| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| lr2188uk |
Posted - 02/01/2010 : 17:46:31
Hey guys, ive had my snake for about 4 days now and he's awesome, i have one problem though, tank temps! Ive been and bought a digi thermometer today after being recommended to by a member, ive set it up and put the probe in the substrate in the warm end next to Dels hide, the temp has been 24.4 for a while now and i know it needs to be at 30.
Am i registering it in the right place? or does the probe need to be touching the glass thats over the heat mat? Ive turned the stat upto about 32 to try and get the temp up but so far no movement.
So my question is where do i need to put the probe to go about getting the right temp?
Cheers, |
| 20 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Kellog |
Posted - 18/01/2010 : 05:30:36
quote:
Originally posted by tidus
does the thermostat plug into the heat mat? so it can adjust the tempature. this is bothering me so much because this is the only thing stopping me from buying my snake lol i just have to perfectly prepared because i wanna have the perfect new home for my snake
You should be able to get a thermostat that attaches to the heatmat, as this is the only way that it can then control the heat of the heatmat. BUT you cannot totally trust the thermostat and therefore you must also have digital thermometers in the viv so you can keep an eye on the temps and ensure that the thermostat is working correctly.
xxx |
| tidus |
Posted - 17/01/2010 : 07:00:48
does the thermostat plug into the heat mat? so it can adjust the tempature. this is bothering me so much because this is the only thing stopping me from buying my snake lol i just have to perfectly prepared because i wanna have the perfect new home for my snake |
| HannahB |
Posted - 06/01/2010 : 15:54:22
glad the towel thing worked for you,
is the mercury thermometer in the same location as the stat probe and thermometer? |
| lr2188uk |
Posted - 06/01/2010 : 15:01:42
Thanks very much guys! I think it's now fixed!
Ive wrapped a towel around the base of the tank, the temperature rose to 30*C pretty easily, once it got to 30 I turn the stat down, it dropped to 29.1 and now its on the way back up!.
Still one small problem... I put a mercury thermometer i nthe hot end and thats reading nearly 40*C on the substrate! now ive been told these are very innacurate, but im still worrying, especially considering the snake hasnt moved from the cold end of the tank for about 12 hours now. Am i right to trust the thermostat and the digi thermometer? They are both about the same, its just this mercury thermometer and the fact the sanke is in the cold end thats worrying me..
Thanks again! |
| lr2188uk |
Posted - 06/01/2010 : 13:08:34
Just tried the towel thing, one loosely o nthe top and one around the bottom, temperature has risen by 1.5*C in 10 mins!
thanks very much! Hopefully that will keep the tank warm enough through the night! |
| n/a |
Posted - 05/01/2010 : 22:58:06
quote:
the rubs are on a desk top with tich card and paper inbetween the heatmats and the surface of the desk and then have a towel around the bottom just to keep it toasty and then i usually put a slightly thinner towel over the top to keep the heat in..but next year it wont be like that cause il have a heated bedroom quote:
The difference from you to lr2188uk is that you insulate your tank with towls which will help keep the heat in but would surely have temperature flux if you did not with -5 conditions
|
| HannahB |
Posted - 05/01/2010 : 20:51:05
its normally warmer in winter but some very inconsiderate builders knocked some of my glass panes out making it rediculously cold and i just never had the chance to get the heater back up..
the rubs are on a desk top with tich card and paper inbetween the heatmats and the surface of the desk and then have a towel around the bottom just to keep it toasty and then i usually put a slightly thinner towel over the top to keep the heat in..but next year it wont be like that cause il have a heated bedroom 
neither of my heatmats are affected and neither is the heat mat my king is using.. if i were you id go to your rep shop and see if they can give you a new one while they test your current ones?
my rep shop let me have a new stat as i thought it was broken while they tested it (i paid for it and they then said if there was a problem with my stat then they would refund me with credit in store) might be worthwhile seeing if they will do that for you  |
| lr2188uk |
Posted - 05/01/2010 : 19:57:57
Rich, Thankyou for that! I appreciate it
HannahB, I only have a lightbulb in the centre of the tank with a guard on it, its only a small one but it provides about 2*C of heat ive worked out so i leave it constantly on.
-5 thats mental! and very interesting the fact yours isnt affected... Maybe another heatmat in the cold end? If the cold end is as cold as my room its well below 20*C, that may be causing it.
I may try that instead.
Thankyou! |
| HannahB |
Posted - 05/01/2010 : 15:44:48
you have a light in the tank? what kind of light is it and where is it placed in regards to the probes? and is it left on all the time?
sorry about all the q's! was thinking it could be affecting the readings in some way..
I have a cold room - was reading -5 last night but ive got a heatmat in both the warm and the cool ends (set to diff temps obviously ) but my mat works fine given how cold the surrounding air is so I doubt its that affecting the mat and stat.. |
| n/a |
Posted - 05/01/2010 : 14:29:05
Temp droped from 27.8 to 26.8 and 30.1 to 29 when C/H was off.
