Wonky Temps

[vodouchild]

I got my girl last sunday at the expo in Conroe and have been fighting with her temps and humidity since, although for the last 24hrs they have been pretty "stable" (her humidity at any rate). This is her setup


Her humidity was very low at first so I placed tape over a majority of the holes and that seems to have helped. Her temp under the paper towel is a different matter. It stays between 95 and 97, sometimes dropping to 91-93 and on a hot day (my room gets a lot of natural light) it spikes to 100.
I have tried to leave her alone as much as possible and she doesn't seem stressed, but i just want to get this right She spends most of her time on the warm side, and every now and then she'll either utilize her flower spot or lay next to her waterbowl.

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[jmcrook]

How are you regulating your temps? 90-92 should be the maximum high temps for your hot spot.


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[vodouchild]

Using a dimmer switch

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[bcr229]

Using a dimmer switch

That's your problem. A dimmer will not keep the UTH temperature constant, it keeps the amount of electricity flowing to the heater constant. So, if your room is 75*F and the UTH gives a temp of 90*F, when the room temp increases to 80*F the UTH will be at 95*F.

You really need a thermostat as dimmers don't work well when the ambient room temps can swing through the day. In the meantime dial back the dimmer so when your room is cool the UTH temperature is around 85-86*F. Too hot is more dangerous than too cool for your snake.

I would also look at ways to keep your room cooler. Can you shade the windows or set up a box fan at the doorway to bring in air from another room or the hallway?

[vodouchild]

I have pretty thick curtains so i could keep them drawn during the day and leave my fan on.

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[vodouchild]

Well i lowered the dimmer about 30mins ago and the temp is now at 91

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[chrid16371]

With a dimmer your temp will always fluctuate unless you can get your room temp the same 24/7. Also fluctuations are going to cause stress. Your temp under the paper towel should never be higher than 94 bc of burns. Since your using paper towels I would keep it at 88 bc when your snakes weight is on the uth it will feel a couple of degrees warmer. If your on a budget your best bet is to get an Ink bird ITC-308 thermostat, they are a little less than $40 on amazon, this will automatically adjust temp when room temp changes so you won't need to monitor it constantly and can feel safe leaving home. If your have around $100 the Spyder Robotics Herpstat into + or Herpstat 1 would be your best choice since they have fail safes that will shut heat source off if it fails. I had a dimmer that failed and kept the heat source running on full power but luckily I was home and caught it before it killed one of my leopard geckos, I immediately switched to Herpstat and use them and VE thermostats for all my reptiles.

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