Not sure

I recently got a new 2 and half month old corn snake about 3 days ago. The shop I brought her from supplied the viv, heat mat ect when I when i got her.

Unfortunately I didn’t realise how important a thermostat was at the time (got 3 books on snakes none mentioned thermostats as a must!!) anyway I closely monitored the viv substrate temperatures for the first two days and luckily caught it rise to 41 OC. Obviously I quickly switched the heat mat off. What I’m wondering is will the snake be ok for 24-36 hours until I can buy a thermostat? The temperature in the Viv is between 26 – 29 OC (due to the typical random British weather). There is small bulb in the viv that’s supplying some heat and keeping a slight warm side around 29 OC , it not ideal I know but will it be ok for a short time until tomorrow when I can get a thermostat?

Thanks for any help

Sorry did'nt know how to edit, OC means degrees Celsius, i had written the post in word and the superscripts did'nt come out right

29 degrees should be fine if you're measuring the temp at ground level (where the Corn is). Kathy Love's book quotes a range of 21 degrees at the cool end, 31 degrees at the warm end, so you won't want it much warmer than that with a mat anyway. I'm in the UK as well and my stats have the mats off most of the day anyhow.

You need to make sure that the bulb is well-guarded and the snake can't get near it. They're reactions are slow enough that they will sit on a bulb and stay there, even though the surface is hot enough to burn instantly.

Thx for the advice, least i dont need to worry as much now thank you. First snake so obviosly a bit nervous in the sence i dont want to do anything wrong lol.

The bulbs high up and far away from any climbing stuff. though bulb gives out very little if any heat anyway, can barlely feel any myself. Though for some reason that sides a degree or two hotter so i guess it gives some heat off.

again thx for the advice

Originally Posted by crazyewok

The bulbs high up and far away from any climbing stuff. though bulb gives out very little if any heat anyway, can barlely feel any myself. Though for some reason that sides a degree or two hotter so i guess it gives some heat off.

Have you tried putting your hand on the bulb while its on? I am pretty sure you'll find that it's far too hot to hold! What wattage is it?

I would really recommend that you get a lamp guard for it. Corn snakes can and will climb to the top of the viv, even if there's nothing there to climb up (they'll stretch up from the floor, or climb up the wall!). You can pick up lamp guards pretty cheap (try Custom Guards or your local reptile shop), or you could make one yourself using very small gauge wire mesh. Just make sure you don't use a mesh large enough for the snake to crawl into!

though bulb gives out very little if any heat anyway, can barlely feel any myself.

Bear in mind that a Corn's ideal maximum temp, is below human body temp. If it feels even a little warm to you, it will feel roasting hot to a Corn. Trying to gauge temps by how hot it feels to you, is a bit misleading when dealing with reptiles.

I once got a nasty burn on my arm when I accidentally leaned against an unguarded lightbulb, so don't try to touch it yourself. Even the eco-friendly low-wattage bulbs get too hot to touch.

Jane's right - you wouldn't credit the way these guys can climb when they have a mind to. A mesh guard is the way to go.

Yeah i was pretty concernd about the light as well. It safe as a short trem thing today though the vivs under constant watch today and the bulbs gonna be turned off tonight (will watch the viv stilltill the bulb cools) and it really is in an almost unreachable spot really the only way she can get to it is if she stood on the very tip of her tail, but as you said corns get into wierd places which is why i'm keeping a very close eye on it. It will all be sorted tomorrow though with a thermostat and yeah i was getting a light guard.

thx again