Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just finally built my snakes a rack to house them in but i'm having trouble getting the temp within the acceptable range.

I have used flexwatt with a zilla brand 1000 watt temp controller. and i have a digital thermometer to monitor the temp. I originally started with the control set at 95 but over the last couple days have decreased it down to now its under 90 but still the temp reading is 96.6. I was under the impression that the temp in the bins would actually be less than what the flexwatt is set for but that doesn't seem to be the case here and refuse to put my snakes in their new homes until i have it correct and where it should be.

i have everything the way i think it should be based on bunch of research and stuff i've been looking at for a long time now. Been gonna build this rack for couple years now but just didn't get to it til now. i'm up to 3 snakes and am getting a new baby this weekend and really need to get this rack ready.

The probe with the Zilla controller is primarily going to measure ambient temperature. Are you measuring ambient, or substrate temp with a heat gun? Substrate temp will be warmer than the ambient temp 99.9% of the time.
-----
Lincoln, NE
0.1 Pastel, 1.0 Pastel het Pied, 0.1 Pied, 0.1 Cinn, 1.0 Black Pewter, 1.1 Normals, 1.0 Thayeri, 0.1 Thayeri X Alterna, 0.1 crazy cat, 1.0 husband

i have the probe for the zilla attached to one of the flexwatts (which is what ive seen in pics of other racks) and then i have my digital actually in the bin under the hide on the warm side.

Hides placed over the heat source will hold in heat and can get much hotter than you would expect. Either move it away from being right over the heat source or punch some holes in the top to let the heat out.
-----
Tosha
JET Pythons
Toshas Blog

Herp Medicine does not equal a bottle of Baytril - Dr. Scott Stahl

i will punch some holes or move the hide but i have the digital under the hide not in it. it's between the hide and the bottom of the bin.

You still have the same principle that Tosha was getting at. Something on top of your temp probe that is trapping the heat. Try putting the temp probe where the snake will be (presumably in the hide) and see what your temps are there. Then adjust accordingly.

Rob

The zilla rheostat has usually worked for me on all of my racks but for some reason I had the same problem on my ball python rack. It would never hold a steady temperature for me and would always be too hot no matter what I set it too. I tried a different unit but not matter it was always overheating. I hooked it up to a dimmer as well and finally got it to hold the temps I needed but the zilla rheostat burned out constantly every couple or weeks. I tried all kinds of trouble shooting and contacted multiple rack makers but the zilla never worked. If you are having a problem I suggest getting a better rheostat and not risking it. The zillas usually work fine but they seem to have problems if you put them on larger racks(even if it is under 1000 watts you are running off of it) rather than individual tanks.

thanks for all the help everyone! I moved the digital therm to inside the hide and lowered the zilla a little bit and have gotten it to maintain around 94 degrees for several hours now! yay! So obviously i still need a lil adjustment but at least i've got it staying at a STEADY temp.

Ok so for warm side between 90 -95?
and my humidity is around 40% right now is that ok?

i'm not doing any breeding or cycling them this year so just need to maintain the correct temp and humidity.
thanks
~kim

Kim - I am not sure if you said you did, but I would make sure to check the temp in the hid with a second thermometer. I always verify with a second source. Especially with digital or the lower quality analog temp gauges, you never know when a digital could be calibrated incorrectly or the dial or test strip type are incorrect. I always check with two sources to be sure.

Also, as others have said, use your controller as reference, but always adjust to the actual temps where the snake will be. It doesnt matter if your controller says one thing and the snake hid temps another. Keeping in mind however, that if there is more than a 2,3 or even 6 degree variation, this may mean you have another problem at hand in the setup. It really depends on probe placement, quality of equipment, etc.. You need to really learn and understand your specific setup.

This is another reason why I like the Herpstat controller. You can adjust an offset plus/- so all you gages read exactly the same.

Best of luck. Feel free to ask alot of questions.

Alan