Thermostat and Under Tank Heater Troubles

Hello fellow Corn Snake owners! I am having some issues with setting up my corn snake tank, and I could use some help. I do not own a corn snake but I plan on getting one at a reptile expo tomorrow if I can figure out what is going on.

My current set up is a 30" x 12" x 12" tank-- a 20 Gallon glass terrarium. I am using a Zoo Med Under Tank Heater and a Vivarium Electronics Hobby Stat Thermostat. I also am using an analog thermostat sitting on the substrate, which is TropiCoco, to see the temperature changes.

Last night I tested the Zoo Med Under Tank Heater where it reached temperatures of 90 with no issues-- I did not realize I hadn't bought a thermostat for it, so I unplugged it and slept. When I got up, I went to a local reptile store and bought a thermostat, the Zoo Med kind, which did not seem to work at all, as when I plugged in the Under Tank Heater into the Zoo Med thermostat for several hours, the temperature did not move above the ambient room temperature of 78 degrees. I returned the thermostat and came back home with a Vivarium Electronics HobbyStat, which I set to 85, plugged the Under Tank Heater into and then plugged that all into an outlet. Once again, the temperature of the tank remained at 78 degrees despite setting the dial for higher, and the green light on the Vivarium Electronics HobbyStat was off when I had the dial set at 85, even though the analog thermostat told me the cage was only 78 degrees. The Under Tank Heater did not feel hot at all. Now, I have the Under Tank Heater plugged in directly into the same outlet without the Thermostat, where it seems to be working fine. I also taped the probe of the Vivarium Electronics HobbyStat onto the underside of the Under Tank Heater.

I've changed outlets around my room and the power strip. I could not have possibly gotten two faulty thermostats in a row. What am I doing wrong? It really seems like the Under Tank Heater completely shuts off when it's plugged into a thermostat-- and the thermostat light turns off even when the cage is only reading 78, and I have the dial set for 85 to even 90. Is it just incredibly slow?

Thank you so much ahead of time for any responses. I'm getting desperate-- I'd love to bring home a new baby corn snake tomorrow and take care of my first corn snake, but if I can't get the thermostat to work I don't know what to do.

Your tank should not feel hot. Your body temp is 98 degrees, the tank ideally should be 82 to 88. Therefore it will feel cool to you.

Also keep in mind, the under tank heat pad does not heat the tank. It only heats that small portion of the glass bottom which it is stuck to. You don't need to heat the entire tank.

So if your room temp is 78 degrees as you stated, then the tank is going to be the same. Only the glass above the heat pad will be warmer (not hot). That spot should be about 85 degrees. You'll need to measure it with some type of thermometer - (many of us use those hand held infrared thermometers that you point and shoot and it reads the temp on a display).

You may have to fool with the thermostat settings a bit to get it right. Keep in mind the heat from the pad has to travel through the glass, and may lose a few degrees in the process.

Don't confuse "Thermostat" and Thermometer" they are different and you need both.

Your thermostat should have a sensing probe that should be on the pad. That sensing probe tells the thermostat when to cut on or off.

Eventually you'll have some type of bedding material in there, (newspapers, paper towels, shredded aspen, reptile carpet, eco fresh...etc..) and you'll need to place a "Hiding Place" for the snake directly over that heat pad.

Then you will have to start playing with the settings to get the temp inside that Hide Spot to about 85 degrees.

I generally have to set my thermostat to about 96 to 100 degrees for the heat to penetrate the glass, the carpet I have in there, and the porcelain Hide, so that inside the hide it's about 85 degrees. I know this because I "Shoot the Inside of the Hide" with an infrared thermometer to read the temps.

Once you get it set it will usually stay, but it could take a few hours to get it right.

"Thermometer" a device that tells the temperature of something. "Thermostat" a regulating device that adjusts Heating and Cooling.

Thank you for your reply! I am hoping I can pick up a infrared thermometer at the show tomorrow-- the reptile store is closed early today or else I would have gone again. The staff who sold me everything I thought I needed for the tank didn't give me several things that I actually did need and didn't realize until I got home. Not sure how they could claim to be a corn snake breeder if I didn't get a thermostat until my third visit there...

The probe from the Vivarium Hobbystat is currently taped to the pad, I've gone ahead and plugged the heating pad back into the thermostat. The bedding material I have is TropiCoco, but I think I'll switch to shredded aspen tomorrow.

Thank you again! Any good brands you use for your infrared thermometer?

Also, is it normal for the green light to not always be on or stay off for the thermostat, even when it's technically supposed to be heating the glass of the tank? This is currently my biggest worry is that the green light is not even on, despite being plugged in.

Different thermostats look different and work differently. I can't comment on your's without knowing more.

I can tell you this, everything has to be hooked up right. The Plug from the TStat goes in the wall socket and the wall socket of course has to work. The plug for the heat pad plugs into the TStat. There should be a probe wire too on the TStat. Some probe wires are built in and some have to be plugged in.

Some TStats have lights, some have meters, some have dials or nothing at all.

I would suggest you take a picture of your TStat and your wiring hook-ups and post that picture. Maybe we can tell you more when we see what you actually have.

As far as the Infrared Temperature Gun goes, you don't have to go to a reptile expo to get one. Any hardware store, even Walmart sells them.

Thank you so much for your patience with this, it means so much.

Okay, I got some pictures from my phone. I'm also going to run to a hardware store here right now and grab a temp gun, so I'll check this when I am back. And really, thank you thank you!!! I have double checked to make sure everything is plugged in, the power strip is working as I was charging my phone and tablet on it before I turned it into my "reptile" strip.

Of course the green light is working now when I take a picture, I think my nerves are just getting ahead of me. The probe is connected to the probe spot on the thermostat.

I'm not familiar with that model, but with some TStats, the Light comes on when the Tstat is active (Heating up) and the light goes out when it reaches temp. So as it cycles on and off you may see the light come on and then go out and then come back on and so forth.

You were completely right, thank you!! I just got the temperature gun and the inside of the hot hide is currently at 88, so I'm messing between the thermostat to get it a little bit lower. The light goes on and off periodically, I see it flash and the temperatures are remaining stable.

Seriously, I can't thank you enough!!! I'm feeling a LOT better about picking up a snake tomorrow, I have the hot and cool hide set up and substrate and a few items in the tank, now it's just getting the snake. Thank you!