heating?

Hello, I am a little concerned for my corn snake's heating arrangements. Currently, it is about 80 degrees Fahrenheit in my room. I have a heating pad on one end of my tank, but i think it is too hot there because i have never seen him go over there. should i get some kind of cooling arrangement of some sort?

If your room is 80°F your snake should love it. You can save some energy and turn off the heater.

Temp at the warm end of the tank should be mid to high 80s. What's the temp on top of the substrate (i.e. where the snake would be) at the warm end of your tank?

Mine spend most of their time down the cool end and only venture onto the warm end to digest or if feeling ill. The point is to provide a choice of heat zones, so that they can move from one to the other as required. They won't necessarily want to be warm all - or even most - of the time.

The most important tool any reptile owner needs is a thermometer with probe so you can at least check the temps in your tank. For example, my rheostat is malfunctioning, and the temps in the hot sides will not go below mid-high 90's! UTH's un-monitored and un-controlled can get into the 100's easily and harm your reptile. A cheaper thermometer can save a lot of headache.

If he never goes there, it may be waaay to hot over there.

I unplugged the heater. Right now the tank is 80 degrees

i'm having some good luck with my Rheostat, but the problem is yesterday it was real cool so my temps were fine and then today the weather temp was high, and then the tank temps rose. At least the rest of the week will be the same temps, i figure it'll be at least another week before i get the thermostat. 80 is aight, but wow i can't believe how long it took for your tank to cool down. I wonder if the amout on substrate you have on top of the UTH and probe is effecting your readings. You may be able to have a thin layer over the UTH and probe to allow more heat to rise and cool it down.

just an update; now that I have unplugged the heater, he's been leaving his hide box on the cool side and actually exploring his cage I have seen him slithering around, burrowing under the substrate and whatnot. it must have been waaay to hot over there

Funny you say that, because my snake loved her warm hide when i had no rheostat or probe thermometer, and later i found it was at 110 degrees. But now the temps are right and i have all the right tools setup for her viv. She still likes the warm side but is using the cool side a lot more oddly enough.