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Kelfezond
The bearded one
United Kingdom
4803 Posts |
 Posted - 28/08/2010 : 16:13:50
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I'm probably obsessing abit here since this is my first royal but I've had my habistat dimming thermostat hooked up to the heatmat and set to about 30c. It all works fine and the thermometer inside reads correct at about 30c, but when I switch the light on (red 75watt) it gets much hotter inside and reads temps of 40c+ the Habistat thermostat "heat light" turns itself off but the temperature doesn't seem to lower. I might just be being too impatient and the temp might drop itself, any advice? Ideally I would like the red light on in the viv at night, don't mind it off in the daylight though.
The Viv is a small one for the moment, about 27x15 The sensor for my Habistat is set in the viv halfway up the back wall on the hot side of the viv, above the mat and below the light. The thermometer is set in the same place.
Thanks for any advice
 Kelfezond
P.S: Sorry for so many posts |
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Edited by - Kelfezond on 28/08/2010 16:17:19 |
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Lettsy1
Yearling
United Kingdom
147 Posts |
Posted - 28/08/2010 : 16:36:05
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| hiya hun, you need the thermostat on the substrate and personally i would only use one not both, whichever one you chose to use, put the dimming thermostat on it. sheba is in a 3ft viv and i only use the bulb to heat it and temps are fine. |
1.1.0 Royal (Dash,Sheba & Ditto)
1.1.0 Western Hognose (Frank & Grace)
0.0.1 Snow Corn (Ghost) |
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Kelfezond
The bearded one
United Kingdom
4803 Posts |
Posted - 28/08/2010 : 16:37:59
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Would it be okay to switch them then? As in plug the light into the thermostat at night and then switch it to the mat in the day time? Or would that confuse/stress her?
(Also I had no idea I could even use the Bulb in the Thermostat -facepalm-)
EDIT: trial and error seems to have prevailed and it's kept at the right heat now, I had the mat and bulb in the wrong sockets so the bulb was running off the mains and the mat was being controlled by the thermostat which was pretty much always off due to the mad heat given by the light. Now the bulb is on nice and dim and the heat mats in the mains, tried turning the heat down on the thermostat and the bulb went out, turned it up and it went brighter so seems to have fixed it. I'll leave it for the night and check it again later to see if the mat is making it too hot, if thats the case I'll just use one or the other.
Edit 2: +3 hours on and now the front of the glass has condensation across it, can't really work out whats going on now  |
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Edited by - Kelfezond on 28/08/2010 19:21:32 |
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Blackecho
Royal Python Admin
United Kingdom
11327 Posts |
Posted - 28/08/2010 : 20:20:53
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| Personally I'd ditch the heatmat completely, especially if it's not controlled by a thermostat. The condensation is due to the substrate drying out. Is it Orchid bark? You can bake it in the oven before putting it in the viv to remove the moisture. |
 
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Kelfezond
The bearded one
United Kingdom
4803 Posts |
Posted - 28/08/2010 : 20:52:15
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Thanks a lot, was starting to worry, yeah you guessed the substrate right.
You're like a walking talking snake encyclopedia thanks a thousand times :D
Edit: I'll remove the heat mat later on once I get a guard fitted for the light, don't want her being too attracted to it incase she gets burnt so hopefully if she needs it she'll head to the mat atm instead of the light. |
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Edited by - Kelfezond on 28/08/2010 20:53:51 |
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Lettsy1
Yearling
United Kingdom
147 Posts |
Posted - 28/08/2010 : 21:06:54
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| if the bulb isnt guarded i wouldnt use it at all, i would remove it from the socket completely, its not just cos it might burn her but also if she wraps herself around it she could easily crush it hun. |
1.1.0 Royal (Dash,Sheba & Ditto)
1.1.0 Western Hognose (Frank & Grace)
0.0.1 Snow Corn (Ghost) |
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Kelfezond
The bearded one
United Kingdom
4803 Posts |
Posted - 28/08/2010 : 22:25:36
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| Okay I'll see what I can do in terms of guards tomorrow, I believe I have some mesh I can fashion something out of. |
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Kelfezond
The bearded one
United Kingdom
4803 Posts |
Posted - 29/08/2010 : 08:24:56
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Last night I unplugged the light and took the bulb out so that she couldn't burn herself or crush the buld, however in the morning the heatmat was still on full power but the temperature in the viv went right down to about 60f. Don't think the mat can deal with the job by itself, I'll put the light in for today while im at work and hope she's not silly enough to hurt herself- I'm getting some mesh delivered today as well so should be fixed, if for some reason the mesh doesn't work I'll go to BnQ tuesday and fix something up, does this sound okay?
