New tank setup!

[KMG]

The uth will not help your ambient temp. They do next to nothing for heating your enclosure. It sounds like a bulb or che is a must for you.

[Diaspora]

So basically i need to get
- a thermostat
- a thermometer
And put the UTH Under the hide
But leave the bulbs on for the ambient temp
Right?

[Diaspora]

I placed the UTH after getting a tstat
I put the probe inside, under the substrate next to the wall of the tank and secured
I set it to be 90 during the day and 82 at night
But the temps don't get passed the 80, even during the day..
I also took my bulbs away since they were taking all the humidity
But now the ambient temp at the cool side is around 68 all day..

Any ideas to make this better?

[C2tcardin]

Since everyone else hit the main points I'll just point out that having a cool side hide is a good idea too, that way your snake can choose when to be in either the hot side or cool side. I know you mentioned having a log but I wasn't sure if that was another hide or not? BP's generally prefer security so offering one hide means the snake is forced to choose the one hide over proper thermoregulation. Some days when I check on mine they are in the cool side hide and later that night I'll find them in their hot side hide box.

[thejennabird]

I put the probe inside, under the substrate next to the wall of the tank and secured

Which probe, the thermostat probe, or the thermometer probe? You want the thermostat probe outside the tank sandwiched between the UTH and the outside bottom of the enclosure. This way the thermostat is monitoring the temp of the UTH and the UTH alone.

I set it to be 90 during the day and 82 at night

Because your thermostat probe should be on the outside of the cage (reading the temperature of the UTH only), you may need to set the temperature higher. My thermostat is set to keep the UTH at 96 deg. The internal floor temperature fluctuates between 88 and 92.

But the temps don't get passed the 80, even during the day..

How and where are you measuring those temps? Is that the reading from a thermometer, or a thermostat? Where is the probe placed that measures that degree? (Remember the UTH won't increase ambient air temperature all that much.)

And like I said, you might have to keep the UTH a little warmer so that the proper amount of heat inside the enclosure.
Hope that helps! Let us know if anything is still unclear.

[Diaspora]

I made a hide for the cool side too. But she almost never goes to the cool side except when she's thirsty :p


The probe is the thermostat's. i don't have an IR thermometer to read the temps on the hot side above the UTH.
The thermostat probe is like i said on the side of the tank, under the substrate. That way i wanted to know what temperature there really is for my snake under it's hide.
The thing that i don't understand is that i set the temps to be 90 during the day and 82 at night
So basically, as long as the probe doesn't read those temps, the UTH should increase the temperature right?
so i'm not supposed to change the temps unless i put my probe outside of the tank, sandwiched like you said..

I just have one thermometer reading the ambient temp (the 68F i was talking about)
This one is on the cool side on the wall of the tank.
since i removed the bulbs, the humidity is perfect. i don't really want to put them back to keep it this way, but the ambient temp kinda worries me though..

[thejennabird]

Thanks for clarifying. There are several reasons you want the thermostat probe outside of the tank. Say your snake pees/defecates on the thermostat probe, or wiggles around on the substrate and somehow moves the probe off of the hot spot. Any sort of thing like this would affect the way your thermostat regulates your UTH, and could cause your UTH to get too hot. That's why it is recommended to have your thermostat probe outside, and a thermometer probe inside at the spot you have your thermostat probe currently. (And, after all, both IR thermometers and Accurite two-zone thermometers are quite inexpensive)

BUT, it sounds like your issue is your thermostat reading never gets above 80 degrees? What brand of UTH are you using, what size, and how is it affixed to your tank? You might have a defective model.

[thegamejr]

for the thermostat probe, it goes outside the tank between the pad and bottom of tank. and its fine to keep it at 90 for the hotspot the whole time. they will move when they are warm enough and thats not enough to burn them

[Diaspora]

The UTH is a Terra Heatmat TerProducts (i bought it at a fair (Belgium)) so I don't think we have the same brands.. It's around 30cm (my tank is 1m) and I didn't fixed it
It's just underneath my thank on thin isolation layers
I elevated my tank just a little as said in other posts to allow air to pass

And the thermostat is a Lucky Reptile TCP 2

But I'll try putting my probe outside tomorrow or the day after, since Kaliya ate yesterday, just gonna wait for her to digest peacefully

I'll try also to find that IR thermometer next time I go to the shop

[Diaspora]

Moved my probe
Now the temp of the UTH is perfect

Just gotta find a way now to increase the ambient temp without putting the bulbs back.. ><