UTH Heater Doesn't Get Hot?
 

I'm pretty new to keeping reptiles and when I got my first snake (a milk snake) 1.5 years ago I planned on using a UTH. I got the ZooMed UTH and I remember it getting slightly warm but barely doing anything for the tank's temperature. So I went with a heat lamp instead and haven't had any problems since.
But now I'm getting a Brazilian Rainbow Boa, so a heat lamp isn't a viable option (because of the humidity requirement). I got a new UTH from a different brand, hoping it would work. It's been on for about 1.5 hours and it's somewhat warm but it doesn't even come close to increasing the temp to what I need, which is a big problem.
Luckily I have a few days to figure this out before I get the snake, but I really don't know what to do. I wondered if anyone else has had this problem before. Any advice?

If you have it hooked up to a thermostat, turn the thermostat up a lil higher. Can always put a temperature probe in the cage to get a true surface temp. If your still not getn the heat u need, you may have to get a bigger uth heater. Good luck
Chris
B and S Pythons/facebook

Thanks for the reply :) Last night I tried setting the thermostat to 90 instead of 85, and even after being on for 5 hours the temperature hasn't risen even 1 degree higher than my room. It's only slightly warm right where the heat mat is. I'm using the recommended size for my enclosure too. Do heat mats just not increase ambient temperatures at all?

A UTH is designed only to create a basking spot, not to increase the ambient temperature inside of an enclosure. It also must be used with a thermostat as otherwise it can make the floor of the enclosure hot enough to burn your snake.

For a BRB I would set it for a basking spot of 85-86*F and not worry about the ambient in the rest of the enclosure. Putting a hide over top of it will help trap a little heat and increase the ambient temp under the hide.

Thanks, that helps a lot! I'm thinking I'll also pick up a low wattage lamp for the day time since my house is kept pretty cold and I want to maintain a higher ambient temp than 70 degrees. Also, it is on a thermostat of course :)

If what you're planning works for you, that's what counts.

That said, a radiant heat panel (RHP) is likely the ideal situation for a BRB (that's what I use on all my snakes that are not in tubs). They heat a large-ish area very evenly, with a very reduced fire hazard compared to light bulbs, and with no burn hazard to the snake.

A PVC enclosure (like those made by Animal Plastics) is also ideal for retaining humidity and heat. I have my BRBs in a T10 and a Carpet Cage from AP, and they are perfect.

Thank you! If this setup doesn't work out I'll look into that :)