My 40 gal tank pic's and info please read. maybe I bought too much crap

Please read all of this I feel it's important:

what im trying to do is simulate higher temps during a normal day ie noon ect
my tank with every thing on is 85 like said above with it all on..


I plan to make a dayly notation of the tank temps ect. I hope my snake will benefit from all my work.



Hot side from earilyer with lights on:

when the IR light is on the temp in the 40 gal tank is 85

right now the tank says 79.7 F with 54% humidity

the probe i have under the substrate says 81.4

Hot side with lights off:

Side of tank


Tank Probe not centered on UTH will do that in a bit hopefully it's not hotter :





The cold side right now says:

Temp: 75 F

Humid: 55 or around it give or take 2 degree's






My tank setup:













And last but not least my snake thats being mailed to me from Don at SMR!



it took me about 4 hours to set this up only because I'm a little anal about how things are.. I also have a reg side tape strip on the right side. It's reading 75 F for the cold side ..

OH my god! i just put the probe in the middle of the UTH and it's reading 108 and climbing !!!

how can i control it's temp

I responded to your other thread before I saw this one.
I mentioned you will need a thermostat. That is the only way to regulate the temps correctly. You did right to put the probe on the uth since your snake can and possible will burrow under the substrate at times.

One other thing I'd mention is getting a hide for the cool side, so your snake can have a hide no matter which side he wants to be on. But my first concern would be the thermostat. You can order them from reptile supply for around 30 dollars and it takes about 4 days to arrive. Hope this helps a bit.

topped out at 123 mind you this is just with the UTH on

Exactly why you dont' need a light, but you DO need a thermostat. Make sure to get one soon as you can and also get a hide for the cool side. You don't need a fancy hide at all. Even a paper towel roll will do. Good luck with your little guy.

If you have a UTH you don't need those lights. Just hook the pad up to a thermostat to regulate your temperatures and your good to go.

i bought the zoo med repti-temp rheostat. I'm not sure it's working correctly though i'm going to wait till the tank cools down then plug the UTH back in with the repti on it once the cage , UTH cools. see what i get. I have a hide. the big rock looking thing is the hide I like it..

i sorta think my water bowl is too large heck i've allrdy down graded from the lagest one they had .. ok size or too big?

my other concern is maybe the UTH is so hot because i have the tank what was my pc desk (lol i have my 22" pc monitor on a little coffee table.. )

Maybe the wood since it doesnt have holes in it even though the tank is raised about an 8th of an inch is causen it to be to hot...



this repti shows pictures of lights and heat rocks but doesnt say anything about a UTH...



is a rheostat and a thermostat dif??? im starting to think it is i'm looking at the package now arg...


looks like i might be taken a few things back though that will make me happy cuz then I can buy a cage to put Rogue in for feeding time

I have the Zoo Med 500R thermostats on five vivs. (Three thermostats.)

A thermostat like the Zoo Med is an off/on thermostat. You put the probe on the UTH, set the dial, it turns the UTH off when the temp you set is reached. Some have degrees, others just have a colored scale.

Some more expensive ($100 and up) thermostats are proportional. When they near the set temp, they reduce the power to the UTH to hold the temp.

A rheostat just reduces the power to the UTH. So you measure the temp and adjust the rheostat to the temp you want, and it reduces the power to the UTH, but if the room temp changes substantially, you have to adjust the rheostat. A thermostat would keep the setting no matter what the room temp was.

Big Apple Herp sells some pretty nice probed thermometers, and also a nice thermostat that cuts off if the UTH exceeds a certain temp.

Nanci

nanci is the zoo med thermostat safe? i really dont want to kill rogue by ,istake thats my BIGGEST fear besides getting bit by a 24'' snake LOL

http://tinyurl.com/ypgu4s

I have this one, too, but it is not in use yet.

And I have a $100 plus fancy one, Herpstat, that, even though it shuts down the UTH at a set temp, the pad is still heating up or whatever, so the temp rises another five degrees before falling!

But I have the three Zoo Med 500Rs, and I have max/min thermometers on the uth's, and haven't had a problem.

http://tinyurl.com/yqd3xt

I just got this thermometer, and I love it. I have the one with two temp probes. $25. I'm using it to monitor two UTHs in two cages, but it would be great for warm side/cool side, too. It also shows max/min.

Nanci

nm reread that you own a few of them sorry im very tired stayed up all night to get my night shift hours back on track.. i work as a security guard and i watch camera's that cover all of IL : :crazy02: oke:

I would just watch whatever you get with a max/min thermometer and make sure the max isn't too high. It never occured to me until yesterday, sitting and watching the temp continue to rise after the pad was shut off, that that could happen.

Nanci

I also have the zoomed 500r thermostat I have 2 of them controlling 4 cages and all the cages stay within a degree of each other. I think your rheostat will work fine just takes awhile to get the temps regulated right. Hope this helps.

Nanci,

I just got this thermometer, and I love it. I have the one with two temp probes. $25. I'm using it to monitor two UTHs in two cages, but it would be great for warm side/cool side, too. It also shows max/min.

Click to expand...

How long are the probe wires?

Regards,
Steve

snakemom1961 said:

I also have the zoomed 500r thermostat I have 2 of them controlling 4 cages and all the cages stay within a degree of each other. I think your rheostat will work fine just takes awhile to get the temps regulated right. Hope this helps.

Click to expand...

I, too, use the Zoomed 500r thermostat and haven't had any problems with them. They've been great for me.

ssmith_1187 said:

Nanci,
How long are the probe wires?
Regards,
Steve

Click to expand...

Long- I'll look when I get home- but around 36"?

Nanci

I'm reading the Spyder Robotics website, (Herpstat) and they recommend using a 500R as a back up thermostat in case theirs fails.

From the website:

SUGGESTIONS:

As a secondary backup to ANY proportional thermostat use the following setup. Purchase a nonproportional thermostat with a wattage rating at or above the proportional thermostat's rating. Attach this thermostat to the wall outlet and set it for your desired failsafe temperature (NOT your normal target temperature). Then attach your proportional thermostat to the output of the "failsafe" thermostat and set it as usual. Place the probes of both thermostats in the same location. The idea is the proportional themostat controls the environment and should it fail and reach the failsafe temperature the "failsafe" thermostat will cut power. Of course at this point the environment will be regulated by the failsafe thermostat at its temperature. The environment would be warmer but assuming the failsafe is set to acceptable temperature the animals will remain safe.

Experiments:
I was able to use a inexpensive Zoo Med Repti Temp 500R with a Herpstat Proportional thermostat. I initially set the Repti Temp 500R up by itself and monitored the environment. I set it to regulate at a temperature slightly higher than I wanted the environment to be at. I monitored it closely to confirm its regulation. I then disconnected the heating element and attached it to the Herpstat output and attached the Herpstat's power cord to the Repti Temp's output.

Outcome:
It worked very well. I simulated a failure by removing the Herpstats probe from the enclosure. The enclosure continued to heat until the Repti Temp cut power. Once the temperatured lowered the Repti Temp powered up, the Herpstat powered up, and the Heat was regulated by the Repti Temp.

Conclusion:
For inexpensive backup of standard 500 watt proportional thermostats I would recommend the Zoo Med Repti Temp 500R. For higher wattage backup I would recommend a relay controlled thermostat such as the Ranco or Johnson Controls models. This worked well with the Herpstat products and should work for others.

Another good practice is to use a surge suppressor (such as the ones used to protect computer equipment) in between the thermostat and the wall outlet. This will protect the devices from current spikes that are common to household current.