Posted by:
monklet
at Mon Nov 16 11:27:28 2009 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by monklet ]
Whether UTH burn or not I would like to share a possibly helpful solution.
As a naive new keeper I assumed UTHs would be designed to operate at perfectly safe temps. Then one day I noticed that the temp on the glass directly above the UTH was too hot to touch for more than a few seconds. This got me concerned about the possibility of burns so I decided to use outdoor carpet as a floor liner and insulator. This proved to be a stupid idea as the carpet of course holds dirt and stench which can never be thorougly eradicated. Also, some of my snakes would crawl under the carpet and possibly subject themselves to a sandwich effect. Interesting that while exposed to the possibility of burns, none ever showed any sign and they apparently avoided the hot spot.
So, new idea - I've replaced the reeking carpet with appropriately sized peg-board liners. This defuses the heat nicely and will hopefully prove maintainable. So far so good.
Not justifying the use of UTHs without thermostats but until I can get away from tanks and into racks, for most of my stuff anyway, they seem ok if care is taken.
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RE: A hard lesson - monklet, Mon Nov 16 11:27:28 2009