• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Tank Selection

E

edwardswyco

New member
Hi all!

I am looking for recommendations for a tank. I was sold a 25-gallon high tank. I have a corn snake that is only a few months old. The idea was that this tank could last for it's life.

Fast forward - the tank is broken now (I could explain later, but not now). I have searched all the pet stores for another 25-gallon high and no one has it. They have 10-long, 20-long, 20-high, 29-high, and 40-high.

Would the 20-high be ok for my snake? I know they like a little climbing room. But will that be an ok size? I know right now while it is young the size is fine, but I don't want to have to buy another tank in a year, you know?

Also, the guy at the pet store sold me a 150-watt bulb for heat (a Sun-Glow) and on another visit another person that worked there said it was way too much and that I should go with a 75-watt. Now, in the winter the apartment's heat will be kicked on and they pump that bad-boy up to a bazillion degrees, so I was thinking the 75-watt was ok for the winter. It seemed like the 150 was ok - putting temps a tiny bit on the high end of what corn snakes like, but nothing really exceeding the limits.

So my questions to you in this forum, if you would please give me your advice:

1) Do you think a 20-gallon high tank is ok for my corn?
2) Is a 75-watt bulb ok for that size tank?

Thank you very much - I'll be buying a tank by the weekend, so any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated!
 
What I would do is go with the long. Only becasue you can have a warm side and a cool side with a hide on each side. So the snake cant get to hot or to cool, but I am not how much a differencs i between the 20 hight and 20 long. :shrugs:
 
Many people use 20 gallon long tanks for their snakes. Although some snakes like climbing, it's not an essential. It depends what you want really. But anything with about the floor space of a 20 gallon long or more should be fine. Hope this helps :cheers:
 
20 long. I would, and did go from light bulbs to under tank heater. The light bulb tends to dry out the air more and the UTH gives them belly heat which is recommended for digestion.
 
Since you already have the light I would just use it only becasue I dont think the heat pad heats the air in the tank as much as the pad, plus if you have apsen or something of some sort the snake will always dig under it to get to the heat, so I would stick to the light. and if it drys the air just mist the tank 1 time every day.
_______________
T-Rav
0.1 Snow
 
CoralSnowCorn said:
Since you already have the light I would just use it only becasue I dont think the heat pad heats the air in the tank as much as the pad, plus if you have apsen or something of some sort the snake will always dig under it to get to the heat, so I would stick to the light. and if it drys the air just mist the tank 1 time every day.
_______________
T-Rav
0.1 Snow
Click to expand...
oops :sidestep: I wanted to say that the pad does not heat the air as much as the light.
 
Here's what I would get:

1) 20-long Critter Cage (the one that has a sliding screen lid with built-in clips and a place to put a lock) $55
2) 10-20 gallon ZooMed UTH, $18-ish. You can pick a different brand, just make sure the UTH doesn't cover more than 1/3 of the tank.
3) A rheo- or thermostat. A rheostat is basically a lamp dimmer. They average $10-15. I don't have a link, sorry. You can get those at Wal-Mart, Target, Home Depot, Lowe's, etc. A thermostat's going to cost you more than a rheostat (anywhere from $25 for low-end to $325 for high-high-end), depending on what you want. I personally recommend the Johnson's Controls one. About $74, prewired. Thermostats are better than rheostats because they keep it at the set temperature, fluctuating only about a degree or less, but rheostats vary the temperature. Example: I turn the rheostat up a little. After a while it gets to about 84 and stops. The room temperature is 75. Let's say the room temperature drops to 70. The heat pad will drop to 79-80. Make sense?

Sorry for the long post, but you asked what I recommended! :D
 
i agree with what was said above. go with a 20 long and an uth. i use a dimmer ( do a search, you can make one for like $7 !)
 
Thanks for your suggestions.

I will purchase the 20-gallon long - but I'd like to stick with the lamp.

Anyone have any thoughts on the proper wattage? Is 75W good? Too weak?

Please advise.

Thanks!
 
In my experience, a 75-watt was too powerful, but I was also using a heat pad set to 85 degrees. The cool side was 85 and the warm side was 90 with the lamp on. I was using one of those combination light things made by ESU. It was 24 inches long, and you could put two heat bulbs and one flourescent in it. I don't know if that regulated the heat any different than the dome type reflectors do.
 
The 20 long is a good choice, but I think everyone on here--at least the ones who know what they're doing--will recommend a UTH rather than a heat lamp. Lamps can work, but most feel that a UTH is a better choice, for the reasons already given. They are also easier to regulate than lamps, and more energy efficient.

CoralSnowCorn said:
I dont think the heat pad heats the air in the tank as much as the pad,
Click to expand...

No it doesn't, but then the air doesn't need to be heated. Unless you keep your home at arctic temperatures (like Dean does), your corn will do fine in ambient room temps. They just need a warm spot for digestion.


CoralSnowCorn said:
plus if you have apsen or something of some sort the snake will always dig under it to get to the heat
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's kind of the point of having a UTH. The snake can get to the heat it needs for digestion.

If it were me, I'd return the lamp, get a UTH, and use a fluorescent aquarium lamp to see the snake with.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top