What should I do with my heat mat while I'm waiting for my thermostat to come in?

[ceca2015]

I just ordered a Zoo Med Thermostat yesterday and I'm wondering if i should unplug the heat mat until it comes in (5-8 business days) or should i leave it plugged in? I checked the thermometer yesterday and the heat mat got all the way up to 107 degrees! So i hurried up and unplugged it and ordered a thermostat ASAP. Now I just keep plugging it and unplugging it trying to maintain 90 degrees but its really hard to do when I have school. I have a heat lamp as well, but it only keeps the tank at 65 by itself. So what should I do while I'm at school until the thermostat comes in? Should I leave the heat pad on or turn it off? I don't want my snake getting too cold, but I also don't want her to get burned. The only thing I can think to do is mount the heat pad on the side until then, but wont that mess up the internal wiring if i keep removing it and mounting it somewhere else?

[martin82531]

Leave it unplugged until the thermostat comes in. Also a UTH is going to do very little if anything for your ambient temps. 65 is too cold and a UTH will not fix this problem. I would look into a higher wattage heat lamp to help with temps.


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[ceca2015]

What i'm currently using in my heat lamp is a 75 watt Lunar Brite black light. What would you recommend? And one that wont suck the humidity as bad if possible. Because without the heat lamp, i can keep the humidity up to 65 without a problem, with no misting, but with the heat lamp, i have to mist like every hour or it will only be like 30. Plus, shes going into shed.

[danojeno]

Go get a dimmer cord. Plug in the mat and just dial back the heat, just like you would dim a lamp.

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[martin82531]

What i'm currently using in my heat lamp is a 75 watt Lunar Brite black light. What would you recommend? And one that wont suck the humidity as bad if possible. Because without the heat lamp, i can keep the humidity up to 65 without a problem, with no misting, but with the heat lamp, i have to mist like every hour or it will only be like 30. Plus, shes going into shed.

I use a 150 CHE bulb that is on a dimmer. Once my other herpstat comes in it will be on a thermostat as well. You can put a heat lamp on a dimmer but room temps can affect the ambient tempts so a dimmer might not always give the desired temps. Anything that is going to effect ambient temps will effect your humidity but you need to increase your temps, 65 is just too cold.

What are you using as substrate? I use Eco-earth with my terrarium to help with humidity.


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[martin82531]

Also I have never used a thermostat from zoo med but from what people say there not the best. If money allows I would recommend a herpstat, if not a good thermostat on a budget is a hydrofarm.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000NZ...mw_dp_img?is=l

http://www.spyderrobotics.com/index.html


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[KMG]

You have been told by several people to make a humid hide. Why have you not? Stop worrying about the tank humidity and get the proper temps in the tank. Having a humid hide and misting twice a day during a shed will be fine.

It is possible to mess up the uth by removing it. If you do get it off you can put foil on the sticky part and then use foil tape to secure wherever you want it.

[barbie.dragon]

Just get a humid hide. It solves your low humidity problem.

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[ceca2015]

I ordered a hydrofarm thermostat. And when the Zoo Med one gets here, I'm going to return it. I'm keeping the heat lamp on and alternating turning on the UTH since its the weekend. During the week I'll keep it off. I've got the ambient temps up to 80. Humidity's a little harder now, but I just will have to spray down the tank more often until I get the thermostat. I'm keeping my room warmer to keep the tank warm. She had hollow logs as hides (And she does just fine with them) and I'm spraying down the inside of them to give her the humid hides that everyone keeps telling me to provide. Anything else I need to do?

[martin82531]

I personally like these hides, http://www.reptilebasics.com/hide-boxes. If you do pick these up make sure not to get ones that are not too big, you want one that will allow your ball a snug fit.

When I create my humid hides, I use this: http://www.amazon.com/Terra-Forest-P...ds=forest+moss. I wet it down and put it under the warm hide that is above the UTH.