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Cold house and tank heating

kurt1288

New member
My room usually stays fairly cool, around high 60s. This is usually just when I'm at work or during the night (may get mid to high 60s during the night). When I'm home (and actually awake) I can usually turn on a space heater in my room and get the temperature up to a more comfortable mid 70s.

So for this, would I be better just getting a thermostat to make sure the hot side of the tank stays at the appropriate temperature for the snake (and then the cool side would probably fluctuate a bit more as to what "cool" is). Or should I get something like a heat lamp to try and increase the entire overall temperature of the tank and keep it more constant?
 
Sounds like our house. I use thermostats on all my tanks to make sure that the warm side stays at the appropriate temperature and don't worry overmuch about the cool side (cool side averages 68-70 during the day and 65-ish at night) The snakes are good about moving to their warm side as necessary (although we did move some of their hides around to encourage them to go to the warm side for digestion)

A thermostat would probably be your best bet...with a heat lamp, you'd still likely want a thermostat to prevent the ambient temperature/warm side from getting too warm.
 
So for this, would I be better just getting a thermostat to make sure the hot side of the tank stays at the appropriate temperature for the snake (and then the cool side would probably fluctuate a bit more as to what "cool" is). Or should I get something like a heat lamp to try and increase the entire overall temperature of the tank and keep it more constant?
I'd go for controlling the temp at the warm side of the tank, rather than trying to control the room temp outside the tank with a space heater. As the warm end of the tank needs to be mid-80s on the floor, that'd be too hot for your comfort anyway.

You can use a heat lamp + thermostat or an undertank heater (UTH) + thermostat for the tank. Without the stat, both will get way above the Corn's safe maximum. It also minimises running costs, as it means that the tank heat source will be dimmed/off at various times, instead of pumping out the heat on full all the time.

I wouldn't worry too much about the cool side as long as the warm side is about right. The correct warm end temps are vital for digestion, so get that bit right and all should be well. If you provide a range of hides throughout the different temp zones, then the snake will find the one that's appropriate at any given time.
 
I'd go for controlling the temp at the warm side of the tank, rather than trying to control the room temp outside the tank with a space heater. As the warm end of the tank needs to be mid-80s on the floor, that'd be too hot for your comfort anyway.

You can use a heat lamp + thermostat or an undertank heater (UTH) + thermostat for the tank. Without the stat, both will get way above the Corn's safe maximum. It also minimises running costs, as it means that the tank heat source will be dimmed/off at various times, instead of pumping out the heat on full all the time.

I wouldn't worry too much about the cool side as long as the warm side is about right. The correct warm end temps are vital for digestion, so get that bit right and all should be well. If you provide a range of hides throughout the different temp zones, then the snake will find the one that's appropriate at any given time.

Thanks, all helpful and more or less what I was thinking.

I should clarify though, that I'll pretty much always run my space heater (when I'm home) since I don't like my room at 68. I was thinking more of just a lamp or something for the tank to get only its overall temperature at a more constant level. But from the sounds of it, having the cool side fluctuate from 68-ish to 74-ish isn't necessarily a bad thing as long as I keep the heated side around 80-85.
 
All sounds good. Low 70s is ideal for the cool side and a few degrees below 70 now and again won't cause a problem. Corns seem more tolerant at the cool end of their range than the top end.
 
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