Temp Readings

Two questions...

Do I put substrate in the hides, or do I leave it empty. I have paper towel against the bottom of the cage, so the snake is relatively safe from the UTH. So should I put substrate in the hides?

And should the temp in the hot end of the tank be measured in the hide, or outside of the hide? I'm sure it's hotter in the hide than outside of it, so let me know.

Here is a pic of my setup. I have not yet bought a water dish, cause I'm doing that when I pick up my snake. TWO MORE DAYS!!! :crazy02: :crazy02: :crazy02: :crazy02: :crazy02:

Well, are you putting substrate everywhere else in the tank or just using papertowel everywhere else?

Generally you just put one, level layer of aspen (or whatever substrate) across the entire bottom of the tank, then just set the hides on top of the substrate.

Measure the warm side temp directly against the glass above the UTH.

If paper towel is the only thing you have keeping the snake off the glass, and the UTH is not regulated by a thermostat or rheostat, then it will NOT be enough to keep the snake safe.

Hey thanks for the info :wavey:

So should I measure the temp inside the hide? The hottest temp in the tank should be no more than 30 Celsius (converted from Farenheit, me Canuck! )
I've got a temp of 30 right now (yes, I bought a dimmer and installed it :dancer: ) It's working great as far as I can see!

I'm just putting in the substrate now! Thanks for the help!

I would stick the probe under the papertowel (under the hide) so that it is right on the glass and above the UTH. This should be the hottest spot in the viv, which is a good place to take the temp to make sure things aren't getting too hot.

Thanks for the info!