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UTH question

R

Ruderpinne

New member
Ok so I have had the UTH on for quite some time and have had the heat lamp on as well (over protective I guess lol) I hardly ever see her on the UTH I have been turning the Lamp down a little more and a little more to see if she will go over to the UTH when she is cold but have not seen her except once


AC just got turned on in my condo and I like my room cold but I dont want to stress her out or affect her

so will it be ok if my room is 60ish?
Will she be warm with just the UTH?

Also she is in my closet and the door is shut (to try and keep some of the cold out)

thanks everyone


-the over protective parent of a funny corn
 
Is it a constant 60? or just a seasonal thing?

I live in Baltimore and here it gets really cold, so i get a heat lamp in the winter to make the gradient from the hot to cold side a little larger, so there are a few more warm spots to kinda counter balance the freaking cold winters we have. Ive never had any problems.
I think in the end you should take the temps of your viv and see where they sit at, as long as they have a nice hot spot and no glaciers in there im sure its fine.
 
Ruderpinne said:
Ok so I have had the UTH on for quite some time and have had the heat lamp on as well (over protective I guess lol) I hardly ever see her on the UTH I have been turning the Lamp down a little more and a little more to see if she will go over to the UTH when she is cold but have not seen her except once


AC just got turned on in my condo and I like my room cold but I dont want to stress her out or affect her

so will it be ok if my room is 60ish?
Will she be warm with just the UTH?

Also she is in my closet and the door is shut (to try and keep some of the cold out)

thanks everyone


-the over protective parent of a funny corn
Click to expand...

Just because you don't see her regulate her temp, doesn't mean that she isn't. I would just get rid of the lamp. Those things can cause more problems then they prevent. I would stick to a regulated UTH. By regulated I mean connected to a dimmer or thermostat.

A good proper UTH will be enough to regulate the temperature in the tank.

As far as the A/C goes, I run an air conditioner in the room the snakes are in from Spring to Fall. This doesn't generally affect the corns, because if it starts getting cool, they move to the warm side of the tank.

I'm thinking your using a ten gallon or maybe bigger tank with a screen lid. If your trying to keep the cool air out, put a towel on top (after you remove the heat lamp). This should be enough to keep the temps ambient.

Also, make sure your using a good thermometer to measure the temps in the tank. There should be one on the warm side and cool side. The one on the warm side should be right on top of the UTH. The UTH should not exceed 90F.

Hope that helps!

Wayne
 
Ok thanks guys yes using a 20 gal tank with a UTH that is regulated Im a little worried but I trust you guys just dont want anything to happen to my baby!!

Ill put the towel over as well so I keep some cold air out!
 
Dorgrim said:
Is it a constant 60? or just a seasonal thing?

I live in Baltimore and here it gets really cold, so i get a heat lamp in the winter to make the gradient from the hot to cold side a little larger, so there are a few more warm spots to kinda counter balance the freaking cold winters we have. Ive never had any problems.
I think in the end you should take the temps of your viv and see where they sit at, as long as they have a nice hot spot and no glaciers in there im sure its fine.
Click to expand...

Be careful! Hot spots are not what you are trying to achieve. Temperature gradient is good, but not always necessary. You want a well regulated spot where the snake can go and warm it self up slowly.

There are two potential problems with heat lamps. One is that they can dry out the air in the viv and create shedding problems. They are also a bit tough to control and can get very hot and burn the snake.

The second is the constant beating of light down on the corn. For an animal that is primarily a ground dweller, that probably isn't good. Corns don't usually bask in sunlight for warmth. That leaves them subject to predation. They usually find a warm log or rock warm up on. Also, the light beating down on an animal that doesn't blink could be damaging.

Corns have the ability to shut their eyes off when they sleep, but that doesn't stop light from entering. Constant light could potentially damage the retinas.

Also, corns don't need light or sunlight to develop calcium. They do this by absorbing it from the animals they eat. So UVB is not necessary.

Wayne
 
Ruderpinne said:
Ok thanks guys yes using a 20 gal tank with a UTH that is regulated Im a little worried but I trust you guys just dont want anything to happen to my baby!!

Ill put the towel over as well so I keep some cold air out!
Click to expand...

I'm no expert, but I keep close to 50 snakes. I have yet to have a problem with a UTH only setup. I have had a problem with using a heat lamp early on in my keeping.

I would never try to steer someone wrong!

Wayne
 
ok so just a question I have a thermostat in the tank thats prob about a inch up from the bottom of the tank to get a idea of how warm it is and its dropped to 74.1 on the hot side of the tank that kind of worries me so can someone explain to me why its like it?

