sign of heat pad to hot?

[andrewrks123]

Hey sorry for posting so many threads should be the last one for awhile...


any way. i just bought a heat pad for the bottom of tank it doesn't feel hot at all but my snake always goes to the hide box opposite of the heat pad?

is that a sign thats its to hot?


like i put my hand on top of the bedding and its just worm i dont no why it would be to hot

[omnibus2]

Well, get a good digital thermometer first of all.

Also, for the heat pad, get a *thermometer gun* (not sure if that's what it's called); it measures temps on the ground.

Do not guesstimate temperatures.

[OhhWatALoser]

Hey sorry for posting so many threads should be the last one for awhile...


any way. i just bought a heat pad for the bottom of tank it doesn't feel hot at all but my snake always goes to the hide box opposite of the heat pad?

is that a sign thats its to hot?


like i put my hand on top of the bedding and its just worm i dont no why it would be to hot

whats the thermometer say? 90-94 at the hot spot is perfect.

[andrewrks123]

alright thanks for the mean time would u think its to hot because my ball goes to the opposite hide box of the uth

[andrewrks123]

whats the thermometer say? 90-94 at the hot spot is perfect.

well what my setup is like, one hidebox with uth under the tank, then the other side another hidebox with the heat lamp over it. hot side is 90 and where the uth is 80 not including uth

[nixer]

Well, get a good digital thermometer first of all.

Also, for the heat pad, get a *thermometer gun* (not sure if that's what it's called); it measures temps on the ground.

Do not guesstimate temperatures.

those IR temperature guns do not work on glass!

[mainbutter]

Also, for the heat pad, get a *thermometer gun* (not sure if that's what it's called); it measures temps on the ground.

I use an infrared digital thermometer to monitor temperature:
http://www.tempgun.com/order.html#pe1

A thermostat and/or rheostat to control the output of the heat pad are essential, I use the temp gun as a backup for double-checking the direct temperature on the heat pad.

Most heat pads run too hot, ~115-120F if uncontrolled.

[andrewrks123]

I use an infrared digital thermometer to monitor temperature:
http://www.tempgun.com/order.html#pe1

A thermostat and/or rheostat to control the output of the heat pad are essential, I use the temp gun as a backup for double-checking.

Most heat pads run too hot, ~115-120F if uncontrolled.

thanks but then what should i do if they run to hot! theres no dial to turn them down!

[OhhWatALoser]

those IR temperature guns do not work on glass!

wouldn't you be messuring the substrate?

thanks but then what should i do if they run to hot! theres no dial to turn them down!

first calm down

chances are if it doesn't feel "hot" its not too hot. go stick you hand directly on it, does it burn you? does it almost burn you? if it does then i'd pull the plug and just try to regulate the heat by pluging it in and out. but if it doesn't feel too hot like you said don't worry.

If you got the money invest in a thermostat and it will take care of you. if not buy a rheostat and you can control the output of the heater, but you got to constantly check it because a change in room tempature will change the cage tempature

but no the ball python going to the cold end of the cage is not a sign its too hot... you don't put that hide there for no reason, they can use it lol

[Patricia]

go stick you hand directly on it, does it burn you? does it almost burn you?

Hi again, I made this same mistake when we first got our BP. Heck, it didn't even have a UTH, just an overhead lamp, so on the way home with it I stopped off at Petco and bought a UTH. Didn't know till days later that an uncontrolled UTH runs temps waaaaaaayyyy too hot.

What you need to do is instead of plugging the UTH directly into an outlet, plug it into a thermostat. An inexpensive ($20-$25) one good for one tank is the ReptiTemp 500R, which is what I use. It lets you control how cool/warm the UTH gets.

What I use to measure hot and cool temp, as well as humidity, is the AcuRite sold at WalMart for $12. It has a probe at the end of a long wire. Place that probe on the hot end. (Some people place it directly on the bottom of their tub/tank while others place it on top of the substrate where the snake actually is.) That will give you the hot reading. The AcuRite unit itself sits over at the cool end (ours is velcroed 2" above the bottom of the tank) to measure the air temp there, as well as the humidity level. Neat gadget for not much money!

At the time we got our snake, it had about 1" of ReptiBark as a substrate. It took a few days for the 500R thermostat to arrive from being ordered online, so until it did I made sure there was plenty of bark substrate above the overheated UTH to keep the snake away from that heat. (The AcuRite probe was on top of the substrate.)

After trial and error -- and overwhelming recommendation of this board -- I've discovered that the most accurate warm temp measurements came when the substrate was simply 2 sheets of newspaper, since the deeper the substrate, the more heat variance between the bottom and top of it. My setup is this: Newspaper on the bottom, AcuRite probe on newspaper, and one sheet of papertowel on top of probe and newspaper. The paper towel is to keep ink from possibly smudging onto the snake, it looks better, and is a light cover over the probe and wire.

Hope that helps! Until you get a thermostat, a plain ol' light dimmer (around $10 from stores like Lowes) will work. Here's wonderful information on how to use light dimmers.