Heating Question

Originally Posted by SissyT213

First you need to get a thermostat to plug the UTH in to do that you can set the temp to somewhere between 84 to 88° when you get the thermostat, you should put the probe in the area just above where the heat mat is and it should be, if your snake borrows under the aspen, put under the aspen on top of the carpet,

There really is no benefit to having the carpet, they get soiled and messy and are not necessary. A 1" layer of aspen (a bit deeper if they are babies, little ones like to tunnel more) is all they need and set the thermostat on 86°. Put the thermometer (most come with a suction cup) directly on the glass in the middle of the UTH and you are set.

Originally Posted by smigon

There really is no benefit to having the carpet, they get soiled and messy and are not necessary. A 1" layer of aspen (a bit deeper if they are babies, little ones like to tunnel more) is all they need and set the thermostat on 86°. Put the thermometer (most come with a suction cup) directly on the glass in the middle of the UTH and you are set.

I didn't write that he should get a carpet, as he already had one so I was suggesting where to put the thermostat temperature probe since his heat mat is on the bottom of the tank, You don't put it on the wall as it's not detecting anything but the temp of the hit spot. If you want to just measure the temp of the ambient air temp, then you use a thermometer that suctions to the wall of the viv. He also stated that he'd already measured the temp of everything with a precision digital thermometer from his work, so I'm assuming it was a thermometer laser gun, as that's the only precise way to measure the temp the actual heat mat just above and the surface of the aspen. This was in response the information that safire6 have and I was exposing where for instance the probe would go.

Originally Posted by SissyT213

I didn't write that he should get a carpet

Sissy, I never said you wrote that he should get a carpet, he already said he had a carpet, you were just telling him where to measure the temp with a carpet and I was stating that the carpet is unnecessary.

Trust me, temps in all my corn snakes' enclosures are kept very steady and carefully, anyone here can attest to my attention to that detail!

Originally Posted by safire6

air temperature in room: 72 F (22 C)
air temperature in "hide" over the UTH: 82 F (28 C)
surface temperature of the aspen bedding: 94 F (34 C)
surface temperature on the 1/8" thick carpet: 107 F (42 C) !!
surface temperature of the glass: 138 F (59 C) !!
.

I think your setup just made a good case how NOT to use a thermostat LOL

BTW welcome to the "mad scientist" club on CS.com

Originally Posted by SissyT213

I didn't write that he should get a carpet, as he already had one so I was suggesting where to put the thermostat temperature probe since his heat mat is on the bottom of the tank, You don't put it on the wall as it's not detecting anything but the temp of the hit spot. If you want to just measure the temp of the ambient air temp, then you use a thermometer that suctions to the wall of the viv. He also stated that he'd already measured the temp of everything with a precision digital thermometer from his work, so I'm assuming it was a thermometer laser gun, as that's the only precise way to measure the temp the actual heat mat just above and the surface of the aspen. This was in response the information that safire6 have and I was exposing where for instance the probe would go.

Thanks for your input everyone. I kept the carpet (for now-I'll probably remove it once it gets soiled) and installed the thermostat and have it regulated to about 86-88F. I do have a thermometer attached to the side of the glass terrarium and now that it is getting cooler outside here in Cincinnati, that thermometer is reading around 70F. I read somewhere here on CS.com that the size of the UTH should be about 25 to 33% of the area of the terrarium. My UTH is only 12 x 8 and the terrarium floor is 36 x 18 so my UTH is only about 15% of the terrarium floor. Should I install another small UTH to bring up the air temp in the terrarium slightly? If so-should I put it on the outside of the wall or on the floor next to the existing UTH?

thanks for any input!

Originally Posted by safire6

Thanks for your input everyone. I kept the carpet (for now-I'll probably remove it once it gets soiled) and installed the thermostat and have it regulated to about 86-88F. I do have a thermometer attached to the side of the glass terrarium and now that it is getting cooler outside here in Cincinnati, that thermometer is reading around 70F. I read somewhere here on CS.com that the size of the UTH should be about 25 to 33% of the area of the terrarium. My UTH is only 12 x 8 and the terrarium floor is 36 x 18 so my UTH is only about 15% of the terrarium floor. Should I install another small UTH to bring up the air temp in the terrarium slightly? If so-should I put it on the outside of the wall or on the floor next to the existing UTH?

thanks for any input!

I use a carpet in one of my tanks as it's easier to clean. I just keep an extra one sounds so that when one it's being cleaned and dried, then I have one to put in there.

Around, not sound, pmsl ;-)

Originally Posted by safire6

I do have a thermometer attached to the side of the glass terrarium and now that it is getting cooler outside here in Cincinnati, that thermometer is reading around 70F. I read somewhere here on CS.com that the size of the UTH should be about 25 to 33% of the area of the terrarium. My UTH is only 12 x 8 and the terrarium floor is 36 x 18 so my UTH is only about 15% of the terrarium floor. Should I install another small UTH to bring up the air temp in the terrarium slightly? If so-should I put it on the outside of the wall or on the floor next to the existing UTH?

thanks for any input!

You may need a bigger UTH, one for the gallon size of your viv, a 40-50 gallon size. The thermometer on the side of the viv, is it one of those stick on ones? Those are useless for viv setups, you need a probe thermometer that sticks to the glass inside the viv on the BOTTOM directly above the center of the UTH. The thermometer should read whatever your thermostat is set to, just to verify that it is working. Nothing should be on the walls, except maybe a snake hammock which they love!

Originally Posted by smigon

You may need a bigger UTH, one for the gallon size of your viv, a 40-50 gallon size. The thermometer on the side of the viv, is it one of those stick on ones? Those are useless for viv setups, you need a probe thermometer that sticks to the glass inside the viv on the BOTTOM directly above the center of the UTH. The thermometer should read whatever your thermostat is set to, just to verify that it is working. Nothing should be on the walls, except maybe a snake hammock which they love!

Thanks Smigon, yes the analog thermometer on the side is a stick-on type. I just went out and bought a digital type with a 3 ft probe to verify the temp above the UTH. I think I'll add another small UTH to get a little more heat in the terrarium.

I do have a hammock in the top left corner but so far I haven't seen him use it much, but it's only been in there about 2 weeks.

Thanks!

You can put some ice in a water bowl on the cool end. Your snake may wrap around the bowl if it feels too warm