UTH not heating to what thermostat is set to

[RoseyBreeze]

Hello,

I have a 20L tank that I use a zoo med UTH hooked to a zoo med thermostat. The area I live in is now starting to have cooler temperatures due to fall. During the summer I only had to rely on the UTH to keep the warm side at about 93, and the cold side at about 75-78. This was due to my apartment being on the warmer side. Now that the temperature has dropped, my UTH is not doing as well. My temp gun is reading warm side at 80, and my cool side at about 70. I took a reading on bare glass on top of my UTH, and it's only reading at about 81. This is even though I have it set to 95 with the probe taped directly to the heat mat. I just need to find a way to bump the temps up about 10, but I think I'm just going to invest in a dome and infrared bulb as I really don't want to deal with the hazards of a CHE. I'm just curious as to why my heat mat is not heating to the temperature it is supposed to. Any opinions on heating?

My BP is 550g, and has always been a healthy eater. She also always sheds in one piece over the past year that I have had her.

[Godzilla78]

those little heat pads alone, just don't do it on a glass tank. I had to put a big infrared heat mat on the bottom, and big heat pad on the side, to get enough heat, without drying the air out with a heat lamp.

[Sunnieskys]

i have to modify mine for my glass tank. With styrofoam.

[Craiga 01453]

Your UTH is there ONLY to provide a hot spot, primarily to aid in digestion. It is not there to help your ambient temps. You will need an additional heat source to raise ambient temps. Your new heat source should also be regulated by a tstat or at least a rheostat (dimmer switch).

[Coluber42]

If your heat source is already at its max, the thermostat can't make it go higher. If the temperature in your room drops, then obviously the temperature in the cage does too unless you can reduce heat loss, add a heat source, or both. You can put foam insulation panels around three sides of the tank and most of the lid, which can help some. But probably not enough to allow you to heat the entire thing with just a UTH unless you keep your house particularly warm in the winter.

A ceramic heat emitter or radiant heat panel would be good as an additional heat source. Whatever method you use, you'll probably need to find ways to raise the humidity too, the bigger the difference in temperature between the tank and the room it's in. That's true regardless of your heating method just because of the way relative humidity works - there's less actual moisture in the air at 60° and 50% humidity than at 80° and 50% humidity because at 80° the air can hold more.

[Godzilla78]

I second the insulation idea...

Even with all the insulation, I have to use two heat mats, one on the bottom, and one on the side of the "hot side" of the tank.

[Craiga 01453]

Insulating the tank can be helpful, but a UTH isn't made for ambient temps.
Using the proper equipment is the best way to provide a proper home for for your animal.

[Slither Seeker]

to use an UTH to heat a tank takes considerable modification, it's not enough heat on it's own when mounted to the outside of the tank. check out my photos for ideas on how to insulate and turn an UTH into a radiant heat source that can heat a smallish tank.