Just got a new Pastel Ball Python....

[dr del]

Hi,

Well my advice would be to go buy an inline lamp dimmer (they are around $10 ) and use that to control your heating pad until the thermostat arrives.

Then, when you are ready to try a second heating pad connect it to the thermostat through the dimmer - that should let you get the temp right on both pads with a bit of tweaking.

That way you solve the immediate problem without wasting money on kit you can't find other uses for in the future.


dr del

[PurplePython]

Yeah I guess I am going to have to get a light dimmer

This snake is making my pockets skinny. But I would rather my snake be healthy and safe from burns than be cheap right now lol.

Thanks for all the help guys. My girlfriend is bringing her camera over in a couple hours. I am putting a background on my tank and setting up the dimmer soon. I will take pictures of my snake and my tank setup to see what you guys think.

[PurplePython]

Okay guys, I got the Lutron Lamp Dimmer and I successfully got my heating pad to stay around 90 degrees.

But now the new accurite digital thermometer I got is reading the ambient air temperature to be at 85.5 degrees. Is 85+ degrees too hot for the ambient air temperature?

Alls I am using is a 50 watt reb bulb for the middle of the tank to heat up the ambient air. I don't know why its getting to 85 degrees or if thats even healthy. Let me know guys. Thanks

[dr del]

Hi,

Where about is the base unit of the acurite?

Is it at ground level on the cool end?

By the way I usually ended up putting the heat lamps on dimmers if needed as well - just to save desperately swapping bulb sizes to try and find the right one.

While I remember;

Once the temp is holding steady in the warm end hide you can move the probe into the cool end hide to see how it is holding as well.

I don't usually pick a spot to permanently place the acurite probe until I have checked all over the place above and below the substrate.

Once I know that everything is dialed in I simply only want it to monitor for changes - generally I end up picking inside the hot end hide.


dr del

[PurplePython]

Hi,

Where about is the base unit of the acurite?

Is it at ground level on the cool end?

By the way I usually ended up putting the heat lamps on dimmers if needed as well - just to save desperately swapping bulb sizes to try and find the right one.

While I remember;

Once the temp is holding steady in the warm end hide you can move the probe into the cool end hide to see how it is holding as well.

I don't usually pick a spot to permanently place the acurite probe until I have checked all over the place above and below the substrate.

Once I know that everything is dialed in I simply only want it to monitor for changes - generally I end up picking inside the hot end hide.


dr del

I stuck the probe of the accurate to the glass right above the heating pad underneith the substrate. It is reading about 91.5 degrees which should be perfect.

I place the accurite itself in the hot area in the corner. The red bulb is in the middle of the tank. The ambient air temperature is reading between 85-86 on the hot side. I havnt checked the cool side yet. I will do so now to see if theres a nice temperature difference

[PurplePython]

okay I had the accurite in the cool side of the tank for about 12-13 minutes now and the ambient air temperature is still reading about 85.5 degrees. Is this too hot for the ambient air temperature?

[dr del]

Hi,

It's a little higher than I would normally aim for - what reading do you get when you put the probe inside the cool end hide and leave it for an hour or so?


dr del