Heating

[jzpsmom]

Hi, I had been using a heat lamp for our new snake Clementine but have read that heating pad is much better. I hooked it up under the tank but the the glass now feels way too hot to the touch when i touch it. I was concerned so i shut it off and put the lights back on. Any advice on what i should do?

Thanks so much

 

[Rigby & Marcy]

Either set it up with a thermostat (preferred) or a rheostat/dimmer (less accurate). I use the Hydrofarm Jumpstart thermostat which you can buy from Amazon.com.

 

[EZLSD]

You can also buy an infrared thermometer to read temperatures from wherever you point it inside/ outside the viv they range from around $20 upwards I think I seen someone say from the us on here when I was looking for advice on this issue. I'm probably going to buy the habistat digital thermostat with day and night feature as I'm uk and obviously have a different power supply but again I've heard / read good things about hydrofarm products over there. You can never be too safe so I think it's a must really.

 

[Hearts-a-Glow]

I like the infrared temperature gun I got because it lets me test multiple surfaces and adjust accordingly. I have to do it manually by adding or taking away bedding to increase the distance between the heat pad and the snake, but I've kept careful records of temperatures at key points and certain times of the day and worked out a good average. Then too, I have multiple hides so I have less adjusting to do.

 

[smigon]

Those heat mats can raise up to 120° if not regulated, I highly recommend a thermostat.

Read all the stickies at the tops of each topic and Nanci's care sheet, they will help you with what you need to know. http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=95298

 

[antsterr]

The other advantage of a heat pad is that it can't get knocked over and start a fire.
That happened to me one, luckily only the shelf was destroyed and no animals or people were harmed. Heat lights that clip on to the cage or are on a pivot arm are a major fire hazard.

 

[Galataya16]

I don't want to hijack this post but here is my question/concern. I was originally told to use lamps and use a infrared spot lamp currently and have been looking into doing an UTH but my baby burrows and I'm so worried that if I temp it so the substrate on top is the right temp that he will burrow against the glass on the bottom and get burned? Is there a way to keep that from happening?

 

[ravendance]

I don't want to hijack this post but here is my question/concern. I was originally told to use lamps and use a infrared spot lamp currently and have been looking into doing an UTH but my baby burrows and I'm so worried that if I temp it so the substrate on top is the right temp that he will burrow against the glass on the bottom and get burned? Is there a way to keep that from happening?

That's why you need the thermostat with the probe. If you hook both of these up, and have it set to under the substrate, the snake can (and will) burrow down to get closer to the heat if it wants to. You'll also need some way to secure the probe in place so it is reading the temperature directly above the UTH.

 

[Galataya16]

So put the thermostat under the substrate instead of on the top of it? (gee, there's a genius idea, der) Was told that all the temps taken by heat gun or thermometers needed to be the top of the substrate. I still don't understand why they don't do built in thermometers on the heat mats, would save so much time and grief! lol

 

[Rigby & Marcy]

That's right, and it needs to be secured down too. A couple of times I've picked up one of my snakes and thought "gee you feel warm", and it's because the probe got unstuck from the viv floor and the may was too warm. Which is what would obviously happen if you measured the top of the aspen.