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snake coming tomorrow morning, need help

sa_grubb

sa_grubb

Reptile Reaper
Hey everyone. I have had my tank set up for a week now and my snake will be here tomorrow. I have a 10 gallon uth for a 10 gallon tank. I just hooked up a digital thermo and its reading 94.8 degrees on the glass. The heater in under the tank on glass. I've read here that it should be reading about 85 degrees. What is my best options for controlling this situation? Could the digi be reading wrong? Its brand new. Its a zoomed digital thermometer. Thank you, scott
 
You need either a rheostat or a thermostat. The fastest cheapest answer is to go to Home Depot or Lowes or a hardward store & find a plug in light dimmer. They are about $10. Plug the UTH into it, then plug it into the wall. Then tweak the dimmer every hour or so until you get the reading in the 80-85F range.
 
The plug in dimmer will be your quickest fix. I think the brand that home depot sells is called "Leviton" and was right around 10 dollars.
 
wstphal said:
You need either a rheostat or a thermostat. The fastest cheapest answer is to go to Home Depot or Lowes or a hardward store & find a plug in light dimmer. They are about $10. Plug the UTH into it, then plug it into the wall. Then tweak the dimmer every hour or so until you get the reading in the 80-85F range.
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Agreed. The best, cheapest thing you can do is buy the dimmer...however, if you don't need a cheap solution, and have a pet store nearby, use a thermostat. When bought locally, they are usually overpriced, and you can pay $40-50 for a $25 thermostat.

If you get the dimmer, this is an idea of what it will look like. My Home Depot does not carry the model pictured. They carry Leviton brand, but it's the same concept.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053
 
Thanks guys. I called a reptile store and he said that my thermometer probably was bad cause it shouldn't be that hot. But I've been reading enough on here of how hot it gets on the glass where its placed. I will get the dimmer for now then order a thermostat online. Plus the thermometer is brand new and doubt its faulty at that temp. I have not had any problems out of zoomed products so far. Thanks for the help. I am gonna put a crystal strip down there as well to double check my temp.
 
sa_grubb said:
Thanks guys. I called a reptile store and he said that my thermometer probably was bad cause it shouldn't be that hot. But I've been reading enough on here of how hot it gets on the glass where its placed. I will get the dimmer for now then order a thermostat online. Plus the thermometer is brand new and doubt its faulty at that temp. I have not had any problems out of zoomed products so far. Thanks for the help. I am gonna put a crystal strip down there as well to double check my temp.
Click to expand...

Feel the glass. Is it warm? If so, then it's too hot. 85 degrees should not feel warm to your touch, as your hand is more than 85 degrees.

Has the thermometer probe been glued down? If not, take it to your freezer, and see what it says. I have the luxury of testing my thermometer probe as I own a few digital thermometers. I put two probes in the freezer at the same time, and they were within about a degree of each other at all times.

When I asked the pet store sales person about how hot the heating pad would get, I got a similar response. Many pet store employees are F.O.S. That being said, what brand of UTH is it? There are some that don't go above 100 degrees, and the fact that your stopped at 95 degrees is interesting. Mine would get to 120 if left unregulated.
 
I'm not sure of the brand of uth. It came in a small corn snake starter kit at petsmart. It included the uth, feeding tongs, 2 stick on thermometers, and a small water bowl for sale at 20 dollars. They said that the uth included was comparable to the reptitherm which was 20 just for that uth, so I got the kit.
 
sa_grubb said:
I'm not sure of the brand of uth. It came in a small corn snake starter kit at petsmart. It included the uth, feeding tongs, 2 stick on thermometers, and a small water bowl for sale at 20 dollars. They said that the uth included was comparable to the reptitherm which was 20 just for that uth, so I got the kit.
Click to expand...

I know the one you are talking about. "All Living Things" or something like that right? I think I read something about this UTH like 6 weeks ago on this site. They tend to run cooler than others if memory serves me, so overall this is kinda a good thing I suppose.
 
Pet store employees For the most part, don't know crap about the heaters they sell. Please get a light dimmer or a rheostat or a thermostat. It is the only way to protect your animal.
However...good for you for checking on all this BEFORE the animal comes! *claps* You are already ahead of 90% of first time snake buyers!
 
k i got the lcd strip and the heater is running to a high of 98ish degrees but didnt get hotter than that. i am going to get a plug into lamp dimmer from home depot. my baby will be here in about 11 hrs. i cant wait. thanks for the help.
 
I think l0ck_off had an "all things living" kit, and he said it ran very hot! (l0ck_off) correct me if I am wrong...
 
The "All Things Living" ones are a total crap shoot. Mine ran blazing hot until I got a dimmer, I think it hit 117. I did all the temp testing before a snake was in the viv.

These guys are right lay your hand on the glass, 85 should feel just barely warm at best.

I would grab one of these http://www.zilla-rules.com/products/specialty-equipment/digital-termometer-for-terrariums.htm if you don't have one. You can get them at pet smart. They are pretty darn good.
 
my snake came this morning. I took a quick pick when putting him in his new home. Dont want to handle him for a couple of days so will post a pic when i do. hes been doing a lot of hiding lol.
 

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Aww what a cutie!


PS..I notice you are using carpet. You may want to use a different substrate such as aspen or paper towel..or even newspaper. The carpet is a PITA from what I have been reading as the snakes tend to burrow under it and are hard to take out when they get under there...also cleaning it is a pain unless you an extra you can use to switch out while the dirty one is cleaned.
 
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