Thermometer and T-stat readings are off? Or I'm just dumb?

[elleeee]

Hi guys, totally new to this forum, and new to this whole experience. Alright here we go~

I'm getting my first hatchling ball python ever (excited!!) in January, and yesterday all the supplies for the tub and whatnots came in. I'm using a 6.5 L plastic tub tub (~6.8 qt, just a bit bigger than a shoebox), aspen substrate, and a Zoo Med Mini heat pad for the hot side, Jump Start Thermostat, and AcuRite Thermometer.
When reading the other forums on here, I taped aluminum foil tape to the Heat Pad so that I could move it around and it wouldn't be like permanent on my tub. Thermostat probe is sandwiched between the UTH and bottom of tub, and Thermometer probe is inside the tub, under the substrate, taped on the bottom of the tub where the heat mat is. The Thermometer box itself (w/ the screen display etc) is inside the tub, on the cool side.
I set everything up last night and was gettin kinda worried about the temperature readings. I set my thermostat for the heat pad to be 97 degrees. I might be sounding stupid, but for my Accurite it would say like the "IN" temperature is 68 F and the "OUT" is 87.4 F... and I'm just confused as to like....if thats right or not or if it's totally off and broken or something. Oh and my humidity is hella high, and I figured it's because it's been raining where I live for the past few days, but now I'm not too sure?


Am I being crazy? Should I get a different Thermometer? Is it the heating Pad? Should I get a flexiwatt instead or somethin?

I ordered an infrared digital thermometer that should be coming on sunday though, just to be safe.


Btw theres no snake in the tub yet, I'm just making sure the set up is all ok before I get him

[Albert Clark]

Sounds good. Congrats on getting your supplies and setup working. Also on acquiring your new ball python. It seems you have everything pretty much on point. I think the "in" reading may be the last recorded temperature and the "out" may be your active actual temperature that it's reading. Let the system run for several hours though bc it takes time for the thermostat to actually equilibrate the correct temps. I would think the 68F reading might be from the actual room temperature the probe was picking up.

[modrummer]

I have the same thermometer.

The thermometer is made for in house use, with the probe running outside. So the "in" temperature is the temperature of the area around the thermometer display, the "out" temperature is the temperature at the the probe.

The reason the "out" temperature on your thermometer is lower than the set temperature on the thermostat is because the heat has to go through the plastic container. So in order to reach 90 degrees or so at the thermometer probe, you'll probably have to set your thermostat to 99 degrees or so (at least mine does). Experiment with it and see.

Your "in" temperature is the ambient temp in your enclosure. If that is reading 68 degrees, it is WAY too low. You need to get it to more like 78 degrees to keep your snake healthy. A UTH won't affect the ambient temperature much, you need another heat source. Either use a lamp or ceramic heater, or just get the temperature in the room the snake is housed in higher.

Your "out" temperature is a little low, but it's probably ok.

What is your humidity?

[chakup]

Welcome to tubs and heat tape/pads. You need something for ambient heat temps. You use the thermometer to gauge the actual in cage temp and adjust the thermostat setting to where needs to be.

[Sallos]

Those little tubs are great at holding humidity. You might need more air holes to increase the air flow and bring that humidity down a bit if it is too high. Thumbs up on the IR laser thermometer, they are the best at measuring surface temperatures. Make sure to measure the temp on the inside bottom of the tub, below the substrate. The snake can burrow down to reach the plastic and you don't want that to be too high.

I do have a probe thermometer and use it to measure ambient temps in the tub. If the room turns out to be too cold, and the ambients inside the tub are low, you can try putting a towel over the tub to insulate it. If that isn't enough, I actually have a second flex watt on the cool side to make sure it stays at 80 degrees. But that may be overkill in most situations.

[elleeee]

[QUOTE]

I have the same thermometer.

The thermometer is made for in house use, with the probe running outside. So the "in" temperature is the temperature of the area around the thermometer display, the "out" temperature is the temperature at the the probe.

The reason the "out" temperature on your thermometer is lower than the set temperature on the thermostat is because the heat has to go through the plastic container. So in order to reach 90 degrees or so at the thermometer probe, you'll probably have to set your thermostat to 99 degrees or so (at least mine does). Experiment with it and see.

Your "in" temperature is the ambient temp in your enclosure. If that is reading 68 degrees, it is WAY too low. You need to get it to more like 78 degrees to keep your snake healthy. A UTH won't affect the ambient temperature much, you need another heat source. Either use a lamp or ceramic heater, or just get the temperature in the room the snake is housed in higher.

Your "out" temperature is a little low, but it's probably ok.

What is your humidity?

Ooh!!! That's good to know. Thank you! Right now my humidity is at like 89% hahaha....pretty high ;__;
But other than that, I just turned on my heat pad again and I'm testing out the temperature again. So it's still taking some time to heat up.

[elleeee]

Those little tubs are great at holding humidity. You might need more air holes to increase the air flow and bring that humidity down a bit if it is too high. Thumbs up on the IR laser thermometer, they are the best at measuring surface temperatures. Make sure to measure the temp on the inside bottom of the tub, below the substrate. The snake can burrow down to reach the plastic and you don't want that to be too high.

I do have a probe thermometer and use it to measure ambient temps in the tub. If the room turns out to be too cold, and the ambients inside the tub are low, you can try putting a towel over the tub to insulate it. If that isn't enough, I actually have a second flex watt on the cool side to make sure it stays at 80 degrees. But that may be overkill in most situations.

Yeah! The humidity is off the charts right now hahaa. But I also think it's because we've got a lot of rain these past days or something. Thank you for the advice! This sounds dum but if I do have to get a second UTH I would have to get a second thermostat too huh? Because tbh getting a second heat pad like a flex watt or something seems like a pretty good decision..but I still have to experiment haha

[Neal]

TBH that thermstat and the acurite aren't the most accurate. It's more of a idea. If you want an accurate thermostat you want to go for a VE or Herpstat.