UTH Questions/Issues

[uafgrad]

First off, thank you for your help, I truly appreciate all of the advice

When I took him home today, I covered the top and two sides with a thick towel
This raised the ambient side to 77 and the hot hide to 86.
There already is a 6" or so water bowl in there, but I could go deeper.
As soon as I get the IR temp gun in Im going to see how hot the glass is. At this point, it is warm to the touch but not certainly hot. How hot is too hot?

As of right now, he is happily under the warm hide hanging out

Thanks again

[uafgrad]

What is the best TStat for the money?

Are any of the ~$50 models adequate, or do I need to break down and buy the Ferrari

[starmom]

Just a thought: Your body temp is 98F and it is warm to your touch... I'm thinking it might be too hot for the snake.

As for the t'stat, I have only ever used the Helix and Herpstat brands and so I am unable to answer that question for you. I will share that a reliable t'stat is everything; well, humidity is important too!

[Lunawf]

what do you think of this product? good, bad??
http://www.petsolutions.com/default....7501&SID=SHZIL

[dr del]

Hi,

Some people have used it and report no problems, some say it has a lot or variance in the temps and some say it's a piece of poop.

I know both ranco and johnsons (sp?) have a good reputation with most people for only a little more.

They are all on/ off thermostats which cannot be used with lamps though - for those you would need a proportional thermostat like a helix or a herpstat.


dr del

[uafgrad]

Well Im even more frustated at this point

As of yesterday afternoon when I picked up my snake, my UTHs had been plugged in for 18+ hours and were giving an ambien temp of mid 70's and a surface temp on top of the substrate at about 77 which made the cool side perfect ( as I understand it) and with the IR lamp, I was carrying a hot hide (probe on inside of hide) at 86. I thought everything was perfect.

Went to check on him (temps/humidity) as I was getting ready for bed and my cool side was showing hotter than the hot side. This caused a minor panic as I assumed that the the thermometer (digital) was failing. So I open up the tank and feel the cool side substrate and its warm. I then move the substrate out of the way and touch the glass and its hot, like dont want to leave my fingers on it hot. Needless to say I didnt know what was going on. I unplugged the UTH(s) and watched the temp throughtout the night. It actually held the temp fairly well (I covered the tank with a thick towel)

So Im back to square one so to say. Im ordering a TStat today and having it expidited to me. I have called every pet store locally and there are none. Hopefully that will help.

So Im thinking.....
If I remove the coconut husk and go with newspapers for lining, I will have an easier time with thermoregulation since there is not an insulation layer between heat source and snake. That will potentially produce problems for me with humidity (likely will). So I was thinking about adding a warm air humidifier to it. Many years ago I used one when I had Iguanas to keep humidity up and temp up. As long as I maintain humidity in the 60% range and the temps in an appropriate range, can anyone think of a problem with using a warm air humidifier?

[ChrisBowsman]

I'm gonna recommend that you go to Wal Mart and get a Sterilite storage tub, and keep the snake in that while you are trying to get the tank setup properly.

The tubs are cheap and easy to get the levels right. I fought a glass tank for a few months, always getting close, but never proper. When I switched to a tub, it was stable in one evening.

I know some people prefer glass, and I'm not trying to steer you away from it, but I bet you will find it less stressful if you're not worrying about hurting the snake in the meantime. You can also use the tub to store the snake when you're cleaning the glass tank, too.

Also, Dr Del is right on about the newspaper. It's way less of a headache than any other stuff. I've been using a rheostat (lamp dimmer) for my UTH for close to a year, and yeah, it requires a little tweaking now and then, but if you monitor your temps (which you need to do even with a t-stat), it's not bad, especially if you only have 1 snake.

If you need more humidity from the water dish, you want a wider bowl, not a deeper bowl. A bowl that's 6" in diameter and 1" deep will generate more humidity than a 5" diameter bowl that's 6" deep. It's about the surface area, not the volume.

Good luck!

[uafgrad]

I'm gonna recommend that you go to Wal Mart and get a Sterilite storage tub, and keep the snake in that while you are trying to get the tank setup properly.

The tubs are cheap and easy to get the levels right. I fought a glass tank for a few months, always getting close, but never proper. When I switched to a tub, it was stable in one evening.

I know some people prefer glass, and I'm not trying to steer you away from it, but I bet you will find it less stressful if you're not worrying about hurting the snake in the meantime. You can also use the tub to store the snake when you're cleaning the glass tank, too.

Also, Dr Del is right on about the newspaper. It's way less of a headache than any other stuff. I've been using a rheostat (lamp dimmer) for my UTH for close to a year, and yeah, it requires a little tweaking now and then, but if you monitor your temps (which you need to do even with a t-stat), it's not bad, especially if you only have 1 snake.

If you need more humidity from the water dish, you want a wider bowl, not a deeper bowl. A bowl that's 6" in diameter and 1" deep will generate more humidity than a 5" diameter bowl that's 6" deep. It's about the surface area, not the volume.

Good luck!

Thanks
I actually have one of the sterlite containers and I think I might do that until I can get things worked out with the tank.
The bowl is less than 1" deep, its irregular shape, but atleast 6" around.

[Lunawf]

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/...10000003+90401

do you think this would work to turn down an UTH?

[waltah!]

That would work for a short term solution. I have several of the zoo med tstats that you posted and they can have a pretty big temp swing. I use them for temp housing most of the time now. Johnson and Ranco have reasonable pricing and would work much better. Try reptilebasics.com for the thermostat. I have found that Helix works very well for me and you can find a deal if you look. I got one of mine used on KS for $50 and it works perfectly. I find tubs way easier to maintain temps in as opposed to glass.