The UTH is on at/around 84 and is regulated and has its own thermostat right above the UTH is its thermostat
 
I'm not sure if this thread is too old to add to it, but I have a relevant question so I didn't want to start another thread.

I just installed my UTH and plugged it into a thermostat. I set the thermostat to about 84 deg. The UTH doesn't seem to be turning on at all unless I increase the temp to 85 or higher, then it shuts off again in a couple minutes. Is it just that the temp in the tank is warm enough so it's not turning on? I know this is basic thermostat operation and maybe a dumb question. It might be that it was 80 deg out yesterday and it was warm enough in the room anyway to keep the tank warm enough. I might need to wait until the temp drops again to see if it turns on more frequently?

Also, I'm having trouble finding a spot where the probe wire can come out of the tank. The lid on my tank snaps pretty tight with not many spots that are left open. There is a little tiny hole where I have managed to run the wire out of, but it's squeezing it a little and I'm afraid I'm going to damage the wire. How are others solving this problem? Any advice out there? Also should the probe go directly on the glass, under the bedding, right over the UTH? I have two other Temp/hygrometer guages in the tank, one on each side to measure the overall temp.

Thanks.
 
Ok well my thermostat does the same I put the probe right over the UTH (on the inside of glass of course) and it heats up when cold then shuts off when it hits the 84 mark

For the cord mine comes out the right side of the lid their is a small hole it goes through


Also Im more concerned about the temp being below 73 in the tank kinda worries me even tho UTH is on she seems.... ok she kinda stopped moving around as much tho
 
Also Im more concerned about the temp being below 73 in the tank kinda worries me even tho UTH is on
Click to expand...
As long as the UTH is providing a suitable warm area (84 is fine) then the rest of the tank will be OK. The entire tank doesn't have to be over 73 all the time. If she's too cold at one end then she'll move nearer the warm end or onto the mat - thermoregulation is what they're designed to do. You just need to make sure that she has hides/ground cover in the cool, warm and middle zones, so that she can hide away where ever she chooses to go.
 
I set the thermostat to about 84 deg. The UTH doesn't seem to be turning on at all unless I increase the temp to 85 or higher, then it shuts off again in a couple minutes. Is it just that the temp in the tank is warm enough so it's not turning on? I know this is basic thermostat operation and maybe a dumb question.
Click to expand...
Yes, what youre describing, is how the thermostat works.

You need to be measuring the temperature on the floor of the tank with a digital thermometer, immediately above the UTH. Keep checking the temperature at intervals. With an on/off thermostat you will see a bit of fluctuation, but the temp should always be within a few degrees of what you have the thermostat set to.

Some people find that the settings on thermostats can be misleading and that they give slightly different temperatures when used with different makes/sizes of UTH. Measure the temperature and turn the thermostat up/down depending on what your thermometer says. You shouldn't necessarily just rely on what the stat settings say.
 
Thanks. I'm relying on a wall thermometer (non-digital) placed up high on the tank. I need to get a digital thermometer with a probe to measure the floor temp above the UTH. I just haven't been able to find one reasonably priced. Also I still have the other issue of no way for cords/wires to come out of the lid of the tank.

While I'm on this subject. Is there any reason to leave the infrared light on all night since the UTH is on? Or is that overkill?
 
PetCo offers an inexpensive thermometer. It costs around $7.

http://www.petco.com/product/106227/Zoo-Med-Digital-Thermometer.aspx

The problem with the sticky tape like ones or the dial ones, is that they could be inaccurate. They can fluctuated up to 20 degrees. I'm not saying they are useless. I use them, but only as back ups. I have them in the tubs along with the digital thermometers. I have a good idea of how they read. I only use them in case something fails, that way I always have a visual on the temps.

Good Luck!

Wayne
 
These are some of the most helpful boards I've ever seen, on any subject.

Thanks for your help, everyone!
 
I'm relying on a wall thermometer (non-digital) placed up high on the tank.
Click to expand...
In that case, the floor where your snake is, will be significantly warmer than the thermometer is showing. Can you take the thermometer off the wall and just lay it on the floor? If it's a strip or dial-type then it could be wrong by 10 degrees either way, but I suspect the actual temp at snake-level, is much higher than you think.

Is there any reason to leave the infrared light on all night since the UTH is on? Or is that overkill?
Click to expand...
With a UTH, you don't need an infra-red light at all. I'd switch it off completely.

Some folks get concerned about the ambient air temp in the snake's tank, but the bottom line is that the snake isn't up there - it's on the floor. The main concern is getting the heat right at floor level, not with heating all the air in the tank.
 
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