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Belly heat or Ambient air temps?

R

richie_irl

New member
Just wondering which is more important for corn snakes.

I think Im misreading most of the posts here.

When people say 85 hot end and 70 cool end is this the air temp or substrate temps??Im struggling to get 85 over here in Ireland but Im basing that on air temps.If its substrate temps then I think Im fine.The heat mat is a 12 watt one and in my other thread I was thinking that it was too hot but after using a temp probe Im getting 85 on the hot end and 72-72 on the cool end.

Anyway someone explain this to me in as easy a way as possible.
Thanks
Richie.
 
richie_irl said:
Just wondering which is more important for corn snakes.

I think Im misreading most of the posts here.

When people say 85 hot end and 70 cool end is this the air temp or substrate temps??Im struggling to get 85 over here in Ireland but Im basing that on air temps.If its substrate temps then I think Im fine.The heat mat is a 12 watt one and in my other thread I was thinking that it was too hot but after using a temp probe Im getting 85 on the hot end and 72-72 on the cool end.

Anyway someone explain this to me in as easy a way as possible.
Thanks
Richie.
Click to expand...
your temps are spot on.so don't worry.the the substrate temps are needed so as to aid in digestion and regulating the snakes body temps.the hotter side will normaly be used after a meal( though there is always an exception to the rule) the snake will find the correct hidding place to go to.so long as you have the temps you say you have everything should be fine.hope this helps.good luck :wavey:
 
Thanks for clarifying that for me.Ive been frantically trying to get the air temps up to 85 with a mat and a heat bulb.I could have cooked the poor thing.

So does this mean that the thermometers that you stick on the inside of the cage are useless as they are really only a guage for air temps??

Im better off buying a temp probe as they seem to be more accurate for substrate readings and the one I used earlier was a friends one.

Again thanks for the help.
Richie
 
Unfortunately the stick on thermometers are measuring the temp of the sides of the tank, not really the air, or the substrate. You want the substrate temps to be in the 80's or 70's, not necessarily the air. As Ulster says, your temps seem fine.
 
Sorry for bringing this back up but lately weve been having some hot(for here) weather and again Im having heating problems.The hot side of the cage is now reading 92+ degrees and the cold side is 80-82.
Now the small cage I have seems to be fairly hard to get a proper gradient going as its only about 22 inches by 12 high by 8 wide.Will this higher temp make much difference to the snake.

Im using a UTH 11x11-12 watt and Ive done a test with a thermometer and the max temp that this will reach is 100+ degrees which I think may be a bit high which is why Im getting this high temp in the substrate.
I have a spare smaller UTH which the max temp this reaches is 93 degrees and never any higher.Would I be better off switching to the smaller one.

Im also using a 15 watt red bulb for the daytime and just the UTH for night.

You see I keep the snake in a conservatory so at night the temps drop to 10 celcius(dont know what the farenheit is) but the current uth keeps the temps at 70 degrees but the small one drops it to about 55-60 which is too low.
So my ultimate question is:
Which is worse for the snake:
1-A too high daytime temp.
Or 2-A too low night time temp.
Judging from the cornsnake manual it seems to recommend that lower night time is better than a too high daytime one.
Thanks
Richie.
 
The temperatures where I am at have been in the 80's I have two vivs side by side both have light and UTH. In my room the temp is in the 80's I just keep windows open and a fan going. Because both tanks register about 83 not substrate just ambiant temps.

What I am trying to say is during the day I don't have UTH or lighting for my viv on, its not nessacery in my temperature conditions. At night I turn on the light 40 night glo , which one side is around 80 but the cool end runs 75. I have not used my UTH in a while, because with both my lighting and UTH temps will go up to 90's. During the winter however I am sure I will have to run both.

If you have a smaller UTH the change it out from your viv, a UTH should not cover more then half the viv anyways. I think mine is at 1/4 of the viv. I depend more on lighting to warm my viv up then the UTH. For the most part my snake never goes to the warm end of the tank.. lol :)

My snake is digesting fine, with me just controlling the lighting. Then again its summer and fall will be here soon.. That will change I am sure.

If you have warm days then keep both Lighting and UTH off. If you have cool nights see what its like with just the light on, if it gets too cool you would then use both heating devices.

I have had success with just measuring the temperature in my tank, then using the substrate method. I also have two thermostat on each end of the tank.

This is what works for me I hope answered your question for you, I started rammbling and forgot what you were asking :)
 
Temps in the 90's are way too high for your snake. It can cause regurge and other problems. You're better off with cool temps, then hot. The idea is to get good digestion and the consensus has been around 82 degrees F for that. Cool side should be in the 70's. I would turn off both the red heat lamp and UTH during the day, as the air temps are already too high, and just have the small UTH at night for belly warmth. The only time I use a heat lamp and UTH is during the winter when my house is quite cool during the day ( around the high 50's, low 60's). The lamp is off at night with only an UTH to provide belly heat. The UTH is on all the time, summer and winter, but even during the summer, the air temps in my house only get to be 81.
 
I dont know if any one else in Britain has noticed this, but my corns have come from stock that has been bred for generations in England, and it does appear that they are adapting to cooler temps than their american cousins.
For eg: all my corns quite happily eat even when air temps drop to 55-60, as long as the heat pad is on for them to digest. And during the recent warm spell we had, even tho ambient air temps where only about 80, all my snakes took refuge in their water bowls trying to cool down.
Has anyone else noticed this??
 
was1 now you mention it yes, ive never seen my snake in the warm end even the ive messured the temperatures and there bang on... and one time the fuse had gone on the adapter i have the heat pad linked to and it still ate and it gets quite cold in my house in winter ... so ye! wicked
 
I seem to have sorted the heating probs.I changed to the smaller UTH.

The way I have it set up now is:

UTH and Bulb during the day-Temps no higher than 85--and usually 82.

UTH only at night and temps no lower than 68(tops out at 72) which it seems to like because its seems more active at these temps in the evening.

So hopefully I wont have to go messing with temps in the winter.
Again Thanks
Richie
 
Sounds like things will be okay, if they get too cold pick up a night glo bulb and use that, to increase the heat.
 
Krenna said:
Sounds like things will be okay, if they get too cold pick up a night glo bulb and use that, to increase the heat.
Click to expand...


Stupid question time?Whats a night glow bulb?Im assuming its a low wattage bulb but is there anything special about it?Im using red 15 watt bulbs during the day to increase the temps.And could probably use them at night if needed.
 
Dang I don't want to freak you out.. your doing good..

Okay the red watt would be fine. The night glo is a black light for lighting, to me its easier to see activity. But the Red Bulb is fine with what you have. During the winter months if the 15 watt does not help heat things up go up in watts.
 
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