Temperature on top of substrate..

[Gundy]

Well the other day out of curiosity I set my accurite thermometer ontop of the substrate on the WARM side, and it read 80.. constantly.. Yet the probe is placed on the floor of the aquarium covered by some repti-bark that reads 91 degrees...

I thought it was correct to place the probe on the bottom to get a accurate reading of how hot the glass is etc..

There isn't much repti-bark covering the floor, just enough to cover the glass bottom. I'm wondering what the deal is, freaking out that my temperatures aren't right.

Anyone?

[JLC]

It sounds alright to me....so long as your cool side temps aren't going too low. If the surface of the glass is 91 on the warm spot, and the layer of substrate is just a thin one, then it should be fine. If the snake wants more warmth, it'll nestle down against the glass.

[Gundy]

My cold is in check, reading a constant 81.

I was just worried thinking why the temperature is reading so differently directly on top of the substrate.

[JLC]

My cold is in check, reading a constant 81.

I was just worried thinking why the temperature is reading so differently directly on top of the substrate.

I dunno....I'd have to see the setup myself to have a decent guess as to what's going on. It's possible the layer of substrate is thicker than you think it is....or just not conducting the heat very well, regardless. Or, if the ambient temps in the room are really chilly, and the tank is glass (does not hold heat well) the warmth from the UTH may be dissipating too quickly to maintain a warmer temp at the surface. But....that's just imaginative speculation on my part.

[Gundy]

Hmm..

Should I work on substrate temperature then?

I guess I am not sure of I should actually have the top of the substrate reach 90 degrees or the bottom of the glass... Either way, the bottom of the glass will be super hot if the substrate needs to actually be 90..


Unless I test this with newspaper..

[JLC]

It sounds alright to me....so long as your cool side temps aren't going too low. If the surface of the glass is 91 on the warm spot, and the layer of substrate is just a thin one, then it should be fine. If the snake wants more warmth, it'll nestle down against the glass.

It's fine. If, as you say, it's a thin layer of substrate...the snake can reach the warmth it needs. Also...are you measuring the temps under the warmside hide? It's usually much toastier in there than outside the hide.

[Swingline0.0.1]

I was under the impression that you should put the probes on top of the substrate- I just started using aspen on top of newspaper (I had a trouble keeping humidity up), and I've got them tucked under the edges of the respective hides. I figured it's better to know the temps where he's actually at... does anyone else put the probe under the substrate?

[JLC]

I was under the impression that you should put the probes on top of the substrate- I just started using aspen on top of newspaper (I had a trouble keeping humidity up), and I've got them tucked under the edges of the respective hides. I figured it's better to know the temps where he's actually at... does anyone else put the probe under the substrate?

It all depends on your setup. So long as you're sure the snake can't get burned by nestling down close to the glass (which you seem to have covered by having newspaper down) then it's ok to have the probe on top of the substrate. So long as you don't have a really thick layer of aspen, so that the newspaper is having to reach temps of 100+.......you're fine.

[Swingline0.0.1]

Nope, it's about 1" thick (depending on how much he rearranges, that is!

[Gundy]

So then technically you are supposed to measure the top of the substrate. But you don't want the glass to get above 100?