| T O P I C R E V I E W |
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Posted - 29/03/2010 : 23:49:39
Well ive just bought a heatstat and heat mat its arrived and been installed but made a big mistake with the placement of the probe for the stat.
I had placed my probe in the wrong place just above the substrate.
It wasnt till I was reading one of the items in the forum I realised my error when I read the following artical:
"with the stat you plug that into the mains at the wall, theres then a plug socket attatched to the stat which you plug the mat into, theres a probe also attatched to the stat which needs to be put flat onto the mat between it and the faun so it can get an accurate temperature reading and know when to turn on and off..
I adjusted my stat according to the digital thermometer probe which i keep inside the faun so i know how hot it is on the floor in the hide"
Ive since changed the probe location and was shocked to see the temperture of the mat 39 I could of cooked poor sid :(
Although the air temp said 26 im guessing the floor was a lot hotter ive got the doors on the viv open to let it cool and sid in a box.
Thought his behaviour seem a little strange he was lying in the front of his tank in the cooler area of the viv still now I know why.
He seems ok in himself and ive had him out and checked him over and seems ok, is it worth giving him a tepid bath ?
It might also be worth making a sticky on probe placements for thermostats.
Just for the record my viv is 24" by 18" and ive bought 12" x 18" heat mat for it.
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| 8 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
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Posted - 31/03/2010 : 16:38:00
This is really useful, thanks! |
| n/a |
Posted - 30/03/2010 : 21:37:37
Yeah I was quite shocked in a way that I could make such a silly but nearly fatal mistake but like everyone hs said better to own up to a mistake least that way it might help another newbie in the future.
Think Sids going into a shed as his eyes have got a bluish tinge
ive checked him over can see no burn marks on him although his belly is a little rough to the touch with a few flaky scales but apart from than that he seems none the worse for his ordeal poor little sod thought he was in the Bahamas...!!
So this dont happen again my tempurture control unit has a alarm on it so ive set this really low 2 either way so I will be alerted to any changes ive also ordered some new probe thermometers and I will be ordering a humidity meter aswell just to be on the safe side. |
| mikerichards |
Posted - 30/03/2010 : 16:31:15
quote:
Originally posted by DannyBrown91
quote:
Originally posted by mikerichards
As above really, the heatmat is really too big, covering half the viv will mean there is less of a temp gradient from hot end to cold end. The heatmat should only cover 1/3rd of the base. Also, don't use sticky tape to secure the probe to the mat, weigh it down with something.
I thought the guide was 1/3 - 1/2, My heatmat also has a heat gradient itself. I have my probe at the hottest point of the mat but it gradients from 28 to 25 and then cool end down to around 22.
A heatmat is not designed to have a temp gradient across it, yes it will get hotter nearer the base first, but that heat spreads out, if for example you leave a window open and it gets cold, the heatmat will stay on longer to fight to cold and as a result the whole mat will get hot, sometimes very! |
| n/a |
Posted - 30/03/2010 : 16:00:53
OOO!
When I got Slinkx back from Her "Holiday" at my friends we left her for a couple of days to chillax- then we did a bit of a clean- Hubby did the stat probe and thermometer probes so all was fine...
UNTIL...
I checked her 1 hour later and realised that he hadn't poked the probes down into the substrate! Poor girl had 40oC going on in there! I took the mat plug out and left it until the temp reached 27oC then sorted it all out properly!
Shes seems fine and dandy- so I dont think that I managed to cook her completely!! |
| DannyBrown91 |
Posted - 30/03/2010 : 11:36:35
quote:
Originally posted by mikerichards
As above really, the heatmat is really too big, covering half the viv will mean there is less of a temp gradient from hot end to cold end. The heatmat should only cover 1/3rd of the base. Also, don't use sticky tape to secure the probe to the mat, weigh it down with something.
I thought the guide was 1/3 - 1/2, My heatmat also has a heat gradient itself. I have my probe at the hottest point of the mat but it gradients from 28 to 25 and then cool end down to around 22. |
| Kare |
Posted - 30/03/2010 : 08:03:56
I know it was too warm for the snake to be comfortable and it is great you have caught it and it is now a good temp, but really you shouldnt be too stressed cooking the snake at 39, if you think your own temperature of say under your arms would be approx 37-38 degrees and you wouldnt consider batheing him to cool him down after you held him. |
| mikerichards |
Posted - 30/03/2010 : 07:48:49
As above really, the heatmat is really too big, covering half the viv will mean there is less of a temp gradient from hot end to cold end. The heatmat should only cover 1/3rd of the base. Also, don't use sticky tape to secure the probe to the mat, weigh it down with something. |
| Kellog |
Posted - 30/03/2010 : 03:21:18
Well done for posting this Nick, so many people would not have owned up to making a mistake like that but it is so necessary for people to learn how important it is to get the set-up just right in the faun/viv, especially where the heatmat and stat are concerned.
I am just so glad that you read that item before any damage was done. Lots of people get confused and put the probe at the level of the substrate as they feel - quite rightly - that it is through the substrate heat that the snake will be getting its warmth from....but they dont think about the fact that their snakes burrow and that the heatmat must heat up a lot to heat the substrate to the level you want it.
How much substrate do you have over the heat mat? Most of us only have a sprinkling over that and then deepen it to burrowing depth as you get to the cold end. That way the temp of the heatmat is generally the temp of the substrate.
Have you weighed down the probes for the stat and thermometer to keep them still?
Am so glad you caught it in time before Sid was damaged. I would think that as long as the temp drops to where it should be (between 27 and 29oC) in the warm end then you are safe to put him back in without trying to cool him down any more. If he is still feeling warm then he will stay in the cool end.
Am afraid I am lousy with sizes, but your heatmat needs to cover one-third of the floor of your viv.
Again, well done for posting this and I think your suggestion about including the info about probe placement (maybe not in a sticky but in the info on setting up a viv??) is a good one.
xxx |
