thickness

[royal]

When people have about 21/2 to 3 inches of substrate(bark or wood shaving style), How are you heating the tank?

I Was going to have a smaller tank(by putting up a wall in my big glass aquarium) with an 8x8 heat pad(put under the tank, stuck to the glass), but there isnt enough heat.. even when I took the substrate down to 1/2 inch the heat only went to 70/72.

Now I will use all of the bigger tank with a bigger heat pad, but I still dont know about the thickness of substrate. Maybe the bigger heat pad will work.... maybe not. Regulating my light would be a good way, but then I have to screw around with timers constantly till I can get it set up.

So the questions are How do you heat a tank with 2 1/2 to 3 inches of substrate?? AND How could I set up my light to come on frequently during the day to heat the tank using timers?? As I will not always be able to plug and unplug the light.

P.S. I would like a hide that is concrete or rock because it would radiate heat efficiently, any good ideas for natural looking?... If nobody has any good tips I will just use a conc block broke in half.....

[Jeff_Favelle]

Don't have your light flicking on and off. You'll only succeed in pissing off your snake.

Excellent question about the substrate royal. Really. That is totally a progressive question. And there's no easy answer. I have 2 inches of substrate in some cages, and only a layer of newspaper in others. I heat them all the same way. Here are some possible things to think about:

1) Your snakes will move the substrate off the heat source and sit on it directly. So that might negate any worries about too much substrate.

2) Turn up the heat on the heat pad.

3) Slate works great as a heat dissapater. Also, your snake won't be able to move it, so you can crank the heat up even more.

4) Look into getting heat tape. The stuff works great and if you put in on a dimmer, you can increase the heat as much as you like.

[royal]

Thanks Jeff, I will try the heat tape, cause the heat pad is not cutting it. I just measured my temps through the glass bottom with my "exoterra" thermometer.... it said 92 directly on top of the exoterra heat pad. The other problem is that my heat pad has no temperature settings... just plug in and heat.

My substrate is a mix of forest bark and alpine shavings and another wood shaving. No cedar.

When you mentioned the slate, were you saying that you heat the slate directly... not the glass bottom.

Also, Jeff, In your opinion if I had a (dont know what they're called) red heat light.. the ones snakes supposedly cant see... could I turn that on and off to regulate the heat.
If not, I suppose I could just angle the light out of the aquarium a little more, so not as much heat is directed inside.

[Jeff_Favelle]

Email me at:

jefffavelle@shaw.ca

[Pixie]

In my personal experience, I've found temperature and quality differences in brands of UTH's. The ZooMeds that I have don't stick as well to the bottom of the tank and don't give out as much heat, this with the various sizes I have. With these, I only use 1/2" of substrate and my snakes are always burrowing under to get even warmer. I use a basking spot during the day 10-12 hours to supplement heat. The other brand I use and will only use from now on is Exoterra. I found it stuck way better to the tank and gives off more heat. With these, I use a good 2-3" of substrate and the snakes never burrow.

My 2 cents :)

[Big Mike]

Try sitting the UTH on something under the tank. I use paperback books or old instruction manuals. This way you know the UTH is in contact with the glass and the heat will conduct up through the glass better.