My new BP Jake

[macho9714]

[The Serpent Merchant]

He's a cute little guy. I suggest that you take a look at the caresheet:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet

What are you using to hear the cage?

[Coleslaw007]

What are you using to hear the cage?

Their ears, duh. I'm sorry... I had to


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[macho9714]

I have an UTH and a lamp

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[The Serpent Merchant]

Does the UTH have a thermostat? Do you have a probed thermometer?

If the answer to either is no then you need to unplug the UTH immediately.

[Lazarus1437]

Their ears, duh. I'm sorry... I had to


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[Trackstrong83]

Their ears, duh. I'm sorry... I had to


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[macho9714]

My UTH is not hooked to a thermostat but it is on the side of the tank and the temp stays right around 87 on the hot side.

[The Serpent Merchant]

Do you have a temperature probe directly on the glass where the UTH is? UTH's do not change the temperature of the air in the cage, so unless you have a probe directly on it you cannot tell how hot it is.

Why is it on the side? Heat rises, it does not move horizontally (they are called Under Tank Heaters for a reason lol)

UTH's can and will get extremely hot, 150+ degrees. this is hot enough to kill your snake. a thermostat is an absolute necessity.

Here are 2 good ones, the ones sold in pet stores are crap.



http://spyderrobotics.com/


It sounds like you heat lamp is creating the hot side fine on its own. For now I would just unplug it

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

I don't want to start a debate over UTH's on the side or back of a tank, just like I don't want to argue the effectiveness and safety of back heat on racks... It's already been debated enough. MY hatchling rack is back heated.. A UTH on the lower side or back is fine. When doing this, it's advised to use a large UTH that covers 2/3 the length of the tank. Then it's basically like having the snake in a heated room or having back heat just like a rack..

It still does need a thermostat though.. It can get hot enough to damage the glass. Plus UTH's are known to be unstable on their own. Spiking temperatures and shorts are common. I believe no matter where the UTH is placed, it should always be controlled by a thermostat and monitored by a probe hot glued directly on the glass. Thermostat probe should be attached directly to the UTH on the outside. Thermometer probe on the glass on the inside.

If the screen top is almost completely covered using foil taped down, construction paper, plexiglas, or thin sheet insulation, leaving only a couple inches for ventilation, then it should stay warm enough to not even need a lamp. Unless you want one for ambience.

All in all, you're just starting out and doing ok so far. The new baby looks good and it's very pretty with all the flames. Just fix a couple things with its housing and it will live a long life with you




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