| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Heffa |
Posted - 18/10/2009 : 22:42:15
Hi peeps
I need some advice.
I know red lights can be used all the time as the snake cant see them.
I bought a pp stat, but i cant get the temps to rise above 86F. I thought it might be the stat so i changed the mat to the matstat, but still temps in the hot end are not rising above 86F. I have swapped over the mats, still the same. It seems to have only dropped since the cold weather.
Last night, I came home from work to find the cool end had dropped to 82F, but because the cool end stat goes from 77 to 80F, the cool end was at 80.
By putting the red light on, the hot end sits at 86F plus and the cool end goes from 77 to 80F.
Is this ok? |
| 20 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Heffa |
Posted - 21/10/2009 : 12:10:06
Thanks Boze
I put the thermostat probes on top of the kitchen roll last night and the temps have boosted up. The hot side sits from 87.6 to 89 during the night, yesterday evening I found it at 94, but the stat doesnt even reach that high, so I automatically turned the stat down and took the lid off to let some of the cool air in, it cooled it right down to 86, and then heated up to 88/89.
Checked with my sis earlier and seems to be sitting at 88 and 77. Both stat probes are under each hide, but sitting on top of the kitchen roll.
I know im worrying way too much, Just done want her to get too cold :( |
| boze |
Posted - 20/10/2009 : 18:02:13
Put the thermostat probe on top of the kitchen roll outside of her hide as this will be cooler and therefore the stat will compensate by bringing the temps up.
Ive just moved sal into a small viv I built for her, but when she was in her RUB the temps were between 89-92F in the hot end and about 72F in the cool end. I couldnt get the cool end any warmer as my house is cold too and she was just on a heat mat but she was happy as larry regardless.
What im trying to say is dont make things too complicated for yourself with worry. As long as your wee snake is feeding fine and is healthy then you dont have cause for concern. Even if the cool end is 72F she still has a gradient from the hot end down to that point and somewhere along that gradient itll be 77F.
D |
| Heffa |
Posted - 20/10/2009 : 15:19:48
Thanks BE.
checked with converter as I normally work in F.
SO hot around 91.4 and cold is 75.2
So my cool end is not doing too bad, it never really drops below 76F, but the hot end, without red light sits about 84 to 86F.
|
| Blackecho |
Posted - 20/10/2009 : 14:34:07
There is a much more in-depth care sheet on this website: http://www.theroyalpython.co.uk/royal_python_care_sheet.htm |
| Heffa |
Posted - 20/10/2009 : 14:10:05
Just found this on reptilehabitat.com
Scientific name: Python Regius
Average size of adults: 3 1/2 to 5 feet, females always get larger than males.
Average life span: 20-30 years under the best conditions
Native to: Western and Central Africa
Lighting: Lighting is only required to provide a photo period, which is 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night. UV lighting is not required since these creatures recieve the benefits usually provided by UV lighting through their diet.
Heating: The temperature of the tank should be 83-85f and the basking spot should be 90f and the cool spot should have the temperature of 80f. Night temperatures should be 76-80f.
To help raise/lower the temperatures heatpads/undertank heaters. These items sometimes get to high in temperatures that can burn your reptile. To help keep the temperatures at the temperature you want I would recommend using a thermostats, or rheostat. This controls the temperature of the under tank heater or heat pad that you are using for your reptile. You could also use red, black or blue light bulbs. These do not let out as much light as other bulbs, so they could be used at night as well.
Thermometers should always be used to monitor the temperature of the cage, and checked periodically.
My sis rang and advised that the hot side was 86F however the cool side was 74F, the light had prob been off and due to go back on. So based on this information, it sounds like my gradient temperatures are ok. Im still wandering whether to bring the stat probe above the papertowel tho, to boost the temp up |
| Heffa |
Posted - 20/10/2009 : 11:49:19
Just realised, that as the 20w mat took longer to heat up, I am running the 8w mat off of the pp thermostat. Either way the temps sit at about the same level.
I love little Heffa to bits, I just feel like its one problem after another. She is still eating fine, as i fed her last night. I have noticed since I put her in the 12L rub, that her strikes are a bit off(she misses), when she used to hit(catch it) everytime in the 9L rub. |
| Heffa |
Posted - 20/10/2009 : 09:39:01
Ok.
Tested the mats and they are heating in excess of 93F
Stats are working ok too.
I have discovered that when my central heating is turned on, the temps are fine with no problem, but when the heating is off, the temp drops considerably by about 6F
GP - My house is extremely cold and where I live, at the top of the chilterns, we get hit by all the cold weather. So my bedroom is pretty much freezing all the time.
Before I got the second heat mat, I tried everything to bring the cool end of the rub up to 77, Without another form of heating, it sat at 69-72F. I tried an electric heater, but that just dried the room out, so i had issues with the humidity. In the end, when I bought the PP thermostat, I decided to run a 8W heat mat off of the mat/stat and not it controls the cool end of the rub from 77-80F
I use the pp thermostat and a 20w mat, set at 92F to heat the hot end of the rub, but it only reaches 87F without the central heating on and drops to about 85F in the day and considerably to 83F throughout the night.
