UTH not working properly.

[Daniel Tuttle]

If you don't mind me asking what is a dimmer? Sorry as you can tell I am definetely new to this. I actually thought I did all my homework with the set up before I got my snake. Guess I was wrong. Luckily I am still keeping everything the proper temps and humidity just a lot of adjusting throughout the day.

[Vypyrz]

If you don't mind me asking what is a dimmer? Sorry as you can tell I am definetely new to this. I actually thought I did all my homework with the set up before I got my snake. Guess I was wrong. Luckily I am still keeping everything the proper temps and humidity just a lot of adjusting throughout the day.

A dimmer is just a basic plug in lamp dimmer that you can get at Lowes or Home Depot for about $10-$15. They look something like this:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...t-Instructions

If you are looking for some inexpensive thermostats, you can check these out:

http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTPR...1529683&sr=1-7

If you need to raise the ambient temps in your tank, you can try covering the two ends and back with foam board or cardboard to help insulate it. You can usually find foam board at Wal-Mart or Target in the school supplies section with the poster board. It will also help if you position the lamp about half way between the center and end of the top, and cover the exposed screen with aluminum foil.

[Daniel Tuttle]

Thank you to everyone for your help! I bought two dimmers today and I have one for the UTH and one for the heat lamp. Unfortunately I still have to use the heat lamp due to my wife keeping the house to cold. But I now have stable and proper temps! 91 on the hot side and 80-82 on the cool side! And for the humidity I got a 3 dollar dripper and some moss and it is no steady at 58%. I am going to wait to switch to tubs because I am getting 2 more snakes by the end of the year so I am going to build a rack and then switch to tubs. Figured I would just wait and do it all at once! Thank you again!

[ocean girl]

Well I have been having the same problems and we switched to a tub, and it did nothing to help with heat, it was exactly the same as the glass tank. All it did was make the humidity higher. And, because you can't put a heat lamp on plastic, we have now switched back to the tank. I figured if I needed a lamp and a UTH, I'd rather it be in a glass tank.
This is just so difficult! I'm literally going crazy, buying and returning things because everyone says something different and it never works.
So, our ambint temps are still not at 80, they are at 75, but its better than 70 which is what it was in the tub. let me know what works for you in the end.

[Daniel Tuttle]

I have two different set ups going now and they are both perfect in husbandry. First my glass tank. I have a heat lamp on a dimmer switch and UTH on a dimmer. There are both around 50% power. This makes my ambient at 80 degrees and my hot spot is between 90-92. It will drop to 90 at night. The humidity was at 40 so I made a humidity box and got a mister and now it goes between 50 and 55.

Now my other is a tub. I bought a deep tub and I do use a 50w heat lamp on it and it is as well plugged into a dimmer. (I have not had a problem with the heat lamp on plastic at all. I also put wood over with a hole cutout for the lamp. I also have a UTH. This keeps my hot spot between 90-92 and ambient around 80. The humidity is at 55 without any other methods!

[kitedemon]

That seems like a fine solution there is no right answer for a situation just variations that work. As long as you have the correct temps and humidity it is all cool. I also live in a cold house and have similar issues. I found like one of the other posted comments tubs are a pain to get right and required fussing with. The easy solution is to heat the room to 80 but that is inefficient for one or two animals. I use a dual UTH's on both enclosures and on a rack the rack was quite difficult as I needed controlers for the hot and cool sides but also for the top and bottom as the temps from the bottom to top vary So I have 4 controllers for my rack one for all the cool sides and one for the hot spot top and second one for the middle ones and one for the bottom two. (herpstat pro)

The funny thing in my case is I am saving money by doing this I paid for the herpstat in 2 months over the winter as the cost of heating the room to 80 was exceptional (300$ more on the power bill). This is my solution It worked for me but not everyone has my issues (drafty old house) I am completely OCD about temps and am unwilling to accept variation outside my control.

[ocean girl]

Daniel- how big is your tank, what's the height? What wattage bulb are you using?
I have the same set up but my ambient temp won't get higher than 75. My ceramic bulb is a 60 watt.