You're correct that a thick layer of substrate will act as "insulation" that prevents (!) the heat from rising into your enclosure, so keep the substrate there on the thin side, as mentioned.Originally Posted by goatasaurus
i bit the bullet and bought myself a CHE. all the advice on youtube and even reptile shops mention just the UTH so until today i had no idea i needed a CHE for the ambient temperature. thank you for the advice!
may i ask how to prevent burns on my baby boy from the UTH? it seems to have issues permeating through the substrate so i put a Very thin layer and i’m worried he’ll wiggle and burn himself
Next thing is that UTH must be regulated by thermostat, so that double-&-triple-checked temperature measurements over the UTH (inside, with substrate pushed away-in other words, where the snake might make contact) will never exceed 90*. This is best tested out for a week prior to the snake occupying the enclosure, so you aren't stressing your snake when you have to keep "invading" their space. It can take a few days for a UTH to get "up to speed"- ie. because the surrounding materials (such as a wood cabinet it's sitting on) start off at a colder room temperature, & gradually absorb some of the warmth as the UTH runs for days- thus, you need to make SURE it doesn't get too hot after a few days. Make sure you're taking the temps. accurately & have the t-stat probe in the right place.
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