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more heating questions

robeyeshua

robeyeshua

New member
this heating thing is seeming more complex all the time - zoo med says not to use their pad with newspaper substrate - - anybody know why?? - - they say use reptibark which i do prefer as it looks much nicer - but some say "no bark" - the cheapest true t'stat i have found is 40 bucks - some say a rheostat is fine - i tend to think it would be as i would be seeing the tank every day - any help?????? - also thought of this question - i wouldn't begin to argue with anyone concerning the need for heat but i was wondering - how do the breeders handle it - tubs, racks, lots of snakes - how do they provide heat??? - thanks
 
I have 3 Zoo Med UTH that I use with newspaper and aspen and have yet to have any problems, so I don't know what they mean about newspaper...unless the heater was somehow in contact with the paper? I dunno.

I use a thermostat, but I've heard rheostats work fine, too. You'll just usually have to change the temperature based on the ambient temps of your home.

And I believe many breeders use rack systems with heat tape that runs along the back/front of each tub. :} Heat tape (Flexwatt) can be used on plastic, from what I've gathered.
 
I have 2 more corns coming soon & am moving from aquaria to tubs. Can I use a thermostat with heat tape?
 
ZoologyGirl said:
absolutely.
Click to expand...

Cool, thanks! I should be all set then for the new arrivals. I have substrate, plastic containers, heat tape, a thermostat, lots of appropriately sized frozen mice, cheap hides (amazing what you can find at WalMart), water bowls (likewise), silk plants (ditto). Anything else I am overlooking?
 
robeyeshua said:
this heating thing is seeming more complex all the time - zoo med says not to use their pad with newspaper substrate - - anybody know why?? - - they say use reptibark which i do prefer as it looks much nicer - but some say "no bark" - the cheapest true t'stat i have found is 40 bucks - some say a rheostat is fine - i tend to think it would be as i would be seeing the tank every day - any help?????? - also thought of this question - i wouldn't begin to argue with anyone concerning the need for heat but i was wondering - how do the breeders handle it - tubs, racks, lots of snakes - how do they provide heat??? - thanks
Click to expand...

ZooMed wants you to use Reptibark because they make it!!! Why do you want newspaper? Baby snakes love aspen to burrow in! If you have your UTH under control with a rheostat or thermostat, it won't get hot enough to start anything on fire. You can look for a thermostat on eBay and find it much cheaper than at Petco/Petsmart. The ZooMed thermostat is adequate. The ZooMed rheostat, while I have not used one personally, has been reported here to not lower the heat enough. Some people use lamp dimmers from Home Depot or wherever. It is quite important to use a probed thermometer to keep track, all the time, of what the temp is right on the UTH under the substrate.

Many breeders have their snakes in racks with built-in heat, with heat tape like Flexwatt or heat cable, and that is on a thermostat, because it will get up over 130F. I would guess most breeders choose a higher-quality proportional thermostat like a Herpstat. Trust me, if you fork out the $125 for a Herpstat, you will never have to worry about it and, considering your snake will live 20 years or more, the cost isn't that much compared to a $40 thermostat that isn't as accurate or reliable.

Alternatively, some breeders heat the whole room that the snakes are housed in.
 
uth - t'stat

just trying to wrestle through this issue of heat, substrate, etc - - -i'm cool with aspen - just a lot of people pushing newspaper - i'm not tight - just want to spend wisely to put together a nice enclosure at a modest cost - i'll check on the dimmers at lowe's - i have a $50 rheostat that was controlling temps on a huge pad for my dogs - like would be used for a giant pad - it might work or i might bite the bullet on a t'stat
 
I have also found that the Zoo Med rheostat does not lower the temperature enough on the Zoo Med UTH. I believe ZM also recommends using their Repti Cage Carpet with their UTH, and like Nanci mentioned it is probably to get you to buy additional products from them. Right now I am using paper towel topped with aspen. I was contemplating getting another thermostat (which is working well for my other setup) or switching to the Exo Terra Rainforest UTH as recommended by another member here as they don't get as hot. However, I think I will try the lamp dimmer first.
 
