OK...I am annoying myself with this heating thing!

I went through this same business when I got my waterdragon 2 years ago, but I want to get it right. I wrote before about getting my 8 year old son a corn snake. It is young, so right now it is in a 10 gal aquarium in my son's room. I have a 75w red bulb and today purchased a piece of plexiglass to cover 1/2 the tank as I felt the heat was escaping. The bulb is on a thermostat and sits over a grapevine log that he can climb onto and actually climb the branch to bask. The temp is set to 84, the thermometer on the ground by the light is 79/80 during the day. The other side is only at 70. At night the tank was going down to 73 even with the light on (my house temp - 68-70). We will see how it does with the plexiglass.

I don't have a uth b/c I'm afraid of fire hazard in son's room. I did call zoo med and they did not recommend a uth any larger that the mini 1-5 gal if I even chose to use one at all. I do have a rheostat that I used to use with my lizard.

Should I get the uth and have it set on low? I have cage carpet and some of that coconut bedding. Or are my temps right?

Also, his room is not very bright during the day, is that ok for photoperiod? There is a definate difference between day and night in the room, it is just not as bright as the rest of the house.

OK, have I driven anyone else crazy yet?

Thanks

I'm not 100% on this but I'm pretty sure 70 is okay for a night temperature in the winter...that's the coldest environment your corn will ever be put into, the winter night temperature, and 70 isn't too bad for that. In the summer your temps may be a bit high...may. You'll have to see.

i just got a corn snake and mine has a uth- get one it probly wont start a fire. at my house ( same temps as you)a uth is not enought so i also have a heat lamp. your temps should be a little higherso in a 10 gallon i would get the little mini size uth- the light issue is o.k .the snake nneds under tank heat to propperly digest its food and the higher temps to do the same. you do not need a rheostat at all you will be fine with out one. i would get rid of the carpet, it grows mold and bacteria, if the cocunut stuff is eco earth( the stuff you soak in water and it expands) that is great and i use it fine. get rid of the plexie glass because it resticts air flow and your high temp during the day should be 82-86 but not higher than 90. the cooler side should be 70-75( room temp it just fine). they should both drop 5-10 degrees during the night. i hope i answer all of your ?s
C.K.

I know it can be frustrating!

I set my cages up starting with the UTH- I try to keep the temp about 85 degrees- as others have mentioned the UTH is needed for proper digestion.
If you need additional heat then add the light. The plexi could be useful to maintain the heat and humidity at the proper levels.
I try to keep the low temp >75 degrees, but I am fortunate to live in Florida which makes it much easier tha some other locations.
The posibility of a fire hazard should be minimal if you adhere to all the manufacturers recommendations, including raising the tank 1-2" off solid furniture. I have my cages on open shelving.
I would also suggest (as mentioned above) that you try some other type of substrate because astro turf, reptile carpet, etc is very hard to keep clean. I like aspen, paper towel & newspaper
good luck!
:cheers:

There are also different kinds of UTH. Some can only be installed outside viv, some ouside or on inside wall of viv (no contact with herp) and others can be placed in or out such as these two:

Dragon's Lair

(Operates at 90 F)

T-Rex

(Operates at 100 F)

Still want to use a thermostat or rheostat with a thermometer.

My current set up is in a 10 gal glass viv with a 60W Ceramic heat bulb for primary heat (stays on 24/7) and a 15W day bulb on a timer for photo, not needed but it also helps with temp (84/78 day, 78/72 night). I keep a notebook my son and I use to keep a log over 1/2 the screen top. That really helps with temps and humidity. I would like a little more differance in Hot/Cold but with such a small viv hard to accomplish.

I'm getting ready to build a new Viv out of mel or hardwood haven't decided yet. Snake is out growing current viv. I will use one of the above UTH with a thermostat under aspen shavings for a new primary heat source. At that temp unless there's a short no worry about fire and a short could happen with light or ceramic just as easy. Anyway hope this helps...

Thanks for all the help. I am going to get the small uth tomorrow, and supplement with the red light. I think I will keep the plexi on for the winter as I have read several times that it helps keep heat and humidity in. I have it on 1/3 of my water dragon's cage and it helps with the humidity. It covers a little less than 1/2 of the top and I have a hard mesh top. I think there is plenty of airflow.

Things will be easier when I move the little guy up to a bigger tank (we have a stand for it).

Thanks again!