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Heat supply

M

marco11483

New member
I have a 20g long viv currently with a suitable UTH. I am a school teacher and while I had my snake at school the viv would read in the mid to upper 80s. I have recently taken it home due to not nice middle school students (thats a topic for a different discussion) and placed her back in her spot. The only problem is that the tank now is exposed on the bottom to air and the viv is only reading in the mid to upper 70s. I am unable to place anything under the viv so is there a second heat source or better heat source that I should consider?

Set-Up: 20g long, Shredded Aspen, 3 hides, climbing vine, medium water bowl, fake plants throughout.
 
I would use your UTH they need the belly heat so maybe you'll have to find a new spot for your viv. I know some use heat lamps as an alternative and say they have experienced no problems but a source of belly heat is considered optimal. Why can't you use the UTH at home?
 
I am but I do not have anything that I can place under the tank to keep the heat from leaving right away. It is exposed to the air now instead of having a metal filing cabinet under it.
 
Where are you measuring the temp? You should measure it in the center of the UTH, right on the glass. It's hard to believe an unregulated UTH can barely reach 80. Are you sure the UTH hasn't failed? They do.
 
thats what i was going to suggest. maybe removing some aspen from ontop of the UTH would give you a better temp reading.
 
you needa try to find a way to keep using the uth because thats the best way to provide heat for your snake because it can get it through its belly. can just move the tank around and/or put something under it
 
It is now on an aquarium base. The probe is not on top of the UTH but on the glass right next to the edge of the UTH. The Aspen level is about an inch and the UTH is opperating normally (it is still getting hot and the temp on the UTH is significantly hotter). I was just worried that the ambient temp of the tank was too low. I know that she will go to where she is most comfortable but I don't want her to stay in her hide all the time because she is freezing.
 
So if you aren't measuring the max possible temp of the UTH, how do you know it isn't hot enough to burn your snake? Snakes don't respond to temperature like we do- they don't necessarily react fast enough to avoid a burn.
 
When the prob is directly on the top of the UTH, the temp reads 90. I have measured the temp of the top of the aspen directly on top of the temp reads 86. I have read that the correct temp for the snake is between 84-88 degrees. I have had her checked by the vet and they have not seen any problems as near as 3 weeks ago.
 
When my little bloodred corn is in the hide right above the UTH(or any hide for that matter), i find that she often burrows a little ways through the aspen, so that she is against teh glass right above the UTH. thats why you should measure against the glass. i'd recommend buying something like a rehostat to help control the heat better.
 
if the uth is on the bottom of the tank you should put the probe directly on top of it on the inside of the cage to get the right temp. the belly heat is the most important thing to know. ambient heat is good also but not as good as the heat directly from the uth on the bottom which is where ur snake will gather his heat thru his tummy. hope this helps good luck
 
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