Koivixen
New member
I'm new to snake husbandry and I have an amel called Clementine. She is almost a year old and I've had her for a month. So far so good. :cheers:
For the last couple of days, the temperatures in Seattle have been in the mid 80s (even hit 90 one day).
I, like most Seattleites, don't have a/c, so my apartment temperatures have also been 80+ per my wall thermometer, which sucks for me and my cats, but I think Clem has been enjoying it. I have kept the UTH off since its been so hot.
However, it appears temps are going back down to the 70s which means night gets too cold. Yesterday I finally bought a thermometer for my tank; I got Zoo- Med Reptile digital thermometer with a little prob.
As I suspected, her substrate temps were between 80-85 on the 'hot side', without the UTH on. Last night was the 1st 'cool' night we've had and her tank temp dropped down to 73 degrees. I turned the UTH on. I check two hours later......115 degrees! Granted, the probe was right on the glass, but that is way to hot.
Prior to these hot days, I kept the UTH on all the time. She never seemed to favor one side or the other, but I assume she was always kept on top of the substrate. Her 'warm' hide isn't directly over the pad either. I would even bury my hand into the substrate to check on how hot it was and could touch the glass without getting burned. I assume this may be cause our temps were in the 60s for the highs so maybe the UTH didn't get as hot?
Any recommendations to make sure she doesn't get burned against the bottom glass? Do I just need a rheostat and how do they work?
I thought about using a paper towel or similar as a buffer, but that seems like insta-fire
I'm using is ReptiTherm U.T.H. Thanks!
For the last couple of days, the temperatures in Seattle have been in the mid 80s (even hit 90 one day).
I, like most Seattleites, don't have a/c, so my apartment temperatures have also been 80+ per my wall thermometer, which sucks for me and my cats, but I think Clem has been enjoying it. I have kept the UTH off since its been so hot.
However, it appears temps are going back down to the 70s which means night gets too cold. Yesterday I finally bought a thermometer for my tank; I got Zoo- Med Reptile digital thermometer with a little prob.
As I suspected, her substrate temps were between 80-85 on the 'hot side', without the UTH on. Last night was the 1st 'cool' night we've had and her tank temp dropped down to 73 degrees. I turned the UTH on. I check two hours later......115 degrees! Granted, the probe was right on the glass, but that is way to hot.
Prior to these hot days, I kept the UTH on all the time. She never seemed to favor one side or the other, but I assume she was always kept on top of the substrate. Her 'warm' hide isn't directly over the pad either. I would even bury my hand into the substrate to check on how hot it was and could touch the glass without getting burned. I assume this may be cause our temps were in the 60s for the highs so maybe the UTH didn't get as hot?
Any recommendations to make sure she doesn't get burned against the bottom glass? Do I just need a rheostat and how do they work?
I thought about using a paper towel or similar as a buffer, but that seems like insta-fire
I'm using is ReptiTherm U.T.H. Thanks!