Marica said:
I have also found that the Zoo Med rheostat does not lower the temperature enough on the Zoo Med UTH. I believe ZM also recommends using their Repti Cage Carpet with their UTH, and like Nanci mentioned it is probably to get you to buy additional products from them. Right now I am using paper towel topped with aspen. I was contemplating getting another thermostat (which is working well for my other setup) or switching to the Exo Terra Rainforest UTH as recommended by another member here as they don't get as hot. However, I think I will try the lamp dimmer first.
Click to expand...

I would also recommend the exo-terra rainforest :)
 
rheostat vs. t'stat

this raises the question - rheo vs. t'stat - the t'stat will cycle power off/on to the heating element and should maintain within a few degrees - -the rheostat would reduce voltage to reduce heat and would maintain and thus only be affected by room temps, ie. cooler at nightand during winter months to some degree - i just believe it makes sense to achieve a steady temo with some type of rheostat and deal with the variance due to room temps - opinions??????????
 
In all of the literature and posts i've read about UTH and temps, I have not found much written about the temperature at the cage floor vs ambient air temps. In order to have a temp of 80-85 at the substrate surface, the temperature at the bottom of tank is about 20 degrees hotter. I layed out newspaper under aspen to help dissipate some heat, but the probe is still measuring 100 deg. And this is using a rheostat. Without rheostat, the temp on floor will easily reach 110 or higher...For a baby corn who likes to burrow, isnt this a bad situation? And what is the solution?
 
If you just have one snake or even two or three, I would go with the rheostat. You will have to adjust it every now & then & will probably want to check it at least two times a day. The people that have big collections just can't check each individual cage, or they'd be adjusting & checking temps all day long. So for them the cost of a few thermostats is well worth it. Just my two cents worth.
 
This is a cut and paste of something I wrote about proportional thermostats:

So if you decide to get a thermostat, (I would) then you need to know about the two types. First the on/off. Generally cheaper. $25-$30 if you search on-line, maybe $40 if you buy at Petco/Petsmart/Big Apple. You set a temp. The thermostat turns on. When it reaches the set temp, it shuts off. (Often the UTH will still heat up a couple degrees more). The UTH temp drops. When it is X degrees below the set temp, the stat kicks on again. So you have a slight variation in temps, which isn't a big deal with corns.

The other type is the proportional thermostat. They are more expensive. Figure $100 and up. They generally have a digital read-out, and many bells and whistles, some of which are really nice, some of which you will probably never need. So you set the temp. The stat turns on, supplying full power. As the temp of the UTH nears the set temp, the stat supplies less and less power, eventually cutting off as the temp is closing in on the set temp, so the UTH doesn't exceed the set temp by more than a couple tenths of a degree. And as the temp drops, the stat comes back on at, say, 10-20% power, when the UTH is just a couple tenths of a degree below the set temp, so it holds the exact temp you set much steadier than an on/off. Does this matter? Not really. But you will also have options that are nice such as matching your thermostat to your thermometer, and will have high/low temp alarms, and all kinds of things.

Let's say you want to be EXTRA careful. You can set up two stats in sequence. First you put in your proportional stat at the temp you want to keep the snakes at. Let's pick 83F. Then you add the back-up stat, an on/off. You set the temp at your fail-safe temp, about three to five degrees higher than the proportional stat. Say 87F. You place both the stat probes together, and plug the proportional stat into the back-up stat. That way, if the proportional stat fails on, (highly unlikely but it could happen) the back-up stat will be controlling the temp, a few degrees higher than ideal, but your snakes won't cook.

A couple things to make your thermostat run safely. Make sure you place the thermostat probe in the center of the UTH, in the viv, under the aspen, and secure it with a blob of aquarium silicone (not duct tape!!!) If the stat probe gets loose, the stat will supply heat to the UTH to try to raise the temp to your setting, but with the probe nowhere near the UTH, the UTH can reach temps of 120-130F! Hot enough to burn the snake. Second, buy a probed thermometer and secure the probe right next to the stat probe. This is how you spot trouble with your thermostat, such as the probe being loose, or with the UTH, such as it dying. (UTHs don't last forever!) Just glance at the temp whenever you pass the viv. You can catch problems early that way.

****************

I have heard some people complain that the Rainforest UTH did not get warm enough, especially if you live in a cold-weather state. I believe it maxes out about 80F.
 
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