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UTH to hot?? help!

S

SnakeNewbie

I love Zoey and Cutter!!!
Ok I might just be freaking out cause this is my first snake but the UTH is really hot. I mean thru the glass it is hot on my finger like hot warm but hot. The Temp in the cage is 86 and Edward is curled up away from the UTH and near his water bowl. <.< I think his hide is WAY to big for the cage and maybe the water bowl cause those are the only things inside but they take up like almost the whole cage. :awcrap: im really worrid
 
Do you have the Under tank heater hooked up to a thermostat? What kind of thermometer do you have to tell you the temps of the tank? How big is the hide and water dish? How big is your tank?
 
my tank is 10 gallon I think. and the water dish and hide are WAY to big for my snakey! he barly has any room to like roam around! we dont have a termostat yet. and the termomiter is really crappy! it is like a stick on thingy with different temps and it like goes green to what temp it is. :( I feel so bad right now
 
SnakeNewbie said:
oh and should I put a piece of likef abric in between the UTH/glass and the bedding?
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This is what I was telling you about earlier in your other thread about getting Eddie: you need a thermometer with a probe ($11 at Wal-Mart, or $7 at Menards) that tells you the "out" (outdoor) temperature via the probe (the thermometers are typically used for indoor/outdoor temperature reading, but work perfectly in this situation).

For now, find some ceramic tiles -- cheap at Home Depot, and pile them over the UTH, covering it. That will help to disperse the heat. Another way to help is to lift the tank/set the tank on blocks, allowing for air to flow out from under it, to prevent heat from getting trapped under the tank.

Also, look into building that dimmer switch/rheostat set-up that I told you about (do a search for "how to build a rheostat for $7") to help control the electrical output to the UTH, thereby controlling the heat, as well.
 
i dont have any blocks right now so I used ard cover books to raise it. god I feel like the worst snake owner in the world :(
 
ok i moved Eddie from were he was and into the hide and Eddie is actully moving around and such. I was so worried becuase he wasnt moving much :awcrap: yay he is drinking water!
 
SnakeNewbie said:
i dont have any blocks right now so I used ard cover books to raise it. god I feel like the worst snake owner in the world :(
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Books are fine -- and you live & learn, but hopefully the snake's life isn't at the expense of that. Start reading the FAQs in each subforum & try to get one of the two books that I suggested (the one by Don Soderberg is a bit shorter and probably more easy to digest right away...). If I were you, I'd unplug the UTH to let it cool -- as long as the temps in your house don't go below 60, your snake will be fine. Leave the UTH unplugged until you do something about getting a thermometer & either buying a rheostat or building one. Obviously, you need to do this as soon as possible, before you feed the snake again because your snake will need the heat to be able to digest properly. (And, yes, even as tiny as your snake probably is, it could probably go a week just fine without eating.)

Start doing your research -- you have a lot to catch up on!!!
 
Raising the tank helped with the heat ALOT! i noticed the differance right away! Eddie is like slithering aroung his viv :)
 
Thats one worry of your mind then..... As for hides, you could put in a cardboard tube out of the centre of a kitchen roll, or just some pieces of card lightly folded down the centre.... It doesn't really matter what you put in as long as there is a cool hide and a warm hide... cardboard tubes are good as they are quite long and can be both the warm and cool hide at the same time....
 
I just put a toilet roll in it and I cut it in a half and added a lil hole in it. he likes going thru it :D he is trying to escape right now XD lol he is definitly looking more active than before. You guys have been SO much help with this! Im glad I found this forum or idk what I would do
 
Just get a theromostat right away (Can I recommend a ZooMed 500R-www.bigalsonline.com $27 including shipping)....you can really burn your snake pretty badly without one on a UTH. Sometimes snakes are not as smart as they need to be and they will burn themselves unknowingly. Im glad to hear Eddie is moving around more now that youat least raised the tank. My snake is so shy that I have NEVER seen him out and about. He stay in hiding all of the time.
 
I would recommend that you pick up Kathy Loves, the Comprehensive Corn snake Manual.
It's like the corn snake bible ;)
 
BTW Right now Kathy Love is offering a free copy of herbook (THERES ONLY 1 LEFT SO HURRY!) it is water damaged but it is readable....You only have to pay $3 for the shipping charge to send it to you. GREAT DEAL!
 
Okay for now I would definitely say to just not use the UTH until you get a thermostat or rheostat to control it. (It's better for the snake to be cool then too hot to where it could burn itself..) Also I would definitely suggest you get a thermometer with a probe which is sold at any petsmart or petco and even at wal-mart..just put the probe of the thermometer over the glass where the uth is and this way you'll be able to see the correct temp. Cause I'm sure the uth is probably extremely hot right now..The thermometer you have is not reliable at all..So definitely just get rid of that..As for hides and water bowls being to big...I would say then maybe for now either just improvise and buy a small cat dish for a water bowl and maybe use some toilet paper rolls for hides and then when you get a bigger tank you can put the big stuff back in..but that is up to you..good luck with whatever you do :0)
 
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