Cold to touch?

[SlitherinSisters]

They shouldn't feel very cold. Mine feel cool if they are on the cool side as my temps are about 80 on the cool side and that's almost 20 degrees cooler than we are. I'm thinking you should try to raise the ambient temps if possible. What are you measuring the surface temps with, and are you measuring it where the snake is laying, or under the substrate?

[Jeremy Cox]

I have the probe taped inside the tub, using scotch tape (so as to not absorb any extra heat), it is placed directly over where the heat tape is below the tub and is covered with aspen shavings. I assumed that would be the hottest possible location and I didn't want the snakes being burned.
The shelves each have 4 feet of 4" flexwatt wired to individual plugs, so I can add and remove shelves to the rack system as needed. Currently I am only using the top shelf and have 3 bins per shelf. My snakes are in bin 1 and 2, the probe is in bin 3.
I have a static temp/humidity gauge inside of bin 2 at the cool side and that is where I read 75 degrees. The warm side never feels warm to the touch, but with my probe placement, I'm not sure where I've gone wrong.

[John1982]

Tape in the enclosure is a big no no..

[John1982]

I secure the probe on the heat tape in the top shelf of my rack(heat rises so these will be your warmest tubs by a degree or two if you're running the same tape through the whole rack). Then I just increase the thermostat until the hot spot holds where I want it. There are lots of posts warning about the use of tape in enclosures, even if it's buried and as seemingly harmless as scotch.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ght=stuck+tape

Hope this helps.

[mattchibi]

I think the OP is using tape only in the "extra" tub he has, or a dub tub or whatever people call it.

To the OP: You might want to consider using aluminum foil tape and securing the thermostat probe onto the actual flexwatt. The thermostat will show a higher reading than you think you want, but it will create the right temps in the tank. And then to measure temps in the tank, youre gonna want a proper thermometer, as well as a temperature gun.

As an example, I have my thermostat set to 103.5 for my rack and the hottest spots at the back of the tub are 92-94, depending on the shelf.

Also, in response to your bp feeling cold: Humans are usually 90 F and up, so your snake will usually feel cooler than your body temperature, unless its been in its hot spot for a while.

[Jeremy Cox]

I secure the probe on the heat tape in the top shelf of my rack(heat rises so these will be your warmest tubs by a degree or two if you're running the same tape through the whole rack). Then I just increase the thermostat until the hot spot holds where I want it. There are lots of posts warning about the use of tape in enclosures, even if it's buried and as seemingly harmless as scotch.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ght=stuck+tape

Hope this helps.

The tape is being used in a SPARE tub as someone else has already mentioned and is what I meant by saying snakes ae in Bin 1 & 2, probe is in Bin 3.

[Jeremy Cox]

I think the OP is using tape only in the "extra" tub he has, or a dub tub or whatever people call it.

To the OP: You might want to consider using aluminum foil tape and securing the thermostat probe onto the actual flexwatt. The thermostat will show a higher reading than you think you want, but it will create the right temps in the tank. And then to measure temps in the tank, youre gonna want a proper thermometer, as well as a temperature gun.

As an example, I have my thermostat set to 103.5 for my rack and the hottest spots at the back of the tub are 92-94, depending on the shelf.

Also, in response to your bp feeling cold: Humans are usually 90 F and up, so your snake will usually feel cooler than your body temperature, unless its been in its hot spot for a while.

Thanks for your advice. As I said in Post #6, I'm going to be getting an IR temp gun off Amazon here in few days.

Here is a quick update though... Currently I have a small digital thermometer w/ probe (brand is Springfield Precise Temp - about $7.00 at Menard's) laying in the spare bin with the Herpstat probe. It's reading around 77, however my static temp/humidity gauge (that I mentioned was in the cooler front area of the occupied bin) was repositioned to the rear (over the hot spot) and it reads 90 degrees. So I've very confused... maybe the digital thermometer that I have is wrong... I'll be able to tell for sure after I pick up a temp gun and test the bins that way.

Also, just for clarification - I built my rack (11 bin total currently 9x 28qt and 2x 41 qt) with plenty of space for expansion as I only have 2 BP's right now, but foresee a spare bin for quite some time, so I'd like to keep the probe in a spot that closely resembles where the snakes would be. Top shelf, taped to the plastic and insulated/covered with the substrate. Representing the exact location of where a snake would be (if it were in that tub.) Now as for why this location is reading 94 degrees according to the Herpstat and another thermometers are different is beyond me.

Thanks you everyone for your feedback though and I appreciate the help.

[John1982]

That's a relief, I guess I read over it as I've never considered using a tub as a dummy like that(space has always been an issue for me). All of my snakes are cool-cold to touch, if they were warm I'd be worried. Even when they've been chilling on the hot spot they feel cool to me, almost 10 degrees lower than my body temperature afterall.

[heyitssupergirl]

Also, in response to your bp feeling cold: Humans are usually 90 F and up, so your snake will usually feel cooler than your body temperature, unless its been in its hot spot for a while.

exactly what i was thinking, imagine if you turned the temperature in your house down 10 degrees how cold it would feel