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116 Posts |
 Posted - 03/04/2009 : 19:08:45
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Hi guys.
I'm having problems with the heating in my snake tank. :( It doesn't seem to heat up properly. It's a 18 - 18- 12 wooden tank. I put a heat mat directly onto the floor of the tank, on the left hand side, and covered the whole floor with wooden chips. I then connected the placed the sensor of the thermostat in the middle of the mat, on top of the wooden chips, and set the thermostat at 30°C. My problem is that there is only a very small area that barely reaches 30°C. At the other end of the tank, the temperature goes as low as 18.5°C. :( The ambient air temperature is 20°C. I have a spare heat mat. Shall I use it on one of the side panel of the tank ?
Thanks for your help.
Patricia |
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matty18714
The Count of Corniness
United Kingdom
4428 Posts |
Posted - 03/04/2009 : 19:21:34
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| Is the termometer sensor on top of the substrate or below it? And can you make the layer of substrate thinner? |
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116 Posts |
Posted - 03/04/2009 : 19:25:12
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| The sensor is on top of the substrate. I tried to make the layer as thin as possible, but it's difficult with those wooden chips. I can see parts of the mat through the layer. |
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58 Posts |
Posted - 03/04/2009 : 19:46:18
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| if the ambient temp is 20 deg c how can the viv be cooler? |
1.0.0 Tom a 10 month old Flourescent orange Corn 29 inches and growing fast
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Posted - 03/04/2009 : 19:54:01
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| I really don't know... I stuck 2 thermometres on the panels of the tank, one on the hot side, one on the cool side. But they both show 20°C. I also use an infrared thermometre gun to take the temperature of the floor of the tank. |
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solid
Hatchling
United Kingdom
428 Posts |
Posted - 03/04/2009 : 23:04:17
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| you dont need to heat both ends. are the thermo probes above/off the substrate? that could be why its reading 20 - mats dont heat the air (very little, if any) |
3.1.1 corns - solid,liquid,ocelot,fox + raiden / 0.0.1 missing MBK - raven
PS3id: adam83 |
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Posted - 03/04/2009 : 23:26:57
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| I have the same problem - i have little thermometers at either end of my viv and the 'cool' end is reading slightly warmer than the warm! Just got a mat stat and wondering where i should put the probe I got with it? |
0.1.0 Corn Snake Sunglow
1.1.0 Bearded Dragons |
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Posted - 04/04/2009 : 00:07:46
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Im just going to add to the mix,
does it make any real differance the size of the heat mat, i know there wattage goes higher as the dimentions of the mat goes up, but you buy a mat that say is a third of the vivarium size so therefore no mattter what wattage your only heating 33%, and really the ambiant temp is the only unknown, now i think im confused, lol |
0.0.1 Amel (1 1/2 ft)(Lestat de Lioncourt)
0.0.1 Carolina (1 ft)
0.0.1 Goliath (spidey)(Curly)
0.0.1 Chilli Rose(spidey)(Boris)
0.0.4 Imperial Scorpions |
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22 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2009 : 00:28:02
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Yeah, that is just more confusing Russ! lol.
This heating is a nightmare. I think we should organise a bus trip for the more knowledgeable members to visit us all and check our setups :D |
<:3O~~Sue~~
“Be civil to all;
sociable to many;
familiar with few;
friend to one;
enemy to none.
Benjamin Franklin”
0.0.1 Amel Motley Corn - Spud
1.0.0 Jack Russell Terrier - Jack
0.1.0 Chihuahua - Bijou
0.0.1 Chilean Rose Tarantula - Fang
2.6.0 LaPerm cats - Ichs, Grey, Sabi, Jonti, Emily, Nariko, Bubbles, Patches
0.1.0 Moggie cat - Kai |
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Posted - 04/04/2009 : 01:22:57
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lol soz, i think what i was worried about when i looked at some habistat heat mats was the output wattage instead of looking at the size of mat that will take up a third of the vivarium, I was thinking more wattage equals more heat and the little critter will fry. bit it doesnt work like this because theres more mat to spread the heat. I also back mine up with a 25watt light bulb on a dimmer thermostat and typically my snake is sleeping at the cooler end of the viv lol
Heat Mat 4w: Size: 5 x 4inch
Heat Mat 7w: Size: 6 x 11inch
Heat Mat 12w: Size: 11 x 11inch
Heat Mat 20w: Size: 17 x 11inch
Heat Mat 28w: Size: 23 x 11inch
Heat Mat 35w: Size: 29 x 11 inch
Heat Mat 42w: Size: 35 x 11 inch
Heat Mat 60w: Size: 47 x 11inch
Tommorrow im fitting another thermometor so ill have identicals ones at each end of the viv plus im going to obtain a digi probe one so i can get a more acurate reading.
