Temp gradiant

joker_8 · #1 (**permalink**) 01-26-2006, 09:01 PM

A friend of mine asked me about his setup today and I wasnt sure what to tell him. He has a 20L with aspen bedding in it. On his hot side he has a 150W Exo terra CHE and on his cool side he has a Zoo Med UTH. He said he keep the hot side about 88-90, but the cool side rarely breaks 75. He is running 2 digital thermos, one is on the back wall just above the bedding ( even with the CHE) and the othe is on the end wall on the cool side just above the bedding. His cool side seems too low to me.

So I told him Id ask around for him. Should there be such a large variant? Thanks

JuliusSqueezer · #2 (**permalink**) 01-26-2006, 09:10 PM

He doesn't really have a cool side. If he's heating the floor, Heat mats don't radiate heat into the air much but the surface temp there is probably warmer than what it needs to be. Both the che and the heat mat need to be on the same side. If he wants to warm the cool side a bit more...slide the che over an inch at a time towards the middle. Putting thermometers on the back walls doesn't tell you much. I'm betting that directly under the che if he hits it with a temp gun, is way too hot. In a average moderately temped house with no draft, He should have no trouble getting the hot side to 88 with a 40watt bulb in a 20 long. 150 should be way too hot unless he has it on a rheo or thermostat. Your friend needs a temp gun to check various areas in the cage. It's surprising how much gradient most cages actually have and how much effect the surface temp of glass has on stick on thermometers, digital or otherwise.

trinitywolf · #3 (**permalink**) 01-26-2006, 09:16 PM

I agree with Brett here.

Just to reiterate what Brett is telling you, he needs to check his temps directly under or above the heating elements. If his temp on the side of the tank is 88, the floors temp is probably around 110-120. Sounds to me like there is way too much heat in the cage.

joker_8 · #4 (**permalink**) 01-26-2006, 10:26 PM

He has a dimmer on his CHE, I just forgot to emntion it lol.

telefrag · #5 (**permalink**) 01-26-2006, 10:49 PM

what type of snake is it for?

75 sounds more like my ambient air temp on my snake cages.

joker_8 · #6 (**permalink**) 01-26-2006, 10:57 PM

Spotted Python...... I think he may be getting it good in a lil bit. He moved his CHE over about 2 inches toward the center and layed his probe on the bedding in the middle ( front to back, its still on one end tho) by moving it forward a bit. His "coo" side probe, he pulled some slack and layed it on the bedding just inside his hide ( I guess to make sure the temp is ok in there. He said its about 93 ( and droping slow) on the hot side and 78 in the hide. This was about 5 minutes ago.

If some of that doesnt make sense let mwe know, I know what he means butits hard to picture in words lol.

telefrag · #7 (**permalink**) 01-26-2006, 11:09 PM

I kept my spotted's (when I had them) with a cool side of 73 and a warm side of 86 (on average, with some spikes/dips here and there of course)

They did great for many years that way.

joker_8 · #8 (**permalink**) 01-26-2006, 11:20 PM

Here is a drwing attempt lol. 1 is original placment and 2 is current placement

I told him to try for around 75 on one end and 88 or so on the other.

JuliusSqueezer · #9 (**permalink**) 01-26-2006, 11:33 PM

He needs to pick a hot side still. No heat pad on the cool side. Heat the cool side from what drifts over from the hot side.

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