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Zoo Med 500R & UTH

TripleMoonsExotic said:
So, say my house varies 65 degrees in winter versus 75 degrees in summer (which is actually pretty accurate)...With my helix (and any decent thermostat), it automatically adjusts for that 10 degree difference. Do these ZooMed ones do that? I can't figure out how it can know what temperature it's supposed to be set at if it doesn't have the ability to set it at a specific temperature.
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The dial is just arbitrary, once you pick a setting, it will hold that setting (i.e. temp). Temps on a Herpstat/helix are somewhat arbitrary as well; if it did settings in color rather than actual temp; then if you set it to blue, then it will hold blue, whatever temp blue may be. No different here, set it to yellow, and it will hold the yellow setting, whatever temp yellow may correspond to. Granted it is an on/off and not nearly as accurate as a proportional, but it does OK.
 
Temp labels on the outside of any unit only help us to guess what temp it's holding, it doesn't need them to function. :D
 
You got the right thermostat, you just ALSO need a good digital thermometer with a wired probe. Put the probe directly on the glass over the center of the UTH, under the substrate. Adjust the thermostat until you get a range of about 83-85 on the glass. It takes a while to dial in correctly but once done it should hold it in that range. A digital thermometer with wired probe is a must to set it, however.

You might try putting your thermometer right on the glass with no substrate and setting it a couple degrees lower, like say 79-82 range. But you will never know for sure if its the proper temperature until you get a digital thermometer.
 
I will DEFINATLEY go get a digital thermometer with probe this weekend. Thank you so much to everyone for all of your advice on this topic.
 
The ESU one listed above has been sold under a few different names although all products are identical. I have one for my of my snakes and honestly its my favorite of all the thermostats I use (My other snakes use 500Rs). All I did when I got it was set the temp to 80 on the dial and thats were the temp of the uth has stayed from day one.

As for it not feeling warm its likely because 80 degrees is below your body temperature try filling a glash with water that is 80 degrees it will likely feel luke warm.

You really don't need the Reptile carpet as long as you have a thermostat to control the UTH temp as temperatures of 80 degrees are not going to burn your snake.
 
get rid of the rug, temp under rug will be diffent than above it if you are controlling your temps, you won't burn your snake.
 
I was told by doctors at my work (Univ of Penn) to always use reptile carpet with UTH's
I will feel comfortable getting rid of it after I get my digital thermometer with probe so I know exactly what temp the glass is at.
 
The rug doesn't really protect the snake at all. Corns love to burrow and if it hasn't already, it will soon be burrowing under the rug.
 
kcaven said:
I was told by doctors at my work (Univ of Penn) to always use reptile carpet with UTH's
I will feel comfortable getting rid of it after I get my digital thermometer with probe so I know exactly what temp the glass is at.
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No offense, but they're wrong. You don't always have to use it. In fact, I would say that most don't use it with great success. So long as it's properly regulated and you know the exact temp of the glass, then you can use your favorite substrate w/o any problems.
 
Removed Rug/Raised Dial to Med/High ~ Temps still wont budge

Ok so against my gut feeling I removed the rug. The temp is still the same. I tried turning the dial up a bit now its right _ above_ the med setting. The temp still did not move off of 80 degrees mark! I dont want to accidentally fry him. It seems like no matter what setting I put it on low-med-med/high it stays at 80 degrees. Grrrrr.:mad:
 
I would say at this point, if he's not digesting to unplug it.
It's staying warm enough for him to be fine untill this weekend without the heat unless he's digesting.
 
Corny Noob said:
I would say at this point, if he's not digesting to unplug it.
It's staying warm enough for him to be fine untill this weekend without the heat unless he's digesting.
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Even if he is, 80 degrees is just fine, you won't have any digestive problems from lack of heat.

I'd just unplug it until you can know 100% for sure what the temp is. No harm in keeping him at 80, but there is harm if it gets too warm and you don't know it.
 
Have you tried a different thermometer? Last time someone had this issue, it turned out to be the erading that was wrong, rather than the heat source or stat.
 
Darn....

No I havent tried a different thermometer but I do intend on going to pick up a digital one w/probe this weekend.

He has successfully digested the mouse I gave him on Monday by last night. But still Im a little disappointed in the ZooMed 500R...I was maintaining 82F with just the heat lamp. I know that belly heat is better for digestion so I went and bought it. Plus I thought it would allow for a little more humidity in the tank (which it hasnt) and I also wouldnt have to manually switch out the day/night bulb every night/morning. So disappointed..I didnt really have to spend all of that extra money... darn.:headbang:
 
Again you still don't know its the stat.
It seems very likely instead that it's the already known to be inaccurate thermometer.
 
What's wrong with the thermostat? How can you even tell until you have a digital thermometer with wired probe to get an accurate temp reading?
 
kcaven said:
The temp still did not move off of 80 degrees mark! I dont want to accidentally fry him. It seems like no matter what setting I put it on low-med-med/high it stays at 80 degrees. Grrrrr.:mad:
Click to expand...
If the analog thermometer is raised off the bottom of the viv much at all it won't register too much of a change. The air temperature very quickly averages out the higher up it gets. Don't worry about the temps until you can get an accurate reading on the glass.
The thermostat is a good buy in any case, even if just for the peace of mind.
 
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