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Question about UTH's

Wylie

Wylie

Meet Sparkle... :D
Are they only designed to raise the temperature about 5 or 6 degrees? I ask cause that's all I can seem to get out of my Zoo Med UTH made for up to a 20 gallon tank which I have. Our house temp is 70 degrees which is the same temp the cool side of the tank is and right now even with my full spectrum UV lamp on over the warm side it is only 76.5 degrees. The temp probes are touching the glass bottom in the front corners of both sides. Anyone have any info or can confirm that this sounds normal, that a UTH only heats an additional 5-6 degrees from what it is in your house?
 
Some actually will raise the temps to dangerous levels (over 100 degrees F), you may need to put a rheostat on the UTH to get it to work to the level that you want.
 
Thats less output than I experienced. Unregulated, my 10/20 gal uth hit 95* and was still climbing when I unplugged it and put on the thermostat. This was measured on the glass, under a couple inches of aspen and dead center of the mat.
 
I would also wonder if possibly there's something wrong with the UTH I left my 10-20gallon uth running unregulated for five minutes and it jumped straight from 83 to 93.
 
Try taking your matt out, put the probe of your thermostat onto the matt and measure the temp. It should definitely be reading higher than what it is.
 
Thanks everyone, I'll try placing the probe right over the center to get a reading, will probably do that later today. But how are you all having a temp probe dead center over the mat? Are you talking about for temporary measurements or do you somehow have it placed there permanently? Cause I can't do that with my set up:

IMG_2988.jpg
 
The digital thermomters I got, that look just like yours came with a little suction cup, I use that and a hide to make sure they're being held in place.
 
Okay, yeah, that would work, I've got a long enough cord on the probes I could just run them underneath the paper towels and suction them in the middle on each side of the tank (one over the middle of the UTH). I guess I could tape the lose cords to the sides. I'm wondering though, do you all have your temp displays on the outside of your tanks? If so, how do you have the cord to the probe going into the tank and still be able to close the top? I can't close mine properly because of the probe cords.
 
The weight of the aspen holds mine down usually. right now, I'm using paper towels cuz my little girl is having issues with her back-end. I just place the probes where I want them, lay on the paper towels, and then put a hide over the spot. They stay in place.
 
Wylie said:
Okay, yeah, that would work, I've got a long enough cord on the probes I could just run them underneath the paper towels and suction them in the middle on each side of the tank (one over the middle of the UTH). I guess I could tape the lose cords to the sides. I'm wondering though, do you all have your temp displays on the outside of your tanks? If so, how do you have the cord to the probe going into the tank and still be able to close the top? I can't close mine properly because of the probe cords.
Click to expand...

Are there any knock-outs along the perimeter of the tank? Mine had several that I used. If not, you could use a hacksaw to form a slit that lets the wire feed through without making an escape route.

Tape on the inside of a snakes tank is usually a bad idea. If a bit peels back and then your snake sticks to it, you'll have a PO'd (or hurt) snake to deal with. What you could do is put a dab of fish tank silicone where you want to hold down the wire, then after it sets up take a razor blade and make a slit that the wire will pinch into. You'd have to find somewhere else to put the snake while the silicone dries, though.
 
How big is your snake? If it's a hatchling, you might want to provide some very small hides. They're more comfortable when they can touch the walls. Tacky as they look, Toilet paper rolls cut in half lengthwise work great.
 
Is that a Critter Cage viv? If so, the black plastic rim around the tank has little black plastic tabs that break out for cords to go through.

How much of the bottom of the tank does your UTH cover? I don't think it is working properly. I also don't think, if you are going to return it, I'd feed the snake until you have the heat steady. It won't hurt him to go a week- that's pretty customary with new arrivals, gives them time to settle in.

It's not advised to use tape in a viv. It's very difficult to remove tape from a snake. Some people use aquarium silicone to tack down the probe wires. If you do use tape, make sure it is VERY weak- definitely not duct tape!
 
MerlinsPop said:
Are there any knock-outs along the perimeter of the tank? Mine had several that I used. If not, you could use a hacksaw to form a slit that lets the wire feed through without making an escape route.

Tape on the inside of a snakes tank is usually a bad idea. If a bit peels back and then your snake sticks to it, you'll have a PO'd (or hurt) snake to deal with. What you could do is put a dab of fish tank silicone where you want to hold down the wire, then after it sets up take a razor blade and make a slit that the wire will pinch into. You'd have to find somewhere else to put the snake while the silicone dries, though.
Click to expand...

There's nothing along the top perimeter of the tank that allows a cord to go through. :(

Thanks for the tip about the silicone, I'm sure I would have used tape if you hadn't mentioned the potential for a problem. See, that's why I'm here, to make sure I don't do anything stupid with my new snake, heh.
 
Is it possible you have your UTH plugged into an outlet with a switch that keeps getting turned off, or even a dead outlet? Maybe it's just warmer in the viv because it's enclosed, and the UTH isn't on at all?

Hope you get it worked out. :)
 
Nanci said:
Is that a Critter Cage viv? If so, the black plastic rim around the tank has little black plastic tabs that break out for cords to go through.

How much of the bottom of the tank does your UTH cover? I don't think it is working properly. I also don't think, if you are going to return it, I'd feed the snake until you have the heat steady. It won't hurt him to go a week- that's pretty customary with new arrivals, gives them time to settle in.

It's not advised to use tape in a viv. It's very difficult to remove tape from a snake. Some people use aquarium silicone to tack down the probe wires. If you do use tape, make sure it is VERY weak- definitely not duct tape!
Click to expand...

Thanks for all your advice, I really appreciate it.

I'm not sure what type of housing it is, I got it from Petsmart, it is one made just for reptiles, so I know it's a terrarium of some sort. It has a sliding screen top which locks into place and a plastic piece which goes along the front and locks into place, only I can't lock it down with the probe cords there. I looked around online a bit so that I could refer you to a picture but I didn't find my exact terrarium. And I can't get above mine to get a pic, it's too high. I may find a pic later.

The UTH is a Zoo Med and the package says for up to a 20 gallon tank, I paid $20 for it and it's 24 watts. It's already my second UTH as the first one I bought came in a starter kid and it didn't heat worth crap either, it was only 8 watts, I figured this 24 watt $20 one would work. The other one came in a starter kit which totaled $25. It looks small to me but I just went by the package saying it will heat up to a 20 gallon tank. I can't get under the terrarium right now to see exactly how big it is, at least not without hubby's help.
 
jessicalb said:
Is it possible you have your UTH plugged into an outlet with a switch that keeps getting turned off, or even a dead outlet? Maybe it's just warmer in the viv because it's enclosed, and the UTH isn't on at all?

Hope you get it worked out. :)
Click to expand...

It's plugged into a power strip which is indeed on and there are two other things plugged into it as well that are on. The warm side where the UTH is located reads 76.6 degrees on the temp and the cool side is currently at 71.5 degrees. Plus I even have my full spectrum UV light on and I would think there should be more than a 5 degree difference. Only thing I can think of is to try putting my temp probe over the center of the UTH and getting a reading there then I guess if it's a lot higher than everything is okay?
 
That looks just like one of my cages and there are two knock outs in the back. About 4 inches in from each back corner. New, they're solid, but there are two tabs about a quarter inch wide (a little less, really, and not exactly square) that you can get scissor tip on to cut, then bend it up and down and the back snaps off. when I get home, I'll take a quick picture of what I mean.
 
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