And my house is well insulated so if you have a cold room that might be the problem. |
| lr2188uk |
Posted - 05/01/2010 : 09:44:13
I will try that, thanks... Something weird happened last night and I have no idea why, before I went to bed i turned the light off on the tank (which lowered the temperature by 4 degrees) but as i did it the temperature reading shot up from 26.9 to 32.0 just for a brief second, this confused me ALOT.
It happened as I pulled the plug out for the light, any ideas? |
| LittleMick |
Posted - 04/01/2010 : 23:37:03
I know it doesn't help the immediate situation but one thing I find handy to have is a little liquid mercury thermometer, I bought a couple when I got my aquarium, only a couple of quid and the spare one I use to measure temps in any of my animal enclosures if I think there is a problem, which currrentl there is, well, I just don't think the digi thermometers are reading the correct temps, will be posting more on this dilemma shortly. But I find liquid therm's to be loads more accurate than any others I have used. And also, lay it flat on the enclosure floor as if it is standing it can alter the readngs by a couple of degrees. |
| lr2188uk |
Posted - 04/01/2010 : 20:44:30
Thank you, i may buy another thermometer to put in the house to see the difference, the heating is always on as high as it will go, its storage heaters and theyre not great to be honest, but without it the house would be the same temperature as the bnathroom... 5*C!
The temp of nthe tank at the moment is 26.4, its NEARLY there but its so tempermental and controllable! |
| n/a |
Posted - 04/01/2010 : 20:41:23
The only thing i can think of and i could be wrong is that when you have the central heating on in the house this circulates the heat around your house and helps the heat mat reaching the desired temperature. E.g Heat mat dose not have to work as hard.
When the temperature of your house drops e.g central heating off.
The room you have your snake in becomes too cold and the heat mat cant sustain the desired temperature on its own in a cold room.
Hope you get it sorted. I will test mine tomorrow and check the difference in temperature.UPDATE 27.8 30.1 C/H ON |
| lr2188uk |
Posted - 04/01/2010 : 19:46:10
Went to 26.1, now dropped to 25.8, the thermostat hasnt gone off at all! What is going on with this tank! Is the snake likely to not eat his first feed tomorrow with temperatures like this? :S |
| lr2188uk |
Posted - 04/01/2010 : 19:28:13
Right, the probes are now right on the floor, and its 25 and rising slowly, Thankyou for that, the tank is made out of plastic, im unsure which type, sorry.
Ive never seen this stat turn off, its never reached the temperature to require it to.... Im at a loss, putting the probes on the floor seems to be helping, I'll update with a final temperature.
Thankyou very much! |
| hillzi |
Posted - 04/01/2010 : 18:45:29
I changed the fuses, and if anything, made it worse. |
| HannahB |
Posted - 04/01/2010 : 18:41:54
this will sounds a silly question but what material is the viv made out of? if you've already said and i've missed it then i apolagise - memory like a goldfish!
i hvae one of my royals in a RUB and one in a plastic faun..the faun is brill with the heat - can get it to the right temp no problem.. the rub is driving me insane - temps are never quite hot enough so had to go and buy a separate mat and stat so i can get the temp right - iv got the stat pretty much maxed out now and its finally stable..
with the on off stats you will find that the temp drops before the stat turns back on again.. if you can get the probes touching the floor of the viv then it might help a bit more but apart from that im at a loss as to what else to suggest..
sorry i cant help more |
| lr2188uk |
Posted - 04/01/2010 : 17:30:41
Sorry to keep banging on about this guys.
Ive now tanken all the substrate out in the warm end apart from 2mm at the bottom, you can almost see the heatmat through he bottom in certain bits.
Temperature was at 28.5 this morning, I thought ideal, now its dropped as low as 23, its on 24 at the moment but with the stat turned right up there is no way of raising it!
What am I doing wrong? why can i only get 28 degrees anyway... I need to say my house is REALLY cold, the tank was in the window but ive now moved it onto the floor to see if that makes any difference.
The snake seems very active still but I want this temperature where it should be.... 28 to 31, not 24 to 28.
ANY ideas we havent already tried will be greatly appreciated.
PS, my reptile shop said to buy a heatmat for the back of the tank, i didnt see the point due to the heat going through their bellies and only the substrate being warm, but I dont know.
Whaddya think? |
| lr2188uk |
Posted - 03/01/2010 : 16:11:16
What do you want a picture of? The tank or the heat set up?
I have a camera but the pictures arent great.
My set up is the thermostat tuned up as high as it will go, (33) then the heat mat under the tank on a peice of polystyrene, not all of it though, some of it is protruding out because the tank isnt big enough for the whole heat mat.
About quarter to half an inch of aspen chippings, one hide in the warm, one in the cold, the probe for the stat and the mat rubberbanded together and placed in the substrate pretty much touching the glass over the top of the heatmat.
Hope this can help... im all out of ideas. |
