? about UTH

[suzanne]

My ball is in a 20 gallon aquarium with a screen lid on it. I just put her uth on last night. When I got up this morning the temp was 106! How can I keep it from getting so hot? I didn't stick the uth on, just put it on the wood that her cage is sitting on, and sat the aquarium down on that.

[new2BP]

make sure there is a space under your tank at leat 3/8 of and inch. also use tape to put UTH on the bottom of your tank. then if its still too hot increase the substate thickness or use a dimmer switch.

[suzanne]

Thanks. There isn't any space under the tank so I will try that. How do you hook a dimmer switch to it?

[kraniumz]

You definitely need to use a dimmer switch. Or get a thick plywood but dimmer switch is better.

Here is a link for how-to hook up dimmer switch

http://www.herpo.com/cages/wiring.html

[Adam_Wysocki]

If you're in the US, you can go to Home Depot or Lowes and get a "lamp dimmer" from the home lighting section and that way you don't have to wire anything.

-adam

[Phillip]

Forgive my ignorance but what is a UTH - is that the heat pad under the tank? If so what is the reason behind a dimmer?

[jglass38]

A UTH is an under tank heater. This can be in the form of a human heating pad or flexwatt heat tape. The reason for a dimmer is to cut the amount of power to the heat source which keeps the temps from getting out of control. UTHs can routinely reach upwards of 110 degrees. Enough for major thermal burns to your snakes. You can either get a lamp dimmer at the hardware store or a commercially made rheostat (sold at pet stores). Even better, go out and grab a thermostat and keep that temperature stable. Good luck!

Jamie

[wendyhoo9]

UTH = under tank heat (can be a pad or heat tape). The reason for the dimmer or a thermostat is to control the heating device. The dimmer will adjust the wattage down and thus decrease the amount of heat the pad will emit. A thermostat can be set to turn your UTH off on your hot side at a certain temp (i.e. 93) and on at another temp (i.e. 89). Usually the thermostats are more effective in maintaining proper temps as it has a probe to monitor the temp while dimmers are set by you after figuring out the best setting to maintain your temps. Good luck!