Measuring UTH Temps with probe?

[Aeries]

Hey there. Is a thermometer with a probe accurate enough to measure the temperatures outputed by UTHs? I'm having a bit of trouble with temperature fluxuation, even though I have the UTH set up to it's own rheostat.

My exoterra desert heat mat is giving off a reading of 96 degrees, (with a layer of newspaper insulation where the probe is, then substrate over top.) but when I feel it it feels only slightly warm, and my snake feels cool. The thermometer is brand new too.

[dreese88]

A bunch of folks around here use the acu-rite brand you can get at wal-mart (positive) and lowes (if I'm not mistaken). They're about $12 and have a probe to go under the warm side hide so you can tell how hot it is really running

[starmom]

Remember that our body temp is 98.6F and so it makes sense that it would feel a little cool; or only slightly warm

You might be having problems with all of the substrate. Have you tried only newspaper or only the other substrate? Also, IR temp guns are really helpful with getting accurate readings

[bigballs]

96 degrees should only feel slightly warm considering youre body temp is just a little higher than that. if youre not confident in the thermometer youre using then try using a few others to double check. the UTH is only supposed to create a surface temperature and will not raise the ambient temperature by more than a few degrees depending on the application.

[Aeries]

ah, that makes sense! I'll have to play around with the substrate then. I figured having the layer of insulation would make it a little cooler.

[skaplan86]

I use an acurite and put the probe in the warm hide, but when the snake goes into the hide he pushes it out of the hide. Whats the best way to fasten the probe? It has some sticky stuff on the back to stick it to something, but I'm afraid if I stick it to something it will be a pain to take out when i need to clean it.

[Aeries]

You can you tape!

[kellysballs]

I use a an infared heat sensor/gun to measure the temps in my racks. You can get one from Neil Golli's website for $25.00 or so and last time I was on his site he was offering free shipping. That is the way I would go. You can also check the surface temp of your snake! Pretty cool if you ask me.