Today is a good day :)

[dshin963]

So I finally got my thermostat in today :)
just messing around with it right now trying to find the spot where it needs to be :)

[stephanbakir]

Grats, they save time and give you peace of mind.

[dshin963]

yea they do :)

[Lankyrob]

I put the probe at the hottest point of the tank, directly below the ceramic in my case. The biggest thing i find is that the snakes keep moving the probe around, in my balls viv, because they need humidity anyway, i put a water bowl on top of the wire to the probe (not on the actual sensor obviously as that would end up giving false readings), this tends to hold the probe in the right spot and also bumps the humidity, two birds one stone and all that ;)

[dshin963]

i got some surgical tape and secured the probe under the paper towels

[mykee]

IN the enclosure? Oh oh!

[Lankyrob]

IN the enclosure? Oh oh!


Is thsi referring to putting tape in the enclosure?

Dishin - please remove the tape - there are various nasty stories on this forum alone of snakes getting caught on tape and the damage caused to their scales by the tape being removed. Better to have to adjust the probes position every day than risk the snakes health imo

[dshin963]

and it is removed...

[Lankyrob]

Fair play!

[dshin963]

sorry shouldve asked before acting...
The probe is now being held down by the hide :)

[Lankyrob]

sorry shouldve asked before acting...
The probe is now being held down by the hide :)

But the probe isnt inside the hide? Just the wire leading to the probe being held down?

Just checking! :)

[dshin963]

wait the probe is under the hide under the paper towel... should I change this?

[Lankyrob]

Let me take a step back - are you using bulb or UTH?

Tho either way the heat inside the hide is going to be higher than the ambient in the viv so the probe will be getting a "false" reading of the tanks temperature. I only use bulbs so the probe is on top of the substrate but directly under the bulb.

[dshin963]

i am using a UTH,
The ambient temps are weird mainly because my room likes to be a jerk... it will blow a ridiculous amount of heat to the point where I cant sleep or it will be cool... the ambient stays around 76-82 I know this is a large gradient but with the glass aquarium there isn't much I can do.

if temps drop drastically I have a back up heat lamp just in case... I want to get a timer for it and use a CHE and have it run like 5 mins periodically just to up the ambient,

other than that I just don't want Luke's hide to overheat so I am placing the probe under his hide to keep the temps below 94

[Lankyrob]

Not using UTH myself i will let others suggest where the probe should be - wouldnt want to give the worng advice at this point :)

[dshin963]

Not using UTH myself i will let others suggest where the probe should be - wouldnt want to give the worng advice at this point :)

ahhh well I thank you for your help and input :)

[Jenn_06]

i put the probe on the UTH and use a heat gun to see what the temps will be in the cage.

[mykee]

Yup, what Jenn said. I'm not a fan of putting probes IN the enclosure, I would be worried about it being moved and cooking your snake, or water/electrical issues. There are keepers who do put them in the enclosure, but inside a protective tube so they can neither be moved, or wet.
What I do is adhere the probe directly to the heat source and then play with the temps to get your desired temps inside the enclosure.
Little more work, but better safe than sorry IMO.

[dshin963]

Yup, what Jenn said. I'm not a fan of putting probes IN the enclosure, I would be worried about it being moved and cooking your snake, or water/electrical issues. There are keepers who do put them in the enclosure, but inside a protective tube so they can neither be moved, or wet.
What I do is adhere the probe directly to the heat source and then play with the temps to get your desired temps inside the enclosure.
Little more work, but better safe than sorry IMO.

By this I am assuming you mean directly under the tank? this is actually a really good idea :) might take a little tweeking but sounds much more accurate and safe :) thank you hope Luke wont mind me messing with his enclosure again :)