Herpstat & UTH Just Arrived - How to set up

[mattchibi]

Just got my new basic Herpstat and my Zoomed UnderTankHeater. Got some questions on how to set it up.

So here is what I have heard is the best way to set it up:
1) Foil tape thermoSTAT probe onto the middle of UTH pad.
2) Do not remove white paper from sticky side of UTH (apparently this is safe to do, if you want to re-use it. input?)
3) Foil tape the entire UTH pad (plus the thermostat probe) on to where you want the hot spot to be. For me, it is under the hide on the right hand side.
4) Empty out the glass tank temporarily.
5) Place thermoMETER under where the substrate would be, and use the edge of the hides on both ends to make sure the probes dont move.
6) Put your substrate back into tank, on top of the thermoMETER probes.
7) Plug in UTH to Herpstat Thermostat.
8) Plug in Herpstat to the wall & set to 92~ (I heard you set it 2 degrees F higher, because your herpstat probe is on the actual UTH, so you want to go with what the thermoMETER probe reads on the warm side)
9) Plug in infrared light on a dimmer, to control ambient temps.

Any problems with the way Im setting it up? Anyone familiar with herpstats and UTH's?

[millertime89]

I don't like placing the uth directly in the enclousure, I feel it is just asking for your BP to get burned. I place mine under the tank.

[mattchibi]

Originally Posted by millertime89

I don't like placing the uth directly in the enclousure, I feel it is just asking for your BP to get burned. I place mine under the tank.

Ahh i must have explained it weirdly. I obviously meant that the uth is under the tank. I am going to put the herpstat probe between the UTH and the bottom of the tank, then foil tape the UTH to the bottom of the tank. Then I'll have a thermoMETER probe under the substrate, where the hot spot would be.

So I will rely on the thermometer to tell me what temp the warm side/hot spot is at, and I just use the thermostat to adjust the temps up/down.

Does this make sense? I read an indepth tutorial somewhere else and it showed me this way. It seems like it would work perfectly, in theory.

[millertime89]

That does make sense now, thanks.

[knox]

Some have gotten bad readings using foil tape on the probe. electrical or duct tape might be a better option. just throwing it out there...

[mattchibi]

Just tested it out, havent set it up with the tank though. The zoo med uth isnt really getting too hot, and i put the thermostat probe on top and it was reading 92~ .. it only felt warm though. Is that normal ? And I think ill be using foil tape on the wire part and leave the probe completely exposed to the uth.

[mattchibi]

Right now, I have the ZooMed UTH stuck on to the bottom of my glass tank. Between the tank and the UTH, i stuck the herpSTAT probe. The Herpstat temperature on screen reads 92.3 (meaning the UTH is at 92.3 F)

I have the thermoMETER probe hot glued to the inside of the tank, dead center of the UTH. I then spread a 1.5" coat of Exo Terra Plantation Soil (coco-husks) over the bottom & placed a hide over the hot spot. The thermoMETER probe is reading 88.3 and the whole setup has been running almost an hour.

The thermoMETER readings dont seem to be going any higher, staying at 88.2-88.4

What should I do ? I want 90-92 F on the warm side above the UTH, should I use the infrared heat lamp that I have to level off the temps ? Damn I thought the UTH would be enough to heat up the warm side, leaving the infrared to control ambient temps.

Also, a question about Safety.. How thick does the layer of substrate have to be in order for your snake NOT to get any burns ? I have around 1.5" layer of coco-husk all around and its pretty moist stuff. Will this do?

[dshin963]

firstly... i dont like UTH's too much I believe they are factory set so they wont get above a certain temp... flexwatt isnt and i will heat up to the point where a fire is possible. that being said if using flexwatt a good thermostat is a MUST.

Second technically speaking you do not need a thick substrate a lot of people use simple paper towel and it works out great.

Also if you want your hot side hotter set your herpstat to a higher temperature, that being said i have found that a single point of measurement for your hot side is very inaccurate. When I take temps with my temp gun I get multiple readings and I adjust my thermostat until the hottest point is at 89-91 degrees.

Lastly, I do not recommend using an aquarium for snakes that require a moderate to high humidity... even with the substrate you will find you are going to need to mist your tank daily if not multiple times a day

just my two cents... mind you i have not posted here in a while and my information may be out of date if one of the more up to date members could check over my info and critique it would be awesome

Cheers

[ZARADOZIA]

Originally Posted by mattchibi

Just tested it out, havent set it up with the tank though. The zoo med uth isnt really getting too hot, and i put the thermostat probe on top and it was reading 92~ .. it only felt warm though.

Remember: Your body temp is 98.2-98.7. Anything below this temp will only feel "luke warm" to you. Anything higher than your body temp will feel warm to hot. To answer your question, yes, that is normal.

[ZARADOZIA]

Everyone will have different opinions on how to heat the viv. The bottom line is making sure the temps are correct and that the baby won’t get burned, become sick, etc. I have never used foil tape of any kind and not sure if it is a good idea. Foil will hold in more heat making the heat source hotter than it should be which could cause problems.

I would set the tank up as if you were placing your baby in it, turn everything on and leave it on for 24 hours. Then check all the temps (day settings and again for the night settings).

It takes time for the substrate to heat, retain heat, and 1 hour isn’t long enough to get accurate readings. Then probe the different areas of the tank to get the temp variance readings. I leave the probe in each location for a full minute to make sure the temp reading is correct. If you poke the probe in one spot for 5 seconds and then again for a full minute, you will have 2 different temp readings. Some probes are more accurate than others and this way helps cut down on incorrect readings.

Ex: Left center temp is…right center temp is…center center temp is…left back corner temp is…right back corner temp is…etc. This way you are getting accurate readings and can adjust the heat sources accordingly. (Yes, I am anal. lol)

Since Sasha’s viv is large, I had to play with different combinations of heating to get the temps just right. You will need to do the same.

**Below is copied from a different post I made this morning**

The dimensions of Sasha’s viv are 3ft long, 3ft tall, 2ft wide.
The dimensions of the stand are 41 inches long, 27 inches tall, 28 inches wide.

Sasha’s Viv: (Ignore the chains, we are in the process of building 2 hanging shelves and a 3 tier waterfall with filtration system.)



Heat Lamps: On the left is a ceramic heat lamp and on the right is a UV. The UV cycles on/off in 12 hr increments to simulate day/night. Ambient temp is 83 with UV on and 79-80 off. Temp on the left is 94 (UTH). Center temp is 80. Temp on the right is 74. (The UV is for the plants)



UTH: Is affixed under the tank with a wire mesh. There is approximately 2 inches of space between the UTH and the tank bottom. If you decide to use a UTH, I would advise testing the temps before using it with your baby. Plug it in for 12 hours and use a probe to find out exactly how hot it becomes. Some become as hot as 110 F and with bedding the temp can raise even higher.