I still have allot to sus out like using a timer and im going to go one size up on mat size as the one i have is only a quarter of the viv size and the light is staying on way to long to maintain the temp.
I did put the mat on the stat but it didnt work so well, maybe stats dont work as well with lower electric flow.
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0.0.1 Amel (1 1/2 ft)(Lestat de Lioncourt)
0.0.1 Carolina (1 ft)
0.0.1 Goliath (spidey)(Curly)
0.0.1 Chilli Rose(spidey)(Boris)
0.0.4 Imperial Scorpions |
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116 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2009 : 07:28:43
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| Mmmm... for some reason, the tank is at the right temperature now... 30°C at one end, and 21 - 22°C at the other. :) The thermostat seems to be working. :) Sneaky has survived his first night in his new home. Hurray! :) I got up at 6 this morning to make sure he was all right. I was so worried he would fry or freeze during the night. I'm so paranoid! Never had a snake before, and I don't know what I'm doing! Lol! Loving the idea of a bus trip for the knowledgeable members to come and visit us snake mites. Volunteers anybody? Lol |
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58 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2009 : 08:21:11
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i bought one of those fridge freezer thermometers, measures both ends at once, has a high and low temp alarm for both ends and stores the max and min temperatures only £15
michael |
1.0.0 Tom a 10 month old Flourescent orange Corn 29 inches and growing fast
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Posted - 04/04/2009 : 11:01:58
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quote:
Originally posted by Lathers
i bought one of those fridge freezer thermometers, measures both ends at once, has a high and low temp alarm for both ends and stores the max and min temperatures only £15
michael
That sounds pretty good.  Do you know were I could get one? Do you find them online?
Cheers |
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Posted - 04/04/2009 : 16:22:41
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| Oh dear i can't even spell my own name |
1.0.0 Tom a 10 month old Flourescent orange Corn 29 inches and growing fast
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Posted - 04/04/2009 : 16:49:42
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| you can get the same thermometers from ebay for £12.95 i've just bought one |
[URL=http://www.mybannermaker.com/link.php?nurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mybannermaker.com] [/URL] |
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solid
Hatchling
United Kingdom
428 Posts |
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Posted - 04/04/2009 : 20:39:39
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| That's great, thanks a lot guys. :) I'll order it straight away. Hopefully it will help me monitoring the temperature in the tank a bit better. I still have a feeling it's not warm enough in there. And that thermostat I got doesn't seem to do a very good job. :S |
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Posted - 06/04/2009 : 00:49:18
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| I only bought my snake last week but i think i've been given some incorrect advice. The guy in the pet shop sold me a starter kit with a bulb and a heat mat and some gravel type stuff for the floor of the tank. After reading the info on this site everything he said was different. He told me to keep both the heat lamp and heat mat on at all times ? Also to place the thermometer in the centre of the tank almost half way up. I have done all this but still the temperature in the centre is |
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Posted - 06/04/2009 : 00:54:53
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| now my laptop has a poltergiest lol. Anyway to carry on the temp is only ever a maximum of 22 it seems really warm at the heated end but freezing at the other end. Lestat (my snake) spends most of his time under his hiding log :-( i do get him out every day and he seems really happy but he was due to be fed yesterday and would'nt take it. I don't want him to become ill so i rang the guy yesterday and he says its fine but if he doesnt eat then i need to put some polestyrene under the tank too ? Can anybody please help. There isnt another specialist pet shop near where i live |
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