Large sterilite clip-on lid tub, how secure is it? - Page 3

Arachnaeoccult · 03-10-16, 07:23 PM

Umm, I didn't. I used my hand and said "Pretty hot".

whats the cheapest of a rheostat, dimmer and thermostat?

trailblazer295 · 03-10-16, 07:39 PM

Body temperature is 95-98f so pretty hot to your hand is well above 100 or 105. Your snake might be trying to escape because it's to hot. You should have a regulation device or a infared gun.

**EL Ziggy** · 03-10-16, 08:07 PM

For a relatively inexpensive, and reliable, thermostat I like Hydrofarms. I've used them for years without any issues. The higher end options with more features are Herpstat and Vivarium Electronics. Try not to prioritize the essentials by what's "cheapest ". Find the best equipment for your animals that you can afford and upgrade as you can. You're hopefully going to care for your critters for many years. They deserve the best care you can give them and I'm sure that's what you want for them.

Amazon.com : Jump Start MTPRTC, Digital ETL-Certified Heat Mat Thermostat for Seed Germination, Reptiles and Brewing : Plant Germination Heating Mats : Patio, Lawn & Garden

Arachnaeoccult · 03-10-16, 09:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trailblazer295

Body temperature is 95-98f so pretty hot to your hand is well above 100 or 105. Your snake might be trying to escape because it's to hot. You should have a regulation device or a infared gun.

He had bare minimum substrate before I bought a new bag, it might be the case. its filled pretty deep so he shouldn't have any issues now unless he intentionally makes it his priority to sit on the hottest spot possible. right now he's still sitting on the cooler side of the cage where I left 1 corner with barely any substrate in case he likes that (and for his water dish, he seems to be on his water dish a lot)

serpentgirl123 · 03-11-16, 07:54 AM

He might be on/in his water dish because he is trying to cool off. As others have suggested I would find a way to control your heat as soon as possible and invest in an infared temp gun. You might be surprised how hot it really is in there.

I left one of the UTH on under a tub (no animal inside), no regulation, and it was over 110 and nearly 140 under the hide. Of course this was with just newspaper but I have experienced that even with a mildly deep layer of substrate, it can trap a decent amount of heat.

Arachnaeoccult · 03-11-16, 11:18 AM

Could i just do away with the heater on the summer?

The temperature next monday is going to be 83 according to google. Its only spring right now.

Today he's quite calm , calmer than usual. he didn'tfight me during handling

Obsidian_Dragon · 03-11-16, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arachnaeoccult

Could i just do away with the heater on the summer?

No, not really.

I realize some people here don't offer all their animals heat and I have to say it drives me batty. They deserve a choice (even if you don't see them exercising it!).

I keep two animals in my office, which is the hottest room in the house. It can hit 80 in there. They still have heat, because their hot spot is 85--and they'll still use it, all summer long. Aaaand sometimes they don't, as is their right.

Do it right or don't do it at all, dude. Your animals deserve that much. Providing properly regulated heat is a basic aspect of keeping snakes.

Arachnaeoccult · 03-11-16, 01:34 PM

I set the gauge in sylvester's tank to make sure nothing fishy is going on.

nyx · 03-11-16, 02:12 PM

I usually don't login here at all anymore, but I can't. You have a beautiful Honduran locked in a tub (a too-small tub with inadequate ventilation holes, IMO) with no security - not even a bungee cord. You're offering your animals unregulated heat in the middle of 83°F weather. And, if I remember your other threads correctly, you own other snakes that are also improperly housed, AND you're not on a steady income that allows you to provide everything these animals need on a regular basis, including equipment and other assorted husbandry gear.

Should that woman have been housing that amazing animal in a 10 gallon? No. But her abuse does not excuse yours, and housing snakes with no regulator on the heat is straight abuse, no pussyfooting, no sparing the feelings. It can and will result in burns. It is almost certainly stressing the animals.

I am not the kind of person to tell broke people they can't have pets. God knows a pet is sometimes all that keeps us getting up in the morning. But if you cannot afford the basic equipment for an animal, you cannot own that animal.

Either pony up the money for a digital thermometer ON EACH CAGE and a regulator on EACH CAGE, and I mean now, tonight, go, and find a way to get them into a cooler ambient before they die of heat stress (I'm not American, but I assume Florida summers are going to get brutal), or find them new homes.

**Andy_G** · 03-11-16, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nyx

I usually don't login here at all anymore, but I can't. You have a beautiful Honduran locked in a tub (a too-small tub with inadequate ventilation holes, IMO) with no security - not even a bungee cord. You're offering your animals unregulated heat in the middle of 83°F weather. And, if I remember your other threads correctly, you own other snakes that are also improperly housed, AND you're not on a steady income that allows you to provide everything these animals need on a regular basis, including equipment and other assorted husbandry gear.

