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Cont. heating problems/Getting discouraged

B

broken_20_2

New member
Hey everyone. I posted a heating problem yesterday, and I appreciate all of your help. But, I have gone and complicated things. Our snakes have a new home in a 20 gallon viv (yes, they are together for right now, I've gotten the lectures :) Problem:

Like I said, our snakes (hatchlings) are in a 20 gallon viv. I'm using Aspen for the substrate. I have a Repti-Therm UTH, and I also have a 75w "black light heat" bulb. I have two digital therms (one for each side) with the probes a slightly buried in the substrate. The viv is sitting on our dresser (so there is no way for excess heat from the UTH to escape). I started by only turning on the UTH, but the temp only got up to around 80. So, I turned on the 75w bulb... and the temp shot up to 98, so obviously I had to turn that off. Then I tried just the bulb, and the temp only got to 80. I'm afraid to say that over night the poor things lived in 81-73 tank.

WHY CAN'T I GET THE TEMP RIGHT!?!?!?! Today is feeding day, and if I can't get the temp right they won't eat. I am in desperate need of help! Durning the day, the house gets pretty warm, but at night, it drops about 10-15 degrees. What do I need to do to get the temps right. Do I need to get a stand with an open bottom so that excess heat from escape from the UTH and not sky-rocket the temp to 98? Aren't there devices that you can "dial-in" a temp and it will keep it consistent? All I know is that I need to do something. Thanks in advance.

Dan :puke01:
 
81 degree's is still not too low. Try placing their hide(s) on the substrate over the UTH, and measure the temp inside the hide. The hide should help hold in some heat and raise the temperature a degree or three. Using a rheostat on your UTH will only allow you to turn it down from where its at now; without one they run 100% :*)
 
Thanks for the prompt reply! I have the warm side hide right over the UTH, but the probe is just outside of it. I'll move the probe when I go home. I'm not sure what the temp is right now, I can't get my g/f to call me. It should be pretty high since I turned the UTH back on, and still have the light on. Would it be better for me to get a stand so that not all of the heat from the uth is trapped under the viv? I'm still really concerned about the feeding today. I'm not sure how to keep them warm enough in the dixie cup for digestion for the next 24 hours. I guess I could place both cups back in the viv under the light or on top of the UTH. Since I do have two in the same viv, will they stay in the cup, or will they get out and run around like normal? That was another concern that I have... Thanks again.
 
I would just wait til you measured the temps again, inside the hide. Once they eat, let them settle down for about 15 minutes and just put them back in.

broken_20_2 said:
Our snakes have a new home in a 20 gallon viv (yes, they are together for right now, I've gotten the lectures
Click to expand...

lol...until you separate them give them as many places to get away from each other, be it more hides, fake vines or plastic plants, a climbing branch, etc. Don't let anyone tell you corns like company because they will lay in the same hide or don't appear to mind each others company. The more places they can get away from each other the better...of course, that's jmho ;)...whoops, was that a lecture? :crazy02:
 
They have plenty of places to get away from eachother now. I just have to save up a bit more money and get another UTH and hides, etc for the 10 gallon so I can seperate them. I'll go home at lunch and check the temp. Thanks for the help/reassurance.
 
Broken...

While 98 is way too hot, low to mid 80's for the "warm" side is not bad, as Chris pointed out.

My "warm side" is normally 81-85 degrees, and my 40+ corns do real well. :) I use back heat, so yours are going to be right on the heat source. Keep a hide, or hides in your case, right over the uth...I think you'll be fine.
 
Mine tend to digest on the cool side, so I have no doubt that your 81 degrees in the hide will be just fine. My amel has spent his whole time digesting a rat on the cool side this time, and he's doing fine. As stated above though, it's better to have the 81 degrees than 98.
 
Wonderful, that makes me feel a lot better! Thanks for all of your advice. I'll have to play around with the heat to get it back down.
 
Most Under tank heaters come with pegs or somethin for it to prop up on. Just find something 1/8 or a quarter inch high, and see how the temps do.
 
Just as an option, hides and water bowls do not have to be expensive. Paper towel or toilet tissue rolls work great as hides, for small hatchlings I cut these in half length ways. The snakes can coil up in these and feel secure and when they get soiled just toss them out and replace them. Water bowls can be anything like the bottoms of coffee cans (plastic ones), yogurt tubs etc. Granted they do not look that pretty, but they are practical.
 
