Just got my herpstat and uth - need some help

[BallsUnlimited]

thumbs up to L Gray

[mattchibi]

Yup, the thermometer probe is hot glued to the bottom of the glass tank. and I didnt know snakes would burrow to get warmer, but if thats the case, then I have no worries then.

Seems like I got my temps right.. humidity is super high (65-70%) after i put in the coco husk substrate. When I took her out to modify her setup today, I also saw she looked like she was gonna shed soon, so the higher humidity is definitely good.

Thanks a bunch Lgray, youve helped me a lot with my first new snake

[Munizfire]

ok, I'll add a few things

1- You will 'lose' some temperature on the glass, but you'll lose even more thru the substrate... (Be prepared to set the temperature anywhere from 5 to 12 degrees higher than what you really want/need)

2- Wooden substrates (aspen, coco, yadda yadda yadda) will take longer to heat than paper towel or newspaper, meaning that the real hotspot SURFACE temperature won't reflect accurately until a few hours

3- As LGray23 Already mentioned 1.5" of substrate is kinda way too much (and it will give you even more trouble getting the right temp inside). Regularly .5" or 1" is ideal.

4- I have been kinda flamed here before for this, but I really don't like setting the T-stat probe in-between the glass and the UTH because of 2 reasons:
(1) The temperature that the T-stat is reading is the actual UTH temp, instead of the
Temperature after it has dispersed through the glass.
(2) Placing the probe between the glass and the UTH will most likely create an air bubble around the probe, meaning less UTH/Glass contact area.


But that's just me

[BallsUnlimited]

remember anything your not sure of just ask someone here will be more than happy to help you with what ever you need.

[Munizfire]

bah, I fell asleep and then came back to add a few things, but it looks like some have been already covered... lol

[PitOnTheProwl]

thumbs up to L Gray

X2 that lady can type

[mattchibi]

Last question..

Now that I have the UTH setup, do I need to drop temps at night time?

Right now, I have about 80 F on the cooler side, and 92 on the warm side. When I was using just the infrared light, I would drop the ambient temps to 85 on the warm and 80 on the cooler.

Is this necessary?

[PitOnTheProwl]

No

[kitedemon]

No drops are not necessary at all. The way you have the probe your are likely to get a natural drop anyway. Typically regular rooms get cooler over night and the ambient air temp is not effecting the probe so it continues to apply the same power even thought the ambient temps drop some.

In great room shifts it is often necessary to alter the set up or configuration of the herpstat. If you feel you need that ask and I can go into greater tuning. I don't keep a stable room temp so I am quite familar with the pit falls associated with that.