Preventing thermostat probe damage?

[MissterDog]

Something I've been wondering about, for those who place their probe inside the enclosure near or under the substrate (for RHP's), has there ever been an incident where your snake has peed/pooped on it? Would that damage the probe or can it be cleaned off without any issues?

[bcr229]

The probe for a thermostat controlling an RHP shouldn't go under the substrate, it can hang halfway down the wall on the side of the enclosure with the RHP. That way the snake won't mess with it.

[MissterDog]

The probe for a thermostat controlling an RHP shouldn't go under the substrate, it can hang halfway down the wall on the side of the enclosure with the RHP. That way the snake won't mess with it.

Good to know ty. I've read about RHP user's placing it near/under the substrate on the hot spot for their ball pythons since that's the contact point but for arboreal species having it higher up. I'm guessing having it hanging along the wall is more precise? Or is it a matter of preference?

That being said, if a ball python somehow does mess with it, because who knows what bp's do sometime, would there be any risk of the prove being damaged for any reason or stop functioning?

[KMG]

A snake is really going to have to try and damage a dangling probe. It certainly could happen but it is highly unlikely.

I take a different approach with my rhp and secure the probe with a cable strap, gluing the probe to the strap and the strap to the edge of the rhp. It has worked well for me.

[bcr229]

A snake is really going to have to try and damage a dangling probe. It certainly could happen but it is highly unlikely.

I take a different approach with my rhp and secure the probe with a cable strap, gluing the probe to the strap and the strap to the edge of the rhp. It has worked well for me.

If I did that I'd find a snake dangling from the cord leading to the probe...

[MissterDog]

So on the topic of prove placement I've been seeing several and varying suggestions. Would there be a reason why putting the probe on the ground/in substrate wouldn't be ideal vs hanging? Just trying to weigh out the why's and why not.

A lot of the reasons I've seen for probes near the ground was because it monitored the hotspot while taking care of ambient temps, which made sense to me.

[CALM Pythons]

You want to use a Thermostat to monitor Hot spots and Cool sides so your Tstat Probe has no baring on this.. Here are 2 of mine hanging about 8"-10" below the RHP.. When my Tstat is 92.5 my substrate is 89.5/90.5 On Hot Side and Cool ambient 78-80.


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[KMG]

If I did that I'd find a snake dangling from the cord leading to the probe...

Both my GTP and ETB climb through it. I left the loop large enough for them to easily go through so they wouldn't be pulling or pushing on it.

[BPGator]

A snake is really going to have to try and damage a dangling probe. It certainly could happen but it is highly unlikely.

I take a different approach with my rhp and secure the probe with a cable strap, gluing the probe to the strap and the strap to the edge of the rhp. It has worked well for me.

What target temp do you set for your thermostat?


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[KMG]

What target temp do you set for your thermostat?


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It depends on which cage it is. My two rhp that I run year round are in my tall arboreal cages for my ETB and GTP and I use the rhp only to create a hotspot on the perches just below the panel. Both of those are set to 89F which gives me a hot perch of 86. Each perch is about six inches below the panel. At this temp the center of the panel is usual 100 or a bit over which drops as you get close to the panel edges.

So on the edge of the panel it is 89 with a hot center at 100 to give me a hotspot six inches away of 86F. Using them for this I don't have to run them hard since the target I want warmed is so close.


My other panels are not on right now as it is warm out and I don't need them. I only use them on cold nights for a little extra heat. So again I don't run them hard as my cages have them and uth with the room being heated as well.