Should that woman have been housing that amazing animal in a 10 gallon? No. But her abuse does not excuse yours, and housing snakes with no regulator on the heat is straight abuse, no pussyfooting, no sparing the feelings. It can and will result in burns. It is almost certainly stressing the animals.

I am not the kind of person to tell broke people they can't have pets. God knows a pet is sometimes all that keeps us getting up in the morning. But if you cannot afford the basic equipment for an animal, you cannot own that animal.

Either pony up the money for a digital thermometer ON EACH CAGE and a regulator on EACH CAGE, and I mean now, tonight, go, and find a way to get them into a cooler ambient before they die of heat stress (I'm not American, but I assume Florida summers are going to get brutal), or find them new homes.

Even more sound advice...

Humble308 · 03-11-16, 02:33 PM

Don't do away with a hot spot, the critters need it to digest properly. All my snakes routinely stay on their cool side unless they've got a full belly then I see them chilling in their hot hides.

At the very least go buy yourself a $10 light dimmer from Lowes. Similar to serpentgirl I did a test with my 10 gal tank and a UTH and it hit around 143 on the glass with no temperature regulation. I see melted enclosures and burnt snakes at the shelter all the time because they didn't want to take that extra step to provide the animal the best husbandry possible. It doesn't have to be elaborate, just do it right.

Here's a couple links. The first is a Thermostat that EZ mentioned...I use this myself for most of my snakes and leopard geckos. Really cheap, but it can add up as you need to have one for each cage

http://www.amazon.com/MTPRTC-ETL-Cer...uth+thermostat

And here's a dimmer also known as a rheostat

Shop Lutron Credenza Slide Dimmer at Lowes.com

Best of luck.

Tiny Boidae · 03-11-16, 02:53 PM

I didn't want to jump into this discussion but I guess if I have to.

When I first started keeping these guys, I didn't run them on a thermostat (burn me at the stake for it). It wasn't that I couldn't afford it or I chose not to, it was just no caresheets I read had indicated that a thermostat was needed, so I was just ignorant. This is what happened.

(I was waiting until I got my new snake to show off my brand new, not smashed to pieces phone camera, but oh well)

I was just lucky that my snake, who WAS in there when this happened, didn't get roasted (she didn't even have any minor burns- I was blessed with a miracle). I still use the enclosure with some minor tweaks. I keep a sheet of reptile carpet between the glass and her for one (although dirt still gets under there sometimes when I go to mess with it :/ ), but more importantly I dug into the cause of this and ordered a thermostat for ALL of my snakes that very same day. Their enclosures stay at a nice 95° now and there is no guessing. I understand you want to cut corners on and there are certain things where it's okay, but the temperature is NOT one of those things and I think that's something that isn't emphasised enough.

dannybgoode · 03-11-16, 02:53 PM

Thermostats on all heart sources. No if's, no buts.

/thread closed.

**Minkness** · 03-11-16, 02:58 PM

I checked out that dimmer and had a laugh at the 1st review that shows.... XD

On a side note, I have some questions about that dimmer.

First, how do you know how warm it makes things? Temp gun?

Also, can you plug it into a multi-plug system and still have it work? (Think...6 plug surge protector)

Humble308 · 03-11-16, 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Minkness

I checked out that dimmer and had a laugh at the 1st review that shows.... XD

On a side note, I have some questions about that dimmer.

First, how do you know how warm it makes things? Temp gun?

Also, can you plug it into a multi-plug system and still have it work? (Think...6 plug surge protector)

HAHAHA I just went and read it, cracked me up.

Yea I use them in conjunction with an IR temp gun. I mostly experimented on empty cages with substrate to see how consistent my self wired flex watt and dimmer would work. And they work pretty well, but they have some drawbacks since they're constantly powered. They don't give quite the warm fuzzy as t-stat does. But so far they're usually only up or down 2-3 degrees. My herp rooms stays at 76 at all times. I think as long as you have a good consistent ambient you wouldn't have too much problems. However I'm manic and check my temps with the gun twice per day. Once I have temps dialed in I make a hash mark with a sharpie to indicate this is hot spot and I can adjust from there.

You can plug multiples into a power strip or surge protector. All the dimmer does is adjust how much amperage is being drawn and delivered to the heat source. You may have issues if you've got 4-5 bulbs/mats drawing from one outlet though.

T-stats are definitely the way to go, but I've used the dimmer and IR temp gun before in a pinch until Amazon delivers the hydrofarm