Hey guys i'm slighhtly concerned that I have a bit too much substrate for my MBK. I have aspen and it's a couple of inches thick because I know they like to burrow. However i'm slightly worried it's not letting enough warmth in from the mat. The stat is set to about 88 degrees and the thermometre reads about 81-85 when buried about half way down on the warm end and she's usually cold to the touch unless she's been burrowing. Do you think I should remove a bit or should it be ok? Thanks guys.
You could reduce the depth under the warm hide above the mat to a scattering of aspen. Leave the aspen stacked in the opposite corners.
I have a Grey Rat set this way. I have another Corn which will actually clear out the hide down to the bare mat.
Put the thermometer AND stat probes together and directly on the mat, weigh it down with the edged of the hide. Use the thermometer reading as the 'real' temperature and adjust the stat up or down as required. The stat setting should only be used as a rough setting guide.
Small cable ties are good for pairing the probes together.
0.0.1 MBK : Fester 0.0.1 Florida King : Rattler (Rattle & Hum) 0.0.1 Californian King : Diablo Diego 1.0.0 Coastal Carpet Python : Vambo 0.0.1 Grey Rat Snake : Mirkey 0.0.3 Corn Snakes : Taggart, Woody & Blaze 0.2.0 Tarantulas : New River Red Rump. Red Chile Rose
Thanks. That sounds like a good idea, i'll get on it. Currently the thermometre I have is a exo-terra dial one, which I hear aren't the most accurate, but I have a digital one on the way. I'll give your idea a go though. Forgive me for being slow, but when you say the opposite corners, you mean of the hide or the viv? I'm guessing you mean the former, but i've been wrong alot in the past
Make the cool end of the viv the 'deep end' with the extra aspen. Or just pile it outside the hide. I had a small log set across the viv like a shallow divider and used it as a hold back for the deeper chips. It didn't really stand up to the surfing antics of my Grey Rat when he went on the rampage and trashed the joint.
0.0.1 MBK : Fester 0.0.1 Florida King : Rattler (Rattle & Hum) 0.0.1 Californian King : Diablo Diego 1.0.0 Coastal Carpet Python : Vambo 0.0.1 Grey Rat Snake : Mirkey 0.0.3 Corn Snakes : Taggart, Woody & Blaze 0.2.0 Tarantulas : New River Red Rump. Red Chile Rose