UTH Placement

I was wondering what the difference was in placing the UTH on the side of the tank instead of under it. I read in the direction that you could do it but they did not state what the difference was.

A lot depends on what you are trying to keep warm.

Care to share?

I have a ball python and the UTH is currently under the tank I was just looking though all the manuals and everything and i saw that and was wondering what the difference was. The snake temps and all are fine im jw. thats all.

I use back heat in some of my racks where I keep my Ball Pythons. I suppose that it would be the same. Under tank heating is belly heat which essentially heats the snake by direct contact. If you were to place the heat on the side of the enclosure you would be heating the air which would then heat the snake and so it would be indirect heating. I would guess that you would need a fair bit more wattage to do that. If you want to provide indirect heat then a heat lamp may be a more effective means.

Now, if the temps are good and the snake is thriving, why change anything?

Damn it Jim, you beat me to it AGAIN!!!!

I was going to say what Jim said. Listen to him cause he knows what he's talking about and obviously types faster.

The only reason i would change it was to get the humidity up another 10% or so. But then i thought about it and realized that the humidity would still go though the screen top that is now on the side. Im all ready using a heat blub. But that zaps the humidity. My snake does have a humid hide and the humidity comes from a home made humidifier but its not powerful enough to humidify the whole tank. Right now im just going to go out tomorrow and buy a humidifer just to make it easier.

Try covering most of the screen with a moistened towel. Be careful not to put it on the light fixture. That will probably take care of your humidity problems.