Also when it comes to installing a guard myself any ideas how I could go about doing it so I can still remove the bulb as the lighting equipment is all inside the viv. |
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Lettsy1
Yearling
United Kingdom
147 Posts |
Posted - 29/08/2010 : 08:45:17
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| hiya hun, i would just go to local pet (reptile)shop and pick one up as normally only about £14. I wouldnt chance leaving an unguarded bulb for any lenght of time. the guard i have just screws into the top of the viv so when it comes to changin the bulb its only a matter of unscrewin it. As long as she has got some where to warm herself up (i.e the mat) and she can go between the hot and cool side i wouldnt worry about it for a couple of days. i would worry more about the bulb bein unguarded. Good luck hun! :) |
1.1.0 Royal (Dash,Sheba & Ditto)
1.1.0 Western Hognose (Frank & Grace)
0.0.1 Snow Corn (Ghost) |
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Kelfezond
The bearded one
United Kingdom
4803 Posts |
Posted - 29/08/2010 : 08:47:38
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| Okay thanks for the advice, I spoke to the store I was at yesterday about a guard they said that they didn't sell them and he's been working there for 8 years and only seen 1 snake burn herself, mine >.< |
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Lettsy1
Yearling
United Kingdom
147 Posts |
Posted - 29/08/2010 : 08:58:03
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| your welcome hun, put my big girl in her new viv the other day and the first thing she did was check out the light, i was worried even tho its guarded, have u been told how she burned herself? she maybe the type that likes bulbs! why would a reptile shop NOT sell bulb guards? even if he doesnt use them himself there would still be a demand for them. i would just leave the heat mat on the thermostat for now hun, she will be fine until u can get it sorted. :) ( sorry for any spellin mistakes as got my hoggie sittin on the keyboard with me n words are commin out funny! lol) |
1.1.0 Royal (Dash,Sheba & Ditto)
1.1.0 Western Hognose (Frank & Grace)
0.0.1 Snow Corn (Ghost) |
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Kelfezond
The bearded one
United Kingdom
4803 Posts |
Posted - 29/08/2010 : 17:39:09
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Apparently the burns came from a lightbulb but it was on the bottom of her viv for some stupid reason with no thermostat control. I'll keep you all updated how my adventure for a guard goes xD
If its not too cheeky and anyone else has a spare guard going I'd be happy to buy it from you and paid for any delivery charges :D
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Blackecho
Royal Python Admin
United Kingdom
11327 Posts |
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Kelfezond
The bearded one
United Kingdom
4803 Posts |
Posted - 29/08/2010 : 19:06:50
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| You're an angel blackecho, I'll buy one right now :D |
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Blackecho
Royal Python Admin
United Kingdom
11327 Posts |
Posted - 29/08/2010 : 20:21:37
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| E-mail Dave though, I don't think he comes online much anymore. |
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Kelfezond
The bearded one
United Kingdom
4803 Posts |
Posted - 29/08/2010 : 21:03:04
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Yeah I've done it, all sorted. He's on holiday for this week though, lucky bugger ^^
Vahalla will have to make do with a mat for a week :) |
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Blackecho
Royal Python Admin
United Kingdom
11327 Posts |
Posted - 29/08/2010 : 21:26:49
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ok, lets sort out the mat then, you said it can't heat up enough, it should be able to.
How are you measuring the temps? - Digital thermometer?
Where is the mat in the viv? - Under the substrate?
You may find that it is struggling to get through the substrate. |
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Kelfezond
The bearded one
United Kingdom
4803 Posts |
Posted - 29/08/2010 : 21:47:58
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The mat is under the substrate on the right side of the viv, covers most of the righthand side. It is under the substrate as per the store-guys instructions, substrate is about inch and half - 2 inch in the viv. The thermometer is an "Exoterra thermometer". Just stuck to the back of her viv about halfway between the top and bottom on the right hand side between the mat and light bulb.
Think I should leave the mat ontop of the substrate? Would it burn her at all or would it notget hot enough? |
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Lettsy1
Yearling
United Kingdom
147 Posts |
Posted - 29/08/2010 : 22:22:44
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| hiya hun, just thin the substrate out a little prob only need about 1/2 to an inch on the mat, have u got any lino? if so put that on top of the mat so she doesnt come directly in contact with it. Put your thermometer on the substrate cos thats where it needs to be to check the temp of the mat. |
1.1.0 Royal (Dash,Sheba & Ditto)
1.1.0 Western Hognose (Frank & Grace)
0.0.1 Snow Corn (Ghost) |
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Kelfezond
The bearded one
United Kingdom
4803 Posts |
Posted - 29/08/2010 : 22:24:21
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| Don't have any lino but will thin out the substrate and try again, fingers crossed :D |
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boze
Yearling
United Kingdom
408 Posts |
Posted - 29/08/2010 : 22:46:08
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Plus the dial thermometers can be up to 10 degrees out...
You really want the thermometer to be in the hottest place possible that your snake can get to, which is directly on top of the heat mat (as they can move the substrate off no problem to get to the heat). Grab a digital thermometer and put the thermometer probe in the same place as the thermostat probe on the heat mat and adjust according to the thermometer reading until you reach the temps required.
As mentioned its probably a good idea to thin out the substrate a bit too, only has to be half an inch thick or so :-)
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0.1.0. Royal (Salmissra)
0.0.1. Western Hognose (Spiderman)
quote:
Originally posted by ruxpin64
I'm so happy I may lay on my back and pee in the air like a baby!
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Topic |
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Viv Temp
