Uth thermostat?

[Gc99]

So my two bp have under tank heaters (different enclosures, dont worry lol) and im a little worried because my yellow belly male likes to move the substrate and stay against the glass and im scared he might get burned or something, and im also worried about my lemonblast female because she doesnt move the substrate and i wonder if she is too cold (im getting a temperature gun next week) and ive searched thermostats but they say they are for basking lights, do they work for an uth as well? If so, what brand would you reccomend? Also, i dont have basking lights because bp need belly heat and they hide during the day, but i was thinkimg about buying red lights for the night time and placing the water bowls under them so that humidity goes up a little bit, is that a good idea? should i place the heat lamp in the center of the enclosure? Would it dry out the enclosure instead of raising humidity? (I was going to buy a small light) thanks in advance

[SpacegirlSpiff]

You definitely need a thermostat for any heat source, including UTH, do not run a UTH without a thermostat ... it will cause burns

Right now I'm using a Jump Start thermostat on my UTH like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTP.../dp/B000NZZG3S

Heat mat is plugged into the thermostat, and the probe for the thermostat is either securely taped in between the mat and the tank or (like in my case, because I stuck the UTH on before I could do this), you could securely tape it to the non-sticky side of the UTH with aluminum tape ....but you want the probe monitoring the mat itself, and NOT placed inside the tank. If the stat probe is inside the tank it could be urinated on or shifted by the snake and then that could throw off the thermostat and cause possible overheating as well.

Second, you need a thermometer probe on top of the hot spot on the INSIDE of the tank to monitor and make sure that UTH keeps the inside surface that your BP touches at around 90 degrees

For my lamp, I use a lamp dimmer and manually adjust them depending on the weather or day vs night..... you could use thermostat as well for this for a more automated process (it would turn the light on/off to keep temp in check), but right now I'm just using the cheap dimmer and keep my eye on it. I'm in SoCal so our weather stays pretty moderate year round.

On top of all this, having an infrared temp gun is great for double checking any spot in the tank

[SpacegirlSpiff]

Many people here will also recommend the Herpstat ...but I am not familiar with it (I'm still a noob myself), but that's another option to look into

[tttaylorrr]

SpacegirlSpiff's reply is spot-on. as stated above: DO NOT run a UTH unregulated. PLEASE unplug it until you get a thermostat. if your ambient temps are within the correct range, going a few days without belly heat while you correct the issue will not harm the snake.
if you're having humidity issues: cover mesh-top enclosures with saran wrap or tinfoil, get a larger water dish and move the water dish to the hot side. you can also get sphagnum moss which is great for humidity and during sheds. bulbs are not great for humidity. i personally don't use them but others do with success; maybe they can chime in for that.
how are you currently measuring humidity/temps?

[SpacegirlSpiff]

For humidity, I cover the majority of my top with foil and sometimes to up it I'll put a wet washcloth in between the foil and the screen top, or will mist a bit with a spray bottle inside

Again, being in SoCal it doesnt drop TOO much, but sometimes will drop into the 40's and I'll need to intervene

I just purchased a larger water dish that I'm going to try and see if that helps better than having to use a wet wash cloth

[Yozface]

I am also using the jump start thermostat. You just plug the UTH right into the tstat. I set it to 90 it kicks in at 88 and turns off at 92 so it's always between 88-92. My guy is in a 27qrt with the tstat probe taped to the under side of the tub between the mat and bottom tub. I have an acurite thermometer that reads for humidity as well with the probe set inside the tub underneath his substrate on the hot side. I check the hotpsot about once a week with my temp gun. Hope that helps!. Cheers

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[Gc99]

I think im going to add more substrate just to prevent any burns and im getting the thermostats asap, also, i have my babies in identical enclosures next to each other, with the same type of heating pad, do you people think that one thermostat will be ok for both of them? I see a thermostat made by zilla and you can plug two things in it but of course only has one probe, im thinking that it could work, because i want to maintain the same temperature on both heat pads, and both temperatures will be the same because its the same kind of heat pad, what do you think?

[Yozface]

I think im going to add more substrate just to prevent any burns and im getting the thermostats asap, also, i have my babies in identical enclosures next to each other, with the same type of heating pad, do you people think that one thermostat will be ok for both of them? I see a thermostat made by zilla and you can plug two things in it but of course only has one probe, im thinking that it could work, because i want to maintain the same temperature on both heat pads, and both temperatures will be the same because its the same kind of heat pad, what do you think?

Yeah that could work. Since you sre getting a temp gun that will give you the precise reading. When i first got my bp i was checking woth the temp gun daily. But my breedrr said once a week is ok
What about a thermometer also? I didn't see that mentioned in your original post?

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[Gc99]

I figured that with the thermostat and the temp gun i wouldnt need a thermometer, because i would be using the temp gun very often, but please correct me if im wrong

[tttaylorrr]

do you people think that one thermostat will be ok for both of them? I see a thermostat made by zilla and you can plug two things in it but of course only has one probe

get two thermostats, or a thermostat with two probes; do not try to cut corners at the risk of injuring or killing your snake. the JumpStart 'stats are great at ~$30, or you can get a $15 dimmer at Lowe's (https://m.lowes.com/pd/Lutron-Creden...Dimmer/4462387) which also works to control temps.
if buying two is entirely impossible, then your idea may work.