Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a rack set up with a helix thermostat, when i first purchased it i set the helix probe directly on the heat tape(i keep the top draw out because im afraid the sliding drawer could knock the probe off the tape). I also used a corallife reptile temp probe and set it in the hottest spot of the drawer. they basically had a 1 to 2 degree ferenheight difference, so it didnt seem like anything important.

After using both for a month or two i removed the seperate probe(coralife) from the rack because my little pastel kept dragging it around the cage anyway.I justput it in after a few weeks and the corallife probe is reading 95o ferenheight but my helix thermostat is set to and is readin 90. I lowered the temps to a nuetral temperature so that my snakes can keep warm enough to thermoregulate, but as of now they cant reach their desired basking point based on what the helix is set to(83) personally im more concerned of overheating rather then them not being as hot as theyd like to be.

Its kind of frustrating because i dont know what probe to trust, the corallife is set inside then enclosure and reads anywhere from 3 to 7 degrees higher then the helix is set to/reading, the helix probe is set directly on the tape itself underneath where the drawer would be.

Should i buy another seperate probe? could anyone recommend a good one? Should i trust that the helix is doing its job? Any opinions on the matter are as always very much appreciated.

thanks

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2.3 Bearded Dragons
1.0 Pastel Ball Pythons (NERD Line)
0.0.1 Water Monitors
1.1 Pastel Red Tailed boa Het. for Albino
1.1 Yellow Ackie Monitors
And Counting...

First off you need to secure your probe on the heat tape- I used a dab of silicone rubber but don't cover the end of the probe obviously. Second if you leave the top drawer out then all the heat will easily escape off the (I'm assuming flexwatt) cuz there is a draft believe it or not I don't care how deep the drawer is but they have moving air cooling off the flexwatt though. So if you have a tub on top of the probe then theoretically this is setup identical to the other tubs in the rack so temps should be very close to the thermostat setting. Personally in my boaphile rack the temps are one degree difference. Third you have to have a temp gun, it is the best tool you could ever own.
Bob