Flexwatt setup - not getting too warm

[ATLBalls]

All,

I am getting my cage finalized before getting a snake next weekend, but I am having some trouble getting the basking area up to 90deg for a BP. I have a 15QT sterilite tub and 1' of 3" 10W FlexWatt taped to the bottom. Since the tub isn't a foot wide I have about 4" taped up the one side. For temperature control I am using a lamp dimmer and the substrate is about an inch of cypress mulch.

Anyway, after sitting overnight with the dimmer 3/4 on the warm spot is only a little over 80 degs, but the FW is definitely warm. I am wondering a why this may be.

1) is that the cypress mulch is chunky enough that it isn't conducting the heat well? a buddy of mine that keeps snakes in naturalistic vivs using a mixture of cypress and sphagnum peat (both of which I have a ton of being into carnivorous plants) and I am thinking the peat will help fill up the airspace and conduct the heat better.

2) I am using bungees to keep the lid down. They are wrapped around the bottom and hooked into the lip of the lid. That allows for an air gap between the bottom of the tub (where the FW is taped too). Is that allowing too much heat to radiate away?

thanks!

[whytepizza]

Ok, first thing first, where are you thermometers? Make sure that you have a very accurate reading of not only the cage itself, but the tape too. If the tape is not heating up well (which has happened to me) than recheck the connections. I had a problem with my solders coming loose because i used a silver/lead solder. I had to readjust with something that melted at a higher temperature and then i covered it with Aluminum Tape AND electrical tape.
If it's not the tape or the probes it may be the bedding. I would reccoment taking an empty sterilite container and trying it out on the remaining few feet of Flexwatt without anything in it. If it heats up well than it's the bedding. If not you may want to concider trying another heating method temporarily.

[ATLBalls]

thanks for the reply. I am taking my temperatures using a PE temp gun. As for the FW itself it is getting fairly warm to the touch. I just shot the part of the mulch that is supposed to be the hot spot and it is now in the low 90s with the dimmer turned most the way up. I am thinking it may be the substrate and might add the peat like my buddy said to make it more thermally conductive with fewer air spaces...

[dr del]

Hi,

Wouldn't it simply be a better idea to use less of it so it was not as thick an insulating layer?

The problem is snakes are perfectly capable of burrowing down to the bottom of the tub and, if your using a thick layer, that is usually way too high a temp.


dr del

[Gloryhound]

With an inch of substrate you are insulating the bottom of the tub. Heat will not conduct up through very well and while readings on the top may only come in at 80 degrees under the substrate could be well up into the 90's. If you insist on using a more natural substrate then you only want to use enough to just barely cover the bottom of the tub. Not that it will matter much since your snake is going to push it all out of the way anyways, but hey! Additionally you don't want to use a lot as you will be changing it often. As my wife and I discovered after switching to paper you really do not realize the kinda messes your snake makes in substrate that you blissfully leave there believing it to still be clean allowing your snake to crawl all over it!

[ATLBalls]

I am going to go with this approach of less on the bottom and see how that works out today. I shoot the surface temp and i have 80degs. I shoot the FW and i read 110.

After seeing the "removing a UTH" thread above I was thinking of abandoning hope on the FW since I have a UTH stuck to the bottom of a tank that I used to keep hermit crabs on, which is doing nothing but sitting in the closet, and just switching to the ZooMed UTH...

But since I spent the $8 on the FW I'll keep at it (but if I can't make it work I'm not going to cry over the $8).

[snakewrangler]

I had the same problem in my rack setups. I recently changed from aspen to newspaper, and the temps are much easier to control.

Besides, Harlan Teklad jumped from $15 to $20 a bale here, so that cuts costs by not having to buy nearly as much. I'll only be using it for my colubrids now.

[whytepizza]

I am going to go with this approach of less on the bottom and see how that works out today. I shoot the surface temp and i have 80degs. I shoot the FW and i read 110.

After seeing the "removing a UTH" thread above I was thinking of abandoning hope on the FW since I have a UTH stuck to the bottom of a tank that I used to keep hermit crabs on, which is doing nothing but sitting in the closet, and just switching to the ZooMed UTH...

But since I spent the $8 on the FW I'll keep at it (but if I can't make it work I'm not going to cry over the $8).

I would double check your connections to the flexwatt, as well. I have 8ft of flexwatt running allong the bottom of 8 10gallon tanks. Using sand (or walnut shell) my 3" tape would get to about 150-160 turned all the way up and my cages could get as hot as 100 (that's with no flooring under the flexwatt tape too, set up on open wire shelves).
The smaller the flexwatt piece should get hotter than a longer piece. Check your electrical connections (a short can cause an on/off/on/off affect), try a different rheostat, and check your connections.
Using a natural substrate (ecoearth) i did notice the temps drop a little bit, but i can easily get my temps up into the 90's inside the tanks if i needed to. It sounds like you have a great setup and a UTH that was used for your crabs (no pun intended) may not be the best since you cannot control the amount of heat coming out of it unless you splice it and that may or maynot be a wast of $8 flexwatt and a $20 UTH.
Again, check solders, if you have them, or try different clips if you clipped it. (i also found running some aluminum foil tape along the cut end and covering it with electrical tape sort of 'completed' a circut).
Anyway, best of luck!