I use kitchen roll as bedding for Heffa. I now only use 1 sheet to get as much heat into the rub as i can. I have discovered that if i place the thermometer underneath the kitchen roll, the temps are fine and hitting up to 90F, but when I place the thermometer above the kitchen roll, it drops about 4F and sit at about 86, 87F max.
Would you suggest that i place the thermostat probe on top of the kitchen roll, rather than directly onto the plastic?
Currently, just to keep temps up, I have set the red bulb to come on for 30-45 mins, then off for 1hr,30mins. Until I get home. My sis is home and i have asked me to keep an eye on the temps for me.
Obviously my house is too bloody cold to house a royal :( |
| Gingerpony |
Posted - 19/10/2009 : 22:31:20
and are you turning the dial on the stat right up to full, regardless of what temp it says on the dial? |
| Gingerpony |
Posted - 19/10/2009 : 22:30:08
quote:
Originally posted by Heffa
...as I said before, running off 2 stats...
so you're heating half to one third of the viv with a mat and pp stat........what's the other stat heating at the cold end?
i'm confused... |
| karl |
Posted - 19/10/2009 : 15:19:52
yes foil underneath.
Before you do this, try the mat without any stats. Will take a minute to know if its the mat or not ;) |
| Blackecho |
Posted - 19/10/2009 : 15:18:44
lol - yes, underneath  |
| Heffa |
Posted - 19/10/2009 : 15:10:48
had a blonde moment, i place it underneath with the foil facing upwards. Will get there eventually ;) |
| Heffa |
Posted - 19/10/2009 : 13:42:38
thanks black echo, sorry i can be a numpty sometimes. and i just place it on the heat mat, with foil facing upwards |
| Blackecho |
Posted - 19/10/2009 : 13:04:44
Card from a cereal box, foil from a kitchen draw  |
| Heffa |
Posted - 19/10/2009 : 12:35:16
Yes the mat is directly underneath the rub, with no gaps. and the stat probes are under each hide, as I said before, running off 2 stats, one for cool end and one for hot, as cool end wouldnt rise above 71F without another form of heating. The cool end is fine tho, and is being controlled by matstat thermostat.
I will get some foil card, can i get this from staples?
Will test the mats tonight. if they arent rising above 86F then may be faulty mats, just seems strange that both thermostats would not rise above 86F, which makes me wander if the thermostats are faulty. Would be just my luck to have 2 faulty thermostats :(
Either that, or my house is just too cold to home a python :( My room does get considerably cold, and the rubber rims of the window arent that great and need replacing, which cold explain the very low temp in my room. will have to get onto my landlord about it. |
| Blackecho |
Posted - 19/10/2009 : 12:05:04
quote:
Originally posted by karl
sounds like you have a draft somewhere if the mat isn't reaching temps, as BE says, it should hit 100 without breaking a sweat. Is there an air gap between the mat and the bottom of the viv? This could be the reason, as air is a very poor conductor of heat so the reduced temps "steal" some of your heating power. If this is the case, move the mat closer to the bottom of the faunarium/rub.
Yes, you could put some foil covered card underneath it, this would direct the heat upwards and push the mat against the RUB. |
| karl |
Posted - 19/10/2009 : 11:16:32
sounds like you have a draft somewhere if the mat isn't reaching temps, as BE says, it should hit 100 without breaking a sweat. Is there an air gap between the mat and the bottom of the viv? This could be the reason, as air is a very poor conductor of heat so the reduced temps "steal" some of your heating power. If this is the case, move the mat closer to the bottom of the faunarium/rub. |
| Gingerpony |
Posted - 19/10/2009 : 09:42:05
your equipment should definitely be up to the job..........
is your mat underneath the RUB and where abouts is the probe? |
| Heffa |
Posted - 19/10/2009 : 09:35:41
i am using 2 digital thermometers and digital hygrometer. substrate is kitchen roll and only 2 sheets at each end and slightly thicker in the middle. so quite thin in relation to the plastic rub base.
using 20w heat mat on hot end, with use of a pulse thermostat, set at 92, but only hitting 86F
using 8w heat mat on cool end, with use of mat stat, set at 82, drops to 77, rises to 81F
when i couldnt raise the temp above 86F on pulse, i tried the 20w mat on the matstat, thinking it might be the pp thermostat, but the matstat couldnt raise it above 86F either, on full power.
I am going to test both heat mats using thermometer tonight, to see if it is the heat mats. If not, then I guess it could be the thermostat, or the fact that my house is so bloody cold. The temps outside are 50F, my room doesnt get much warmer and we dont have the heating on all the time.
If this is a winter problem, is it ok to use the red light night and day, with breaks, at least this way i can keep the temps up
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| Blackecho |
Posted - 19/10/2009 : 06:17:08
I set a rub up the other day in anticipation of a new arrival and got temperatures of up to 100F straight away.
Are you using a digital thermometer, is the probe on the substrate, is the substrate too deep? |
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