Hiding under substrate with uth ok?

I have our new corn in a 10 gal until it gets bigger. I use the red bulb on thermostat and just purchased a mini uth to use for some belly heat. I also have the carpet (a couple pieces to switch out), with coconut bark on top. I found the little guy under the carpet last night. It was on the heated side, so I quickly turned off the uth as I was afraid of burn. Is this normal behavior? Any suggestions what to do. Also, the mini is designed to heat at lower temps so it can be used on plastic. Maybe it wouldn't even cause a burn?

Also, he stays in a hide on the cool side which ranges 70 - 74 most of the time and only comes over to the warm side 80-85 during it's active time at night.

I have a basking log with crevaces to hide in and a fake plant for cover over there, but I guess I should make a better hide. I just didn't want to create an oven since the uth and lamp were over there.

It is a crimson corn. Do some snakes like the cooler temps?

Thanks for all your help. You guys have really helped me with some heating, etc. issues this week.

My amel preferes the cooler side and rarley (during the day and most of the night) uses the heated side except after feeding when he will spend around 18 hours their before going to his beloved artifcial plant.

Both my snows though spend around 50/50 on the warm/cool side. I believe it is a snake thing that some prefer slightly warmer climates and some slightly cooler.

Hi md. Mine tend to do the same as cornman's - they sleep on the cool side and spend more time on the warm side when they're digesting. Sounds like your fella's following that pattern. If you think he needs a better hide on the warm side then this would make sure that he has a proper choice.

As for burrowing on top of the UTH, yep, he could theoretically burn himself. If you fit a thermostat for the UTH and put the sensor on top of the floor at the warm end, then you can make sure that it never gets dangerously hot. You might find that you don't need the bulb - it seems to be more belly heat that's more important for Corns, rather than an overhead heat source. I've stopped using lights completely in the last year (for both lighting and heat) and it doesn't seem to have made a difference to my gang who are thriving on UTHs alone, even in the taller vivs.

I agree with Kel about the lighting as they don't need it, it's more for your benafit then the corns, i use a light in 2 ofmy vivs 1 for the boa and 1 for the corns that are sharing, but the rest havent any lighting and thrive without it.
I would recomend this model (or similar)http://www.livefoods.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=140 for accurate temp reading on top of the UTH, i use a similar "older" model and make sure the UTH neverdrops below 80 on the warm side and never exseeds 88f.

Thanks. I am going to check tomorrow to see how much heat the mini uth puts out. Once I get a bigger viv down the road, I will get a larger uth and no light.

He sure was active last night. Do they get more active about 24-36 hrs after a feed?