Uth

[Azrt]

So I swapped out my CHE and set up for a UTH. My CHE could not get above 84-85 and 24 hrs. I assume the fixture that came with the setup was faulty. I just bought a UTH and hooked it up and within no time I'm at 88. No I see there is a different temp showing on the tstat (92.1) and the UTH 87.5. I have the tstat set to 94 and it turns back on around 91.5. I assume it will take a few hrs for these two to get on par or a little closer with each other.

I have ready back and forth in where to put the probe. I have the two probs right beside each other inside the tank right above the UTH. No I need to figure how to put the cords away so the snake doesn't screw them up and love them around lol

[Tiny Boidae]

I typically put the probes directly beside each other and directly below the heat source. Now, in saying this, I would have just gotten a higher wattage che than a uth. I used uth's with success with my sand boas in the past, but in saying that the success was that they survived it. Uth's do nothing for the ambient temperature and are an unnatural heat source as snakes typically aren't able to feel warmth with their stomachs. My sand boas would press their little bodies up against the glass and we're generally hard pressed to move. I switched them all over to che's and while they do typically stay in one spot, it's not directly under the heat source and I do occasionally find them in different areas of the enclosure. It's simply very difficult, if not impossible, to set up a proper gradiant with a uth. Personally, I'd just get a higher wattage che, which I have had to do in the past.

[akane]

Generally I heard UTH suggested over top heat and even exclusively pushed not even a year ago. Sand boas were always an exception since they are burrowing, very dry, desert dwellers and do great with top heat and any drying effects of the bulbs whether standard infrared or che. Plus loving to burrow and being one of the species that were also often given the exception of being ok on deep sand even by many against sand a uth wouldn't really work. It was more getting into bioactive that don't work for the same reason I was first told UTH are unnecessary and top heat is natural for most species since they'd be heated down from the sun. It's only lately I've seen less push for "belly heat" from people in general but still concern over low humidity for higher humidity species and species that live in high humidity areas with deep cover and high ambient air temp aren't going to be using the sun rays much, if at all, for their warmth. So species specific to a point. You can probably run anything with top che bulbs if you set it up right and you can run most desert snakes on a uth if you set it up right but one might make sense more than the other while allowing for more natural behaviors and that ignores a few other options like radiant heat panels when uth aren't ideal/possible and che aren't enough.

Putting your probes right on/under your heat source is not always best. If you are using a lot of heat too concentrated as came up in another thread it's going to turn things off too soon before the area is actually heated properly and the heat has spread any. Do make sure directly touching where the heat source is does not get hot enough to cause burns though. It can take too high of setting to heat to where your probes are depending on the setup and then you'll have an excessively hot spot from not reading the center of the heat well enough and shutting it off soon enough. Aside from probes heat guns are cheap and invaluable since it will tell you every surface your snake touches in an instant.

[dannybgoode]

Because uth's are contact heaters you need the probe touching the mat otherwise the mat will be dietary hotter than the stat is reading, possibly dangerously so. They should also not be placed in the viv unless under a tile with a small air gap otherwise the substrate can cause thermal blocking witch in turn, worst case, can lead to fire and or burns to the animal.

Personally I only use a uth to heat my quarantine tubs and have no issues whatsoever heating vivs of all sizes to the required temperature with che's using the probe placement method I detailed in the link I posted.

[akane]

I wondered where the heat was since cords were mentioned but figured the probes were meant. Snakes won't eat cords by the way. Just make them flat against the surfaces and side enough they won't try to crawl behind. UTH= under tank heater so obvious if you stop to think ;) but I have heard of people successfully side heating with 2 on a corner (outside the tank)and I'm top heating not by exact design. I use them under my bioactive cleanup crew cultures despite soil because it does warm their living area a little and keeps water rising to the top so cut some ventilation down and it all stays damp without misting all the time. I happened to stack them on my gecko tanks that are turned on end for height and found they still heat down even if only 3f to about 6". It's actually a desirable gradient since you often don't heat cresteds but my house is a little cool so I'm ignoring the no heat people for my permanent designs too.