Best heating & Cooling suggestions

Let me start by saying Roxie is our 1st snake ever. In the past we had this set up for frogs. It sat empty for roughly 10 months. Since the environment was established more like a terrarium we tweaked it when we put her in it to be more suitable for a snake. She seems comfortable and did eat yesterday but I noticed this morning that the hotter portion of her tank was at 77⁰ it was at 81⁰ yesterday. The light bar has a 24 hour setting so that is what we had it set at. We also have a warming mat (taped to the bottom left corner wall).

I guess my question is should we get different light for the tank?

We live in Western NY and it is currently about 68⁰ in our house at 7 am

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I guess a photo would help!

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Are you using a temp gun to check temperatures? I would check the temperature right against the glass where the heat mat is. They usually go quite a bit hotter than what you're describing. Putting your heating elements onto a thermostat will help you maintain the correct temperature. From what you've described, it doesn't sound warm enough for optimal digestion. She probably loves all that vertical space for climbing, but will need more floor space when she gets a little larger.

hypnoctopus said:

Are you using a temp gun to check temperatures? I would check the temperature right against the glass where the heat mat is. They usually go quite a bit hotter than what you're describing. Putting your heating elements onto a thermostat will help you maintain the correct temperature. From what you've described, it doesn't sound warm enough for optimal digestion. She probably loves all that vertical space for climbing, but will need more floor space when she gets a little larger.

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We bought 1 thermometer and it's by the heat mat. It is reading 79⁰ in the corner and our current house temp is 70. We plan to attach the heating element to the bottom of the tank but have no way of doing that right now. We took the light bar off of the 24 hr feature and have the regular lighting option turned on. This is what it looks like currently and she is burrowed into the substrate under the thermometer. I can just see her nose.

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I know 79⁰ is not ideal for her warm side. Should we use a different heat mat or do we need a different light?

Also we do plan on getting another thermometer (to monitor the cool side), they only had 1 when we picked her up.

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I don't use lights for heating, so I can't really comment on that. Any heat mat I've gotten from a pet store always can get well over 100 degrees. I also haven't used one of those digital thermometers, only temp guns. Is it touching the heat pad or just measuring the air temp? If you put your hand on the heat mat, does it feel hot?

hypnoctopus said:

I don't use lights for heating, so I can't really comment on that. Any heat mat I've gotten from a pet store always can get well over 100 degrees. I also haven't used one of those digital thermometers, only temp guns. Is it touching the heat pad or just measuring the air temp? If you put your hand on the heat mat, does it feel hot?

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My husband ran out to grab another heating mat so the warm area is now resting at 80⁰. I know she's in there and awake because she popped her head out a few times. She has burrowed herself in a considerable way.

We have a layer of dirt and then bedding so I think that might be our issue. The thermometer is on the heating pad. I just put one under the tank as well.

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