Quote Originally Posted by Bruce Whitehead View Post
Your hot side is too hot... and your temp drop is a concern on the cool side.

Aim for a gradient of ten degrees... 80-90 degrees. 80 on the cool end, 90 on the hot end.

You cannot have a UTH unregulated. You need at LEAST a dimmer rheostat, and at BEST a thermostat. Ideally 2 thermostats, one for the cool side one for the warm side. But if your temps are not dipping below 78 degrees on the cool end that you are probably OK. Just keep in mind, that if you are not using a thermostat... if the temps in the room dip X degrees, then so does your enclosure. i.e. A room drop of ten degrees, means an enclosure drop of ten degrees.

If the humidity is not high enough. I aim for 55 - 60%... then use a larger bowl, add moisture holding substrate, move the bowl to the cool side etc. Keep in mind that a TALLER bowl will not do anything, you want increased surface area of the bowl; as that is where the water will evaporate from.

Bruce
Thanks for the info. For one thing I don't think I have enough thickness of news paper. I am going to add a little more . I found a how to thread on another site to make a rheostat with a dimmer switch from Wal-Mart. I am going to get my Dad to do it for me. I can't get to a pet store for a thermostat before Tuesday. (Petsmart is 45 minutes away) I think I may have to get a ceramic heat emitter so that I can maintain heat at night without the light. I didn't think to actually put water into the water bowl now with no snake and all. (I feel dumb) I am going to add water and see what my humidity comes up to.