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Bulbs and temps!

Mr.AJ

Mr.AJ

Educated Horse.
Chompys in his new viv now, But hes taken to his cork hide on the cold side and stayed there since i put him (apart from venturing out once for water.)

Just a bit worried because the UTH is only just keeping the hot side at 78F so i'd imagine the cold side is well... quite cold!. I cant get to a reptile store today to get either another UTH or a headlamp (None are open until monday.) and i dont fancy leaving him another night in the cold side!.

Would a normal high-wattage bulb work fine to heat the tank up?. Might be a silly question, i know!.
 
No, Just resting it on the screen lid. :)

I've got a photographly lamp in the loft that would sit perfectly ontop of the tank until tomorrow. Just would need to go out and get a red bulb for it.
 
Where are you measuring the warm side temp- directly on the glass over the mat? It's only a few degrees cool. How big, proportionally, is your mat to the tank? Like a quarter, a third? Do you have it on a thermostat? You could get a bigger mat and put it on a thermostat.
 
Hi Nanci.

Yep the probe is measuring the temperature on the glass in the center of the mat. The matts covering about 1/3rd of the viv. Its just a low-wattage matt, Was originally only bought for a small critter keeper. Its about 8.5watt. :)
 
Yeah, so a higher wattage mat would raise your temps, but if you can't afford a thermostat, you could get way too hot, so I would just stick with 78F until you could get a higher wattage mat and a thermostat. I keep several of mine at 80F. It's only two degrees. I guess a light would raise the air temp, probably quite a bit. Lights just really scare me- they are such a fire/burn hazard.
 
Plus, if he isn't staying in the warm hide anyway- he obviously prefers cooler temps. It's not like he's huddled in there saying "Turn up the heat, Dad!"
 
I think hes stayed in the cool bit because its a bit more 'enclosed' than the warm side... He seems to of taken to the piece of cork though!. I'll leave him as he is now though, Until i get chance to get to a reptile shop. :)
 
It is hard to measure the temperature accurately. But if your thermometer is on the glass, you are probably measuring the temperature of the glass which will be close to room temperature. Try burying the thermometer in the substraight for a few minutes and I’ll bet you get a higher temp.

I agree with Nancy, if the snake is staying at the cool end he is probably fine. Try putting an empty box or some crumpled paper that he could hide under at the warm end and see if he moves. The hide doesn’t need to be fancy, just secure.
 
He's got a piece of cork in the cool end, and a 'hut' type hide at the warm end... inbetween theres a bit of extra substrate piled up burying a cardboard loo-roll type tunnel :).
 
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