Temperature Question

Yes, I have heard that they won't necessarily move away if it's too hot. What are signs I should look out for as far as overheating? Would burns appear as discoloration?

Too late, You want to use your hand, every warm area, should feel "comfortable" to you, if it feels "maybe a little too warm" it probably is. A point and shoot thermometer works pretty well, but nothing can replace good common sense.

Everything feels comfortable to the touch, not too hot. Temp gun readings look within range too. I did end up getting a couple of CHE bulbs on dimmers, because my ambient temps were only getting to about 70 on these colder days we've had. I'm thinking I probably won't need them all the time.

Just remember, too hot can kill quickly, too cool, maybe a regurge etc..., but usually not fatal.

I will be monitoring the temps carefully. Like I said, the heat bulbs probably won't be used all year, just when it gets colder, since our house is usually colder too (I don't control the heat/air, unfortunately).

Originally Posted by Casey Hulse

Just remember, too hot can kill quickly, too cool, maybe a regurge etc..., but usually not fatal.

I totally second that - I lost one of 5 snakes, and the other 5 were regurgitating two years ago when we had an unusual heatwave and before I realised the problem and invested in an A/C....

I will definitely be careful. From what I've seen with my experiments this week with the empty tank, I will probably only need the extra lamps when it's freezing here. The lamps both have built in dimmers, and I was able to find a setting that kept them warm, but not too hot.

A space heater (with thermostat) to keep the room a constant temp works well in my experience in conjunction with an UTH. I think oil-filled space heaters are supposed to dry out the room less but I use a wall-mounted Delonghi mica panel heater. They are supposed to be very safe and energy efficient.
I have never used a dimmer myself, but from what I understand they're adequate to control a CHE, UTH etc when the ambient room temperature doesn't fluctuate, as you need to manually adjust the amount of power to that heat source if room temperatures change. I would imagine you would have to monitor temps pretty closely with CHEs on dimmers in a room with fluctuating temps - but I could be misunderstanding your setup. I've had good luck using a Herpstat with the "basking assist" setting for CHEs. Anyway, it sounds like you're a very diligent snake keeper, getting everything set up in advance.