Thrive easy clean terrarium husbandry issues

[drmrboy2008]

I received my ball python 2 months ago and was given the thrive easy clean terrarium. And just to say it bluntly, it's crap.... but im making due. I'm trying to get the Temps just right and not burn her. I have the zoo med environmental control center with UTH set at 89, the CHE set on a dimmer at 89 as well. Ambient on cool side with zoo med digital thermometer is 77.2. However when I check Temps below the substrate (cocohusk) it's way higher at times but idk if that has anything to do with the UTH heating the glass and then the easy pull substrate tray as well. Penelope (ball python) is currently in shed (muted colors, pink belly, and gray eyes) and I've read raised humidity and slightly elevated Temps help shed. She shed in one piece the last time but I didn't have the equipment then that I have now. I just had basking lamps before and I guess I was just lucky. Any tips on this would be much appreciated.

[Homebody]

I received my ball python 2 months ago and was given the thrive easy clean terrarium. And just to say it bluntly, it's crap.... but im making due. I'm trying to get the Temps just right and not burn her. I have the zoo med environmental control center with UTH set at 89, the CHE set on a dimmer at 89 as well. Ambient on cool side with zoo med digital thermometer is 77.2. However when I check Temps below the substrate (cocohusk) it's way higher at times but idk if that has anything to do with the UTH heating the glass and then the easy pull substrate tray as well. Penelope (ball python) is currently in shed (muted colors, pink belly, and gray eyes) and I've read raised humidity and slightly elevated Temps help shed. She shed in one piece the last time but I didn't have the equipment then that I have now. I just had basking lamps before and I guess I was just lucky. Any tips on this would be much appreciated.

Pics of your set up will get you the best advice. This thread will show you how. It sounds to me like you have your thermostat's probe in the wrong place. It should be between the UTH and the bottom of the enclosure. That will keep your UTH from over heating your enclosure.

[drmrboy2008]

So I tried that..... mat then probe then enclosure.... but then I wasn't getting enough heat when I used my ir temp gun to get a reading. The mat has two barriers (glass and then the tray) to try and push heat through. I provided a link of the type of enclosure I have. https://www.petsmart.com/reptile/hab...ium-59177.html

I would provide pics of my setup but it says it's too big to process.

[drmrboy2008]

Here are the pics, I figured it out if this helps

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[Homebody]

If your probe is on top of your substrate, then your UTH is going to heat up until the top of your substrate is 89 degrees. But if the top of the substrate is 89 degrees, the bottom is going to be dangerously hot. You should put the probe between the UTH and the bottom of the enclosure and reduce or eliminate the substrate over the UTH. That will allow the heat from the UTH to reach your BP without raising the temps in your enclosure to dangerous levels. That is, if I understand your set up. If that doesn't work, you could always just remove the UTH. The CHE should provide sufficient heat.

[drmrboy2008]

If your probe is on top of your substrate, then your UTH is going to heat up until the top of your substrate is 89 degrees. But if the top of the substrate is 89 degrees, the bottom is going to be dangerously hot. You should put the probe between the UTH and the bottom of the enclosure and reduce or eliminate the substrate over the UTH. That will allow the heat from the UTH to reach your BP without raising the temps in your enclosure to dangerous levels. That is, if I understand your set up. If that doesn't work, you could always just remove the UTH. The CHE should provide sufficient heat.

So the way the enclosure is set up is the che is above the warm hide set to 88 degrees to give me my gradient a ross the other side, and underneath the warm hide is the uth. The probe is underneath the substrate only because the tray slides in over the glass. So putting the probe between the glass and uth won't heat the plastic tray enough. Me having it done this way, is it safe to say a few times a day I need to check the tray temp and tweak as needed until I upgrade her to a larger (she grew like for inches in a month), more efficient terrarium that just has one barrier (pvc, or glass) between the uth and substrate?

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[Homebody]

So the way the enclosure is set up is the che is above the warm hide set to 88 degrees to give me my gradient a ross the other side, and underneath the warm hide is the uth. The probe is underneath the substrate only because the tray slides in over the glass. So putting the probe between the glass and uth won't heat the plastic tray enough. Me having it done this way, is it safe to say a few times a day I need to check the tray temp and tweak as needed until I upgrade her to a larger (she grew like for inches in a month), more efficient terrarium that just has one barrier (pvc, or glass) between the uth and substrate?

No. It's not safe. You are not a thermostat. You can't be there constantly checking and adjusting your temperature the way a thermostat would.

Now, if your probe is affixed on the inside of the bottom tray under the substrate, then the thermostat should turn off your heating element before it gets too hot in the enclosure. In your original post, you said that temperatures sometimes get "way higher" than 89 degrees. Exactly how high do the temperatures get?

[drmrboy2008]

No. It's not safe. You are not a thermostat. You can't be there constantly checking and adjusting your temperature the way a thermostat would.

Now, if your probe is affixed on the inside of the bottom tray under the substrate, then the thermostat should turn off your heating element before it gets too hot in the enclosure. In your original post, you said that temperatures sometimes get "way higher" than 89 degrees. Exactly how high do the temperatures get?

It got up to 101 degrees..... Due to the nuissance this terrarium is I will just get a new one sooner rather than later.

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[Homebody]

It got up to 101 degrees..... Due to the nuissance this terrarium is I will just get a new one sooner rather than later.

It doesn't look like this enclosure was designed for a UTH. I recommend that you remove it and just use the CHE. Lots of people do that successfully.

[drmrboy2008]

It doesn't look like this enclosure was designed for a UTH. I recommend that you remove it and just use the CHE. Lots of people do that successfully.

Yeah.... I 100% do not recommend this terrarium at all. It's more hassle than what it's worth. Appreciate it, thanks.

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