• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Bought son corn snake...heat/light questions

M

mdworske

New member
This may sound silly, but I want to find the best solution. I bought my son a corn snake for Christmas. It is small...about 12 inches. Right now it is in a 10 gal aquarium in his room. When it gets bigger we will move it to a larger aquarium in the family room. I purchased a red bulb which I have on a thermostat for 24 hour heat. I was told I should not get a under tank heater because it is on my sons wood dresser and would be a fire hazard. The red light is on a thermostat which I turn down at night. The problem is that my sons room does not get alot of light during the day. Can someone suggest a better solution?

Thanks!
 
Congrats on your new snake! The red bulb is great for ambient temp in the cage but you do need a UTH. The reason is that the snake needs belly heat in order to digest his food properly. Some UTH come with a rubber piece that goes under all 4 corners so it does not lay directly on the wood dresser.

:santa:
 
I have my tank propped up just on 2 books (that i'm not interested in reading again! :) ) with the UTH adhered to the tank. The tank is on a wooden desk, and the books allow enough ventilation through that I'm not worried about it at all! Congrats on your son's snake, and happy holidays! :santa:

-Rebecca :wavey:
 
umm

An UTH will not (under normal circumstances) make enough heat to burn wood. I think the temperature wood or paper burns at is 456 F, and most of them don't go higher than 110 F tops. You can use a dimmer or thermostat or something to keep it at the best temperature.

I know it could malfunction and burn up, but so could a light or anything else.
:flames:
 
You should look into weather or not you need a special light for the snake. Mine is a UBV light, but I am not sure weather or not this is needed. Most pet stores carry these lights, and will have a rating of 7.2% or 8%. I went to Home Depot and got a light fixture that would hold a 25 watt bulb, then to PetCo and got the Lamp itself. All together it cost about 35-40 dollars, but would love to know if I can get my money back on the 30 dollar lamps.

Good luck and let us know how things go with the new snake.

LadyLaw

..Edited..
 
I am not exactly sure on that. There are mixed oppinions on it, but I heard it does help with digestion and other minerals that they would get from the sun in the wild. I went ahaid and picked one up, but Hurley or Serp might be able to tell better, they have been doing this longer, and if I am incorrect, well... opps... I will edit my post.

LadyLaw
 
UV light is not required for corns, and an undertank heater is not necessary, either. I personally prefer UTH over a heat lamp, but the lamp will be sufficient if it is maintaining the proper temperatures. I agree that a UTH is not a fire hazard if it is regulated properly, but the heat may react with the finish and cause discoloration.
If you're worried about the lack of daylight to your little guy, there's no need to worry. I use no additional light for any of my corns, and have some in pretty dark rooms! IMHO, your setup sounds fine for now. The only thing I'd recommend is to watch your humidity. It can be hard to maintain humidity in a screen-top aquarium!
Congrats on your new friend!
 
Thanks for all the info. I am not worried about the finish on the dresser as it is old anyway. I think I will check out the uth, as my 60 watt red bulb only maintained the temperature at 73-75 during the night. The little guy sat for awhile at the top of the aquarium near the bulb, so he/she must need more heat. Not sure why this is happening, you would think that would be a big enough bulb for a 10 gal.

We have a water dragon in a large enclosure that I use a uth, heat bulb and flourescent. It was a pain, but once I got the right combo it took alot of the stress away!

Thanks again for all the help!
 
Hi There! Happy Holidays!
Congratulations on your new snake!

The UTH is required for proper digestion under most circumstances- I have one wild caught rat snake that prefers ambient temps but I live in Florida. As far as putting the UTH directly on the wood dresser this is probably not a good idea, as it traps the heat making much hotter- burns to the snake from a heat mat can be really bad :( most manufacturers of UTH do not recomend placing them directly on any surface, you need just a bit of elevation (an inch or so). You got some great suggestions on raising the tank- one of my cages is a tank raised up on rubber feet- the type used for speakers. Most snakes do not require UBV light (corns are a type that do not require it) However, for good health they do require light cycling- a day and a night, this can be acomplished with a window or even a lamp

Good Luck! :)
 
A light isn't a nesesaty, but a UTH is. I use my light purerley for the visual effect of anyony visiting to show off the snakes best coulors. If you want a light i would suggest a 25 watt model as that is all i use, it help keep the ambiant temp up and shows off the snakes really well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top