It is a more expensive, but another option is a thermostat. It will actually monitor the temperature and turn the UTH off/on depending on the temperature it reads. This will take into account room temperature changes which a dimmer does not. I have a 6 degree change in temperature throughout the day in my room and my tstat gives me immense peace of mind knowing my snakes are kept at constant temps. Without it my temps were well over 100 degrees, thank goodness I worked it out before my hatchlings came home!

That being said in most situations a dimmer/rheostat work great. So choose one that works for you!
 
i got the same size tank and mine running pritty nice now. all i did was got a head mat to cover under half of the tank put that on the one side (on the floor) i then put my themostat thingy on it and set the temp to what i wanted and put the temp probe into the tank on the side of the tank with the headmat. this gave the corns chance to go in the cold if they wanted and in the heat if they wanted. i also put the water bowl on the side with the heatmat because i found the snakes curled under it and i didnt want them getting cold. works fine and lovely temp.
 
wendyhoo9 said:
It is a more expensive, but another option is a thermostat. It will actually monitor the temperature and turn the UTH off/on depending on the temperature it reads. This will take into account room temperature changes which a dimmer does not. I have a 6 degree change in temperature throughout the day in my room and my tstat gives me immense peace of mind knowing my snakes are kept at constant temps. Without it my temps were well over 100 degrees, thank goodness I worked it out before my hatchlings came home!

That being said in most situations a dimmer/rheostat work great. So choose one that works for you!
Click to expand...

Do you know a brand name or where I can pic one of these up at? I'd prefer to use my UTH as opposed to the lamp because it gives the viv a cleaner look. Will the thermostat only monitor the warm side? I need a way to make sure that the cold side does not drop below the 70's (since it's currently at 69 when I left the house).

On a side note: we just had our first feeding! :) neither snake would touch the pinkie. For the Snow, I cut the head off and she lunged on it, then ate the other half. I tried to just gut the pinkie for Naga, but he still wasn't interested, so I had to decapitate his as well. All ended well though.
 
Since you have to keep them together for now, I would suggest feeding f/t pinks with lots of cuts in them. Or even start on 1/2 pink. I find that they are much more likely to regurge when kept together, so do anything you can to lessen the regurge potential. If they do regurge, and if you can figure out which one(s) did it, then separation in even a little plastic shoebox or terrarium for the problem animal(s) would help.

Good luck!
 
Seperation for how long? They were fed seperately (of course, both in a dixie cup), but how long after the feeding is over should they be seperate? I noticed that when I put them back in there viv, the Snow went to a hide and Naga burrowed into the Aspen. I'll be interested to see if they have moved when I get home.
 
If you get a regurger, it needs to be kept separately until it feeds several times without a regurge. Maybe it might be stressed and can't handle cagemates. Or maybe you won't have any problems at all. You won't know until after they eat and digest a couple of meals. Just something to watch for.
 
broken_20_2 said:
Do you know a brand name or where I can pic one of these up at? I'd prefer to use my UTH as opposed to the lamp because it gives the viv a cleaner look. Will the thermostat only monitor the warm side? I need a way to make sure that the cold side does not drop below the 70's (since it's currently at 69 when I left the house).
QUOTE]

I picked up a Ranco at MGReptiles, Matt is a pretty cool guy to work with. I also have a Helix proportional thermostat, but almost twice as expensive. It does only monitor one side, you would need two to control both sides with separate UTHs. Good luck!
Click to expand...
 
The Spyder Herpstat is a little cheaper than the Helix and you can get that from MG also. I got two for my two Green tree pythons. I just use the cheaper on/off thermostat for the corns. They aren't as picky as the GTP's
 
Just can't get it right... GRRR!!!

Thanks for all of your responses! We know have the hot side perfect (consistantly at 85). Our cool side is usually around 81. I can't figure out why the cool side won't drop to the 70's!? I can tell that the snakes are having a hard time finding a cool spot cause they both climb as high as possible towards the top of the cage and stay there for hours. I know how to solve a "not enough heat" issue... but how do I cool down a tank without cooling the hot side? This is really getting aggeravating, and I'm worried about our snakes. Do they sell little a/c units for corns? LOL :)
 
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