Undertank Heat Mats

I have a 25G tank. In the back left corner is a heat lamp and the front left corner is the heat pad. Back right corner is a hide, front right is the water. The lamp is just slightly towards the middle though because the instructions for the mat say to not place the lamp over the pad.

But I digress... The mat (small, 8W) doesn't heat the substrate well (forest bed), and I've never seen the snake in the area where the pad is. There's a hide JUST behind it, but I'm wondering, should I add another hide on top of the mat? Or perhaps a larger hide to cover the entire left side of the tank (and place lots of paper towels inside so he feels secure)?

My concern is once he's full grown (20" now), how exactly would he make use of the heat mat?

I feel like I just wasted $25 (CAD)...

Well, if you are going to use a heat mat, you should get one that covers the entire side of the viv...Example: Your viv is 30" long and 10" wide, you heat mat should cover roughly 10" wide, by about 10" long. This way, the heat is more evenly distributed in the tank. One of the big problems with Heat mats, is that they can heat up to hot and burn the belly of the snake. make sure that you have something over told of the area that the heat mat is on so that the snake can't get directly on it. If you don't already have one, you need to get a thermometer...like one of the digital indoor/outdoor ones...and put the probe in the substrate so that you can keep track of the temps from the heat mat.

Spirit said:

My concern is once he's full grown (20" now), how exactly would he make use of the heat mat?

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When your snake is full Grown, you might want to look into a slightly larger tank for him. If you do that, then you will need a new heat mat, and possibly a higher wattage light.

Oh, for sure. A friend of mine is going to build me one next spring or fall. But that doesn't help me now... Should I put another hide on the mat now? And yes, there's a good layer of substrate covering the glass, though I was debating putting paper towel underneath.

So far it just seems pretty useless, as he spends almost all his time on the cool side...

Well, You can put more hides on the heated side. That would give him more secure areas to be. It isn't useless. Think of it this way...How warm is it in your house? Say that one room was 80 degrees, and another was 75 degrees, you would spend more of your time in the cooler room. However, say that the temp drops and the cool room doesn't have a way to keep the temp of 75 degrees. You will naturally gravitate towards the room with the heater that stays at 80 degrees. Your snake will do this. I believe that you have stated that you are from Canada. It gets pretty cold up there in the winter. So, your VIV is going to act like my example. The side with the water, shold have no heat here, isn't equiped to stay at a certain temp. The side with the UTH does have a heater, and is equiped to stay at a certain temp. When your snake gets too cold, he/she will move to the warm area.

As for the good layer of substrate over the heat pad, the snake can still get under the substrate. You should take a piece of card board and tape it to the bottom of the viv right above the heat mat. This will still allow the heat to penetrate into the viv, but will difuse the heat. This will make it so that your snake will never be able to get directly on top of the heat mat.

Well if you concider lots of rain and "slush" cold (snow is rare in Vancouver), then okay. Thanks. Again.

I'll add yet another hide.

Didn't know you were in BC....

:-offtopic Vancouver and Victoria are two of my most favorite cities in the world.

CAV said:

:-offtopic Vancouver and Victoria are two of my most favorite cities in the world.

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:-offtopic

It's a pretty sad place to live right now, CAV. Aside from the water shortages and forest fires in the summer, there's a food shortage in the wild, so we're having problems with bears coming into the city in search of food. Last week, a bear wandered into a local safeway and proceeded to "eat all the pies". It got put back in the wild and a SECOND time, it came back for more pie. I mean a bear's gotta eat, right? :laugh: Sad though that it had to be destroyed (lost his fear of humans).

Aside from that though (and too much damn rain), it's a beautiful city. I'm a country girl at heart, but I do love Vancouver (Island moreso than the mainland).

Wanna go hiking/camping?

K... back on topic, pls.

What about spray adhesives? Little sour cream containers look just awful, so what kind of glue (if any) is safe to put on the tupperware so I can stick some substrate on it? Cheaper than pet stores and would save me searching the beaches then boiling...

Is the heat mat under the tank or on the side?

If it's under, I recommend buying a piece of slate or ceramic tile from Home Depot or Walmart. You can place this in the tank directly above the heater. It will distribute the heat more evenly, and it'll be too heavy for your corn to displace. This would still be beneath the hides and the substrate though.

I'm also wondering how are you measuring the temps? Even an 8w heatmat will reach some extremely high temps. Some brands overheat more than others, but the ones designed for lower temps still hit some high numbers.

Spirit said:

I'm a country girl at heart, but I do love Vancouver (Island moreso than the mainland).

Wanna go hiking/camping?

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Only if there will be smores and foamy adult beverages.

CAV said:

Only if there will be smores and foamy adult beverages.

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Ummm... D-UH?? Let's GOOOOO!!! :wavey: (okay, so it's not a "come on" smilie, but it's close!)

xelda said:

Is the heat mat under the tank or on the side?

If it's under, I recommend buying a piece of slate or ceramic tile from Home Depot or Walmart. You can place this in the tank directly above the heater. It will distribute the heat more evenly, and it'll be too heavy for your corn to displace. This would still be beneath the hides and the substrate though.

Click to expand...

It's under. I never thought to use a ceramic tile... I wasn't aware anything extra was needed. If it will keep the tile warm for belly heat then I will for sure try that. Thanks.