Exo-Terra Heat Wave

[Jason Boyd]

I have a medium Exo Terra Heat Wave on the underside of the tank, attached to the glass. I have a good 1 inch of vita-sand as substrate above it (please no discussions on the choice of substrate used). With just the UTH the surface temp is reading 89F, underneath the sand, at the glass level, it reads over 100F. I am just wondering if the UTH is operating in correct range? or if it is busted and too hot?

I ask this because if I had another substrate such as tile or reptile carpet, the surface temps would be way to high I would think.

If it helps, I have a AFT. There is also no rheostat connected to the UTH as all of the pet stores either are all sold out or do not carry them. I was thinking of just getting a cheap plug in lamp dimmer to lower the heat output, if in-fact the UTH is working correctly.

 

[Embrace Calamity]

Depends on what size the enclosure is, how the airflow is, what the ambient temps of the room are, etc. UTHs will make the glass very hot if there's something on top of it to restrict air flow (had this happen recently with my snake's enclosure under the aspen bedding - changed the UTH and it did the exact same thing, so it wasn't a malfunction). Sounds like it's working alright to me, but if you want to test it, you can take it from under the bottom of the tank and put it on the side of the tank where there is airflow above the UTH and see how hot it makes the glass. It should raise it to a temperature that is comfortable to touch. If it does, then it's a safe bet it's working fine.

~Maggot

 

[Jason Boyd]

Depends on what size the enclosure is, how the airflow is, what the ambient temps of the room are, etc. UTHs will make the glass very hot if there's something on top of it to restrict air flow (had this happen recently with my snake's enclosure under the aspen bedding - changed the UTH and it did the exact same thing, so it wasn't a malfunction). Sounds like it's working alright to me, but if you want to test it, you can take it from under the bottom of the tank and put it on the side of the tank where there is airflow above the UTH and see how hot it makes the glass. It should raise it to a temperature that is comfortable to touch. If it does, then it's a safe bet it's working fine.

~Maggot

Terrarium is 24"x18"x18". Room temp is around 70F. Airflow is normal I guess, its in a bedroom. When I was setting up the terrarium I went ahead and stuck the UTH directly to the glass, so I can't exactly remove it without wreaking it. I guess I was primarily worried about what the temps would be if I switched from sand to something like slate tile, with a bit of sand underneath it to level it out and fill the gaps. I was thinking that it would make the slate tile really hot.