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Using a UTH with a plastic tank

Kotone

Kotone

i (heart) ______.
I have bought a 4 watt exoterra UTH, size small. My baby corn is currently housed in a plastic "Critter Keeper" type tank, which is about 12 inches by 6 inches. She will soon be moved to a 5.5 gallon glass tank, but for the meantime I still have this problem: I got a piece of glass cut that is a bit larger than the base of the glass tank, and right now the heater is stuck to it so that i can warm up the plastic tank(i'll also use it later with the glass tank). The problem is that the tank is only reaching degrees between 78 and 79. I'd like it to reach 85, but...it's not. And it's been running for a few hours now (about 3).

So...is there anything that I can use to better conduct the heat between the glass and the plastic? The plastic tank is not sitting directly on the glass, as there are feet on the tank which lift it up by a few centimeters. Would putting something between them conduct the heat better, or would the heat just be lost with all of the space between the heater and the tank...?

I tried searching for a similar problem, but to no avail, so if there is an obvious thread on this subject please let me know...
 
Now the temp. has dropped to 73 F ; ; I'm worried now....should I try to peel the heater off and return it to get a more powerful one??
 
are you measuring the temps under the substrate right over the uth? If not its probably plenty hot down there.
 
It says it's only for use with glass tanks.

I put a piece of tile between the glass and the plastic tank, and it's heated up to 78.3 degrees...still not warm enough, but at least a bit better.

And no, I'm measuring above the substrate...

I guess it'd be smarter to measure below, though, wouldn't it? she does spend a lot of her time underneath it.... :laugh: thanks for pointing out my dumb mistake. XD
 
It's just that UTH's get WAY too hot and I don't often see anyone complaining theyre not hot enough. A max temp of 85 or so under the substrate I've foind is fine and the safest way to do it so the snake doesn't get burned. If they need more heat they will burrow or move substrate aside.
 
Yeah, I've noticed that. Especially before I had the UTH (i just got her on saturday, and was told I probably didn't need any heaters...but after reading here, i realized i did), she would curl up a lot. She ate 2 days ago, and since I was mostly measuring above the substrate I got readings of about 73-75 most of the time. I really hope she digests okay, since i'm only just now getting better temps.... :cry:

It's only 4 watts so I don't expect it'll get too hot, especially with the layer of glass and the tile between it, but I will monitor it just in case...
 
The temp at substrate level is typically higher than the ambient temp. For me it was nearly a ten degree difference.
 
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