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New Owner: Under Tank Heaters ?? Advise Plz

Salman

Salman

Salman as "King Solomon"
Hello forums

I'm a new corn snake owner. I saw many posts talking about "heating" and how its very important for your snake, so i decided to buy one. I'm in Saint John, Canada and the weather there is really cold. Our house temp is always around 65-75F.

I have a 5Gal fish tank, its around 42cm W - and 22cm L.

-When i went to the pet store they had 2 different kinds of under-tank heaters. First one was a Desert heater, second was a Forest heater. Which one is better for a corn snake?? :confused:

-Second question, Both those Heaters were 8 x 8 in. i think that would cover around half my tank! is that enough or should i order a smaller/bigger heater online??


Thanks for your time,
Saleh :santa:
 
It should cover about half your tank, because it must have a cold and a hot side. And provide shelter for it on both sides!

You should just get an heat mat, and a termostat to controll the heat.
 
Not to sure on the first question. But on the second question, i normally aim for 1/3 of the tank to be covered by the heat mat which gives a cool side, mid temp and then warm side. I think that size heat mat would be okay just make sure there is a definate warm and cool side
 
The forest heater operates at a lower temp than the desert heater. It's rather irrelevant since you should always have a rheostat (lamp dimmer) or a thermostat to control it to keep it at the proper temp. The heat mat should cover 1/3 to 1/2 of the floor of the tank.
 
You _might_ have trouble getting the forest heater hot enough. I've heard people say that. I use deserts on thermostats and they are fine.
 
On a side note, stop at a building supply and pick up a ceramic tile, or get a piece of glass from an old picture frame and stick your UTH to that. When you upgrade your tank size in the future, you just slide it under the new tank and your done ;) Don't need a new one, and they're a pain to peel off and not ruin...
 
Thanks for the Help you guys, much appreciated!

I loved the glass idea between the tank and the UTH. I think I'll go with what Nanci said and try the Desert heater out.

One question tho, Is it OK if i put duct-tape or plastic between the tank and the UTH instead of glass maybe? or will it burn it???
Because I'm really worried that the UTH will heat up the Tank floor too much and it would be to hot for my boy.

Thanks again you guys! tc :)
 
I've found that Duct tape gets "stickier" while hot, but loses the effectiveness of its "stickiness" -- if that makes any sense. So I do the ceramic tile / glass / plexiglass thing now and it works fine... AND, you don't have to "lose" it when you upgrade.

Congrats on being a new owner and welcome aboard!!!
 
Salman said:
Thanks for the Help you guys, much appreciated!

I loved the glass idea between the tank and the UTH. I think I'll go with what Nanci said and try the Desert heater out.

One question tho, Is it OK if i put duct-tape or plastic between the tank and the UTH instead of glass maybe? or will it burn it???
Because I'm really worried that the UTH will heat up the Tank floor too much and it would be to hot for my boy.

Thanks again you guys! tc :)
Click to expand...

Most heat mats will get too hot, so as previous posters stated, you need to use a thermostat or rheostat to control the heat output of the heat mat, that way the tank floor won't get too hot and burn your snake. You should also look into getting a digital thermometer with a probe to double check the temperature of the hot side :)
 
Thanks Thunderer and Sue. I do have a thermostat so i think I'm all set there. All i need now is the UTH.

take care!
 
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