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Yes...another heating question..

B

brian60

New member
I know, I know heating questions are asked all the time.

So I have an UTH and I have Reptile Prime coconut fiber substrate which appears great and unlike other coconut options it isnt dusty at all and I would have a hard time thinking my little guys nose would get all plugged up or something burrowing..which he loves doing in the stuff.

Anyway, it seems to be more dense than Aspen because the recommended 2-3 inches even if kept at 2 inches requires my heating pad to reach 98-108 degrees for my probe (at surface inside warm hide) to sit at 83-84 degrees controlled by my thermostat. I also have a thermometer which measures the temp at the glass above the pad and ambient temp where the display is...so I can see room temp (for estimating cool side) and the glass temp.

My little guy usually avoids burrowing and sitting right above the mat since it is obviously too hot...but he just ate his first meal with me (the breeder fed him a lot since he is 5.5 months old and I just got him) and he is curled up against the glass right beside the UTH's edge...now I bet the glass is still at least in the 90s slightly off the mat...

Will he hurt himself? Or interfere with digestion? If I have to I will skim off some substrate and make it thinner and run the UTH cooler as a result...but with less substrate I will feel bad he cant burrow as well since he loves to it appears. He has several established tunnels he uses.

Thoughts?

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So, after feeling the glass on the bottom around the edges of the mat it actually isnt even really hot to the touch. Hardly any warmer than the cool side glass. I'm sure it is a little warmer above the glass with the permeating heat...but maybe it isnt that bad. From my understanding corns are smart enough to avoid the areas that are too hot..maybe I am being too paranoid and he is fine lol

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So another update. Really want to remove a lot of my substrate and make it thinner on the bottom. For two reasons actually:

1- He burrows literally day in and day out and is basically missing during that time which makes me nervous he escaped (since I'm still new to this and paranoid) so I'm still adjusting to that

and 2- he still lays directly on the glass to the right or left of the pad often...which has GOT to be hot since the center of the glass on the pad is at like 95-101 degrees.

So I wish to lower the substrate to make him easier to find and to make the temps a little smaller in variation between glass surface and substrate surface. If I could get the glass temp at like 85-94 range and substrate maintains 81-85 I feel this would be ideal to avoid him potentially getting burned and be easier to maintain proper temp.

My substrate is at the recommended level on the bag of 2ish inches with some spots close to 3. Thoughts?

I know some people use straight paper towels...but I love him being able to burrow SOME for safety being a baby...but within reason so I can watch him.
 
My thoughts. Theres nothing wrong with substrate vs paper towels. I use both aspen and coconut and he loves to burrow and hide in it. Its more natural and looks good too Get a thermostat with a probe and a thermometer with a probe and place them both on the glass over the mat. Keep it at a reasonable temp, dont go by what you think is too hot or not by touching it. Place a hide directly over the mat and another on the cool side. You wont burn the snake. Good luck!
 
DeuceRon said:
My thoughts. Theres nothing wrong with substrate vs paper towels. I use both aspen and coconut and he loves to burrow and hide in it. Its more natural and looks good too Get a thermostat with a probe and a thermometer with a probe and place them both on the glass over the mat. Keep it at a reasonable temp, dont go by what you think is too hot or not by touching it. Place a hide directly over the mat and another on the cool side. You wont burn the snake. Good luck!
Click to expand...
That is the setup I currently have only the thermostat is at substrate surface inside of warm hide...I removed a small amount of substrate so now he can still burrow and the glass temp never exceeds 92 degrees while maintaining 82-85 at substrate surface. Now I feel much more comfortable with things and I know he will stay nice and comfortable within his needed range for digestion and health. Thank you for your thoughts! I just want the little guy healthy! :)

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