the thermostat's brand is Riogoo, it's a plant stat but i bought it cause it still has the same function as a reptile one would: control a heat mat. Plus at first i wanted to get something more pricey, like jump-start stat, but it wasn't available at the time where i was setting up my BP's home. I use a plastic tub.

[Erie_herps]

Where do you have the thermostat probe at? It could be because it takes a while for the temperature to reach the probe and by that time the temperature is too hot. Depending on the thermostat you have it might have too low of sensitivity.

[Nephil]

Where do you have the thermostat probe at? It could be because it takes a while for the temperature to reach the probe and by that time the temperature is too hot. Depending on the thermostat you have it might have too low of sensitivity.

Both the thermomether's and thermostat's probes are near each other in the tub under the substrate (i use coco fiber) and they never have been moved by my BP, i keep them in place with a pebble.

[Hugsplox]

Both the thermomether's and thermostat's probes are near each other in the tub under the substrate (i use coco fiber) and they never have been moved by my BP, i keep them in place with a pebble.

That's part of your issue. Your thermostat's probe need to be sandwiched between the heatmat and the outside of the enclosure. (See the below thread for pictures)

Think of this way, with your probe on the inside, the mat is having to heat up through a layer of plastic to hit the temp your thermostat is set to, so of course the mat is actually hotter than it really needs to be. Plus there are other issues that arise from having the probe in the enclosure, such as liquids getting on it, your snake moving it, etc etc.


https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...cement-for-UTH

[Nephil]

Yeah, i do know bout liquids getting on it, that's why i always check if everything's okay with the probes.. Though what surprises me is that i never had any issue like that before for whole 2 months, can a problem actually show up so late? Not saying i'm going to be stubborn and impossible to prove wrong, i just wonder. I will try any option i have to get everything back in place, but should i keep both of the thermostats' and thermometer's probes under between the tub and heat mat?

[Nephil]

Yeah, i do know bout liquids getting on it, that's why i always check if everything's okay with the probes.. Though what surprises me is that i never had any issue like that before for whole 2 months, can a problem actually show up so late? Not saying i'm going to be stubborn and impossible to prove wrong, i just wonder. I will try any option i have to get everything back in place, but should i keep both of the thermostats' and thermometer's probes under between the tub and heat mat?

(Okay dont mind the last question, i checked the link out ^^`)

[Hugsplox]

Yeah, i do know bout liquids getting on it, that's why i always check if everything's okay with the probes.. Though what surprises me is that i never had any issue like that before for whole 2 months, can a problem actually show up so late? Not saying i'm going to be stubborn and impossible to prove wrong, i just wonder. I will try any option i have to get everything back in place, but should i keep both of the thermostats' and thermometer's probes under between the tub and heat mat?

What I would do, is move your thermostat probes to under the enclosure between the mat and the bottom of the enclosure as shown in the thread I linked you to. Then get yourself a temp gun like the one below to spot check your temps. You can leave your thermometer probes on the inside but just understand that they could get moved or get wet, so I would not use those as a fullproof way of ensuring your temps are where they need to be. You do need to check your temps at the bottom of the enclosure not on top of the substrate just to be clear. Your snake will move substrate and if the surface of the enclosure is too hot it can burn your snake.

In my enclosures that I still use heat mats in I move the substrate and take the temp with that thermometer linked below. I do this usually once a day when I do my enclosure checks.I don't use any probes at ground level where my animals can move them.

https://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Lase...4304386&sr=8-2

Edit: Just to be clear you don't have to use THIS thermometer, it's just what I use. Also I responded before I saw your reply about looking at the other link so you can ignore that part lol.

[Nephil]

What I would do, is move your thermostat probes to under the enclosure between the mat and the bottom of the enclosure as shown in the thread I linked you to. Then get yourself a temp gun like the one below to spot check your temps. You can leave your thermometer probes on the inside but just understand that they could get moved or get wet, so I would not use those as a fullproof way of ensuring your temps are where they need to be. You do need to check your temps at the bottom of the enclosure not on top of the substrate just to be clear. Your snake will move substrate and if the surface of the enclosure is too hot it can burn your snake.

In my enclosures that I still use heat mats in I move the substrate and take the temp with that thermometer linked below. I do this usually once a day when I do my enclosure checks.I don't use any probes at ground level where my animals can move them.

https://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Lase...4304386&sr=8-2

Edit: Just to be clear you don't have to use THIS thermometer, it's just what I use. Also I responded before I saw your reply about looking at the other link so you can ignore that part lol.

I'm back with a little update. I put the probes under the tub and i realised that even the second heat mat (on hot side) was overheated, really overheated! Seems that's why my BP didn't really like to be near that spot, ahah ^^". Everything seems to be going fine for now, and the temp roller-coaster stopped too, it's just now harder to keep the temp higher in the tub. Thanks alot!!!