u.t.h. just broke!

[tsdsbd]

alright well my U.T.H. was no sticky nemore...so i put a towel underneath it to get it to touch the bottom of the tank. (my cage is on a dresser).

and when i came home today, i felt the U.T.H. and it was cold then i took it off and it had melted spots and had burnt part of the towel. well its 10:15 pm rite now. not much i can do. and im broke, idk wtf to do to keep them up to temp. i have a 24 hr. black light style heating lamp that keeps the temps survivable, round 70 at night and 80 on the hot side at night.

heres the real question, should i get another U.T.H. or a differnt style belly heat source. whats the best and how do they work..

like whats flexwatt. or what ever its called
and heat cable. idk.

thanks!

[cinderbird]

any type of UTH needs airflow, if you stop the airflow (like with a towel) they can overheat and fail.

Flexwatt NEEDS a thermostat to run its not stable on its own like some UTHs claim to be (honestly.. i dont trust those by themselves either). I use 4'' flex for belly heat on my rack and i enjoy it. It is reliable and easy to use. I have it on a helix thermostat.

[tsdsbd]

any type of UTH needs airflow, if you stop the airflow (like with a towel) they can overheat and fail.

Flexwatt NEEDS a thermostat to run its not stable on its own like some UTHs claim to be (honestly.. i dont trust those by themselves either). I use 4'' flex for belly heat on my rack and i enjoy it. It is reliable and easy to use. I have it on a helix thermostat.

oo....DUH geez i dont know why i didnt think that through obviously airflow is needed haha. i just did something quick because it wasnt gettting hot enough. thermostats are so expensive, and i wouldnt be able to afford one for awhile...but with thermostats you just set the temp on the hot side to 92? for ball pythons anyways?

im COMPLETELY broke for like 2 weeks, with the overhead heat will she be ok for while?

[cinderbird]

its not ideal, but it will do for a temporary measure. These animals are actually a lot hardier than we give them credit for. Just make sure that you mist often and keep the humidity up. You can put the water bowl under the lamp to help boost humidity but make sure to refill it often.

A dimmer at home depot or lows is like 7 bucks. The zoomed reptitemp500r is like 24 or something, the johnson controls and rancos are ~70-90 pre-wired (ie; ready to use out of the box, from reptilebasics.com ---btw Rich at RBI is AWESOME) and the higher end ones are 140+.

I put the thermostat probe directly on the heat sourse outside of the tank or tub. This is to ensure that the snake can in no way move the probe and make the temps swing. I also have a thermometer probe taped down with the thermostat probe in the same place (on the middle shelf on the flexwatt). I have my thermostat set to 92 or so, the lower tubs are around 89 and the higher shelves are 92 or so. it dosen't matter what the thermostat is set to as long as the cage temps are correct, so theoritically you could have the THERMOSTAT set to 100F as long as the THERMOMETER reads 90-94.

Does that help? lol

[tsdsbd]

its not ideal, but it will do for a temporary measure. These animals are actually a lot hardier than we give them credit for. Just make sure that you mist often and keep the humidity up. You can put the water bowl under the lamp to help boost humidity but make sure to refill it often.

A dimmer at home depot or lows is like 7 bucks. The zoomed reptitemp500r is like 24 or something, the johnson controls and rancos are ~70-90 pre-wired (ie; ready to use out of the box, from reptilebasics.com ---btw Rich at RBI is AWESOME) and the higher end ones are 140+.

I put the thermostat probe directly on the heat sourse outside of the tank or tub. This is to ensure that the snake can in no way move the probe and make the temps swing. I also have a thermometer probe taped down with the thermostat probe in the same place (on the middle shelf on the flexwatt). I have my thermostat set to 92 or so, the lower tubs are around 89 and the higher shelves are 92 or so. it dosen't matter what the thermostat is set to as long as the cage temps are correct, so theoritically you could have the THERMOSTAT set to 100F as long as the THERMOMETER reads 90-94.

Does that help? lol

yes that helps alot actually thank you

im sure i will understand the thermostat and thermometer probe thing a little more when i actually get them lol

should i get a thermometer for both cold and hot sides?

[cinderbird]

if you want.

The accruite thermometers have a probe, you put the probe on the hot side and then the unit itself on the cool and you can get the two measurements that way.

Personally, i'd just pick up a temp gun (at the next show i go to, thats on my list of purchases) but then again i have a rack so having 2 thermometers for each tub is kind of ridiculous lol.

[tsdsbd]

if you want.

The accruite thermometers have a probe, you put the probe on the hot side and then the unit itself on the cool and you can get the two measurements that way.

Personally, i'd just pick up a temp gun (at the next show i go to, thats on my list of purchases) but then again i have a rack so having 2 thermometers for each tub is kind of ridiculous lol.

how much is a temp gun??

[mooingtricycle]

if you are unable to get temps up to the area you want, you need to look at the caging as a whole. Where is it placed? Do you have a lid that you can slightly limit ventilation/the area over the heat source to trap heat a bit more efficiently?

Have you put insulation on at least three sides of the outside of the enclosure ( if its a glass tank) like reflectix? ( Stuff is actually pretty cheap)

Have you looked at the Zoo Med 500R Thermostat? You should be using one of these ( A thermostat ) with a heating pad REGARDLESS. Trust me, they (heat pads) can and do fail, even when you dont block airflow. I have two of these running, and have had them running now for quite a few years, never an issue. They are relatively cheap, and if you have a temp gun or digital thermometer, you can dial the stat in to the correct temp and pretty much leave it be.