Heat mat & ambient temp. Question

[Cypher]

I'm housing my 7mth old Bredli in a 2foot long x 1 foot wide x 18inches high fishtank.
A heat mat on one side with 2 hiding boxes at either side of the tank, branches inbetween for climbing.
The substrate is recycled paper pellets (kitty litter).

The heat mat with a built-in thermostat is under the exterior of the tank (meaning not inside) with the thermostat's probe inside the tank & taped to the bottom of the glass.

So that's table top, foam pad, heat mat, glass bottom of tank, heat probe & substrate...

I also have a digital thermometer that also has a probe. I've taped this probe to the probe of the heat mat's thermostat to try & get an accurate reading as close as possible.

The temp. read-out is on average 32C for the ground surface of the heated end of the tank.

MY QUESTIONS ARE: What's the definition of ambient temperature?
Is a reading of 32C ground surface temp. ideal?
OR Should I have the probe of the digital thermometer hanging several inches above the surface & increasing the heat from the heat mat to get an "ambient" reading of 32C???

 

[Drew_gyz]

I'm interested in the answer to this too. will be very useful to know when i move my jungle to a larger enclosure (3'x1'x1').

I assume that a heat lamp (on timer?) would also help with the amb heat, but what about those heat rock? are they any good for the heat control?

 

[Sock Puppet]

MY QUESTIONS ARE:
1) What's the definition of ambient temperature?
2) Is a reading of 32C ground surface temp. ideal?
OR Should I have the probe of the digital thermometer hanging several inches above the surface & increasing the heat from the heat mat to get an "ambient" reading of 32C???

Hi Cypher,

1) The ambient temperature is just the general temperature of the air.
2) I, like you, have young Bredli (but in plastic enclosures), built up similarly, foam, heatmat, 3mm MDF, enclosure. I'm also getting around 32C floor temp, I don't worry about the ambient temp. I use a non contact thermometer to take surface temps, & set my thermostat off this, not the dial on the thermo (which reads 27C, yet I get 32C floor temp). My Bredli have occasionally spent the night during winter sitting in their branches with an ambient temp of <15C, so it doesn't bother them. If they get cold, they move to the warm floor to heat up. I use aspen substate so my thermo probe is just touching the floor.
Other than that your setup sounds fine. Hope this helps.

 

[Snakelove]

i put my probe just on the surface of the substrate whether its paper towel or aspen bedding. so i know the actual heat that my spotted is getting. and i also have another probe for the cool end reading around 20 to 24 degrees. dont know if this is right but it seems to be doing fine. just had its first feed 2 days ago =). and i also had someone telling me that aspen bedding isnt a good substrate as the dust from it gets in your snakes. newspapers and paper towels are the way to go i reckon.

 

[Cypher]

Cheers.
Sounds like I'm worrying too much.
The snake's behaviour is fine, happily eating & roaming around.
I guess in such small enclosures ambient air temps are not too much to worry about...

 

[wokka]

just watch the snake. If it is always at the hot end the thermostat is set too cold; If its always at the cold end then the thermostat is set too hot.

 

[Cypher]

just watch the snake. If it is always at the hot end the thermostat is set too cold; If its always at the cold end then the thermostat is set too hot.

Yeah, the temp's averaging 32C ground level from the heat mat.
I am tempted to raise it to 35C as the bredli doesn't seem to use/ need the hidey box on the cool side of the tank.