Zoo Med UTH

[blubudgie]

blubudgie - I am sorry that I did not respond to your posted question... For some reason my notification about this thread got kicked to my email spam folder. The link you posted is the hydrofarm that I use.

Here's another link for you, this thermometer is a good one and good value. It has a long probe that you can secure over the UTH (put this probe inside the tank, I secure mine with hotglue, never use tape) to read the hot spot temp. You then sit the unit itself on the opposite end of the tank to read the cool side temp. It will also give you a humidity reading. A temp gun, as others have mentioned, can also come in handy... You can use it to read the temp in various parts of the tank. If you do get one of these though, I'd invest in a more expensive one... I got a slightly cheaper model and am convinced that it doesn't give accurate temps.

About the thermostat setup: As others have said, secure the UTH to the bottom of the tank and sandwich the probe to the hydrofarm between the glass and the UTH (I secure my UTH's with metal foil tape so that I can remove them later). This will keep it out of the way and give you a good reading. Something else to keep in mind.. Every time I setup a thermostat, like a hydrofarm, I have to play with it (using the reading from the accurite thermometer probe) to get to the right temp on the bottom glass of the tank. i.e. I might have to set the hydrofarm to 93f to get a temp reading of 90 according to the accurite. I would set it lower at first (90f) and see what reading that gives you.

Here is a link to the screen top foil treatment sticky. If you are going to use the lamp for ambient temps, check out this method for foiling your screen top so that more humidity stays in the tank.

I ended up using a tub setup for my BPs, as it was eaiser to keep humidity. I had to use a lamp for heat as well, but the lamp had to be raised on a lamp stand so that it would not melt the plastic. If you're interested in a tub setup, check out this sticky. It also shows UTH / probe / thermometer placement well too.

thanks! but the link to the thermometer isn't working
I might try the foil treatment, so far I keep a damp towel over half the screen. I'm also going to switch to cypress mulch to keep more humidity.

I also need a new humidity gauge. I got one in petco, but since it's humid, the sticky side doesn't stick to the glass and it keeps falling. My BP has also knocked it down before and gotten stuck to it so I've taken the sticky part off. I just have it laying in the tank so I'm pretty sure the readings aren't right...
Any suggestions? maybe one with a suction cup..?


ALSO the lamp I got comes with a clamp, and I want to use it but I can't figure out what people are clamping the lamp to? It doesn't come with anything to attack the clamp to the side of the tank like the picture shows. Should I just super glue a piece of wood to the side of my screen?
I currently just have the lamp laying a inch or so off the screen. I want to get it higher