• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Burrowing

I

I want a corn

New member
I just got my snakes yesterday, and finished setting up thier tank today. I used a veryfine substrate, it's called Jungle Mix or somthing like that, and is very finely shredded pieces of mulch, consisting of many different, yet all reptile safe, trees. Heres my problem. My snow doesnt really have this problem, but the motley does. She burrows, all the time. I barely ever see the little girl, because shes burried under 1 1/2 inches of mulch. I know it's natural, but im worried about her laying on teh glass at the bottom of the tank and burning herself from the UTH. Is there anything I can do to keep her away from the bottom of the tank? Or better yet make her stop digging so much? Thanks abunch, Ill try to get some pics of the snakes soon. :)

EDIT: If it helps any, Iv turned off the UTH, just in case. But it cant be off forever, because it is thier only source of heat beside room temp. It gets about 60 in my room at night, and I think thats a bit to chilly for them.
 
I use a paper towel, and tape that down on all 4 sides. They cannot crawl underneat that.

Question, if you have your substrate 1 1/2 inch high does the heat still penetrate that? Mine doesn't but perhaps you have another heatmat then me.
 
This is why you must have a thermometer.....

A piece of paper will not protect the snake from temps that are too hot. Period. Is doesn't make a bit of difference if the snake lays on top of the paper or under it. Period. Temps in excess of 90 F will eventually start having negative effects on most colubrids. Increased metabolism, decreased feeding response, and dehydration will all start to manifest themselves as the stress levels of the snake increases.

Wood based substrates don't block heat transfer. Period. As a matter of fact they help diffuse and retain radiant heat long after the actual heat source is turned off. It will not feel as warm as the glass because it isn't! Placing your hand on top will not register heat if it is lower than your body's internal 98 F. Any temp less than 98 will not feel warm and may even appear to be cool. Meanwhile, your snake is slowly cooking to death.

Don't chance a mistake, buy a thermometer and verify, verify, verify........
 
Perhaps you could replace your UTH with a heat lamp. You could have two, one for the daytime that has regular light and one for the nighttime that is purple or whatever. I know they sell them like that, and label them day- or night-lamps. Either way, make sure you are measuring temperature where the snake is, not somewhere above his head. Many people will have the theremometer on the wall a few inches above the snake and never measure the temperature at the actual substrate.
 
You need to control the temp of the heat mat with a thermostat so that it doesn't reach dangerous temps and your burrower can safely lie on the glass over the mat. You'll also need a thermometer which will allow you to set the thermostat at a safe temp without needing to guess.
 
Thanks for your advice, but the heatlamp is out of the question. I cant take i tback and get a refund, and the damn thing cost $50.00. It doesnt have a thermostat either, you just more or less plug it in and it'll heat the tank. Should I just constantly monitor the temp, and turn the UTH on and off whne needed? The manuel said that I could get some repti-carpet or what ever to place on teh warm side above the glass but below the substate, so that the snake cant lay directly on teh glass, bu ton the supposedly less-hot carpet. Will this work? My room is about 70 degrees during the day, and the UTH will only raise the temp by 10 degrees, so could i just plug in the UTH at night, when it is considerably cooler, and leave it off during teh day? Thanks for all your help!
 
Ok, like CAV said, it sounds like you really need a thermometer! That's really the only way to know if you've got the right temps in you tank or not. Also, you have to buy thermostats separately but they are well worth it! If money is a problem there are many different kinds of thermostats at many different prices. But the cheapest thing to do to control your temps would be to buy a lamp dimmer for your UTH. You can get them at any hardware store and they only cost 5 bucks or so. Once you have your thermometer you can adjust the lamp dimmer until you get the temps you want. Believe me, this is way cheaper than vet bills! Hope this helps, and enjoy your snake! :)
 
70 is too cold.

What size is the tank and the pad? Wal-Mart has digital thermometers with a Inside/outside and high/low recorder for less than $20.
 
Okay other then wanting your snake to do what you want to them to do is out of the question. You have a snake, not a mammel. If she is digging well that's her thing.. enjoy your snake in holding between feedings. :)
 
I don't know exactly what 50gallon is but my tank is 120x60x60cm and one 60W lamp does the heat fine over the day. The heat cable on the ground only jumps on at night and that not for too long. It is covered with tiles so the snakes won't get to it.
Do you have a full glass tank?

Acradon
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top