# Temperature advise needed please...



## XFile (Apr 13, 2008)

I've just setup my first vivarium yesterday and am having problems with the temperature... I was given a Thermastat controller which was a MiniStat 100 and a seperate digital temperature gauge as part of the package.

I was told to set the thermastat to between 28 and 30 which I have done and apparantly the probe from the thermastat needs to be in the middle of the heat-mat (according to the website)... The digital temperature gauge has been mounted on the back of the vivarium and has two probes - one of which I have placed in the middle of the heat mat and the other across on the cool side of the vivarium.

Leaving the thermastat at 28 the temperature gauge never got above 24 degrees, so last night before bed I turned the thermastat to 32 and today the temperature is fluctuating between 26.5 and 28.2...

Any ideas if I'm doing something wrong or is it a faulty temperature gauge??

Any help appreciated


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## markandwend (Jan 28, 2007)

If the tats just an on/off one that i think it is, when it gets up to temp it knocks off, then when it goes down to a set temp it will knock back on again.
What size mat is it? What substrate is ontop of it?


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## Whizzingdonkey (Mar 16, 2008)

No your doing nothing wrong. The thermostat your using switches the heat mat off and on, so a fluctuation in temperature occurs. To keep a constant temperature a pulse proportional thermostat would be better suited as it does not turn off the mat. It alters the power to the heat mat to keep the correct temp.


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## XFile (Apr 13, 2008)

markandwend said:


> If the tats just an on/off one that i think it is, when it gets up to temp it knocks off, then when it goes down to a set temp it will knock back on again.
> What size mat is it? What substrate is ontop of it?


It is just an on/off one - its the MicroClimate Ministat 100... At the moment I've moved the Thermostat to the maximum 35 degrees and this is keeping the warm part of the vivarium at between 27.5 degrees and 29.6 degrees.

The mat is a EuroRep HabiStat HeatMat and the substrate is Hemp bedding...


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## XFile (Apr 13, 2008)

A couple of other questions I wanted to ask were - should I secure the temperature probe to the heat-mat (I've used Duct Tape to secure the heat-mat to the base of the vivarium)....

Also with regards to lighting - the vivarium is in an alcove on a landing so isn't brilliantly lit. I don't want to canibalise the inside of the vivarium to add a light but thought I might buy a desk lamp so sit on top of the vivarium to cast some light over the vivarium... is this ok to do and what wattage bulb would you recommend? I was also looking at timering the light so it goes on first thing in the morning (say 7:30am) and off in the evening (around 8pm) so it simulates the daylight time at the moment - would this be ok?

Thanks for all your help and advise so far


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## XFile (Apr 13, 2008)

Anyone help with the above questions?


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## Matteh (Apr 6, 2008)

XFile said:


> Also with regards to lighting - the vivarium is in an alcove on a landing so isn't brilliantly lit. I don't want to canibalise the inside of the vivarium to add a light but thought I might buy a desk lamp so sit on top of the vivarium to cast some light over the vivarium... is this ok to do and what wattage bulb would you recommend? I was also looking at timering the light so it goes on first thing in the morning (say 7:30am) and off in the evening (around 8pm) so it simulates the daylight time at the moment - would this be ok?


My sister's boyfriend does this, but it only works with a glass vivarium I think. Plus there is no need for a timer, you can just turn it on/off yourself at whatever time. That, to me, is more natural, 'cause we don't get perfect timed sunsets or sun rises. It's all up to you. I'd recommend a bulb that gives off a nice bright light (100 watt maybe?) so that it has some nice bright light.

I have a wooden vivarium, so I have a light bulb inside the vivarium which keeps the temperature right, with the thermostat also controlling how much light the bulb gives off too.

But as I said, it's totally upto you.


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## XFile (Apr 13, 2008)

Well the vivarium I have is a wooden one so has a wood back and wood sides... the only glass is just the slide glass doors at the front... I picked up a desk lamp today with a 60 watt bulb and have placed it on the top of the vivarium right at the front and angled it so its casting light straight down - it still seems a bit dark to me though...

I really don't want to go down the route of fitting a light inside as I'm no DIYer and really don't want to butcher the inside of the vivarium trying to fit one...


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## markandwend (Jan 28, 2007)

Get a pygmy bulb, they are only small and low wattage, also they are only a couple of pounds.


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## reptilesrock (Jun 3, 2007)

Mate ya panicing over nothing really
A light is not needed, snakes do not benefit from it, that said they do not suffer either.
Light becomes important when breeding though as the shorter daylight hours signal winter, which puts them on a fast, as day becomes longer they eat again, fatten up and look for love, but health wise, a light isn't necessary.
I shouldn't worry about it.
If you are doing this solely for your benefit, just take into account the heat given off from the bulb.
I heat my loe tank with a 40W spot bulb and that is on a thermostat too!
It can get up to 150+F without it and thats only 40W!

Just be careful fella, wouldn't wanna cook ya snake.

Regards to your probes in your tank.
Leave one probe that controls the thermostat on the heat mat, the other one at the cool end is not really needed apart from giving you a temp reading.
The temps are supposed to gradually decline away from the warm end, thus giving a nice temp gradient where the snake can find its preferred temp for its need at the time.

If you do want to put your snake in the light, a bulb is not hard to fit:

Drill, poke, otherwise manage to aquire, one hole in the top of the viv.
Fit wires etc (get em from Wilko's myself, other shops do them too).
Fit guard, this just screws on, no hassle.
Fit thermostat for the light, else it WILL cook your snake.

Also, your heat mat, consider moving this to the inside of the viv, you have it on a thermostat so no risk of burns.
Put it under a piece of slate if ya want, this works great as a hot rock type thing.
To fit it inside, do the hole, undo the plug, thread through, re-attach plug.

Good luck! : victory:


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## XFile (Apr 13, 2008)

reptilesrock said:


> Mate ya panicing over nothing really
> A light is not needed, snakes do not benefit from it, that said they do not suffer either.
> Light becomes important when breeding though as the shorter daylight hours signal winter, which puts them on a fast, as day becomes longer they eat again, fatten up and look for love, but health wise, a light isn't necessary.
> I shouldn't worry about it.
> ...


Thanks Reptilesrock - the light issue was mainly for the snake rather than my viewing... I was concerned about how dark the landing is but if snakes don't benefit from lighting then I won't worry about it too much...

My heatmat is fitted inside the tank already and I've used Duct Tape to secure the mat edges... I wanted to know if I should secure the Thermostat probe onto the middle of the heatmat so it wasn't shifted around by the movement of the corn (bearing in mind I haven't got a deep layer of substrate on the top... Also if I was to secure it to the middle of the heatmat could I use Duct tape on it?

The other two probes I have are on the digital thermometer - one again is in the middle of the heatmat (unsecured) and the other is on the cool side... I've set the digital thermometer to show the temperature on the warm side as I assumed this was the most important...


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## XFile (Apr 13, 2008)

Bumping for comments on last reply


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