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Problem getting good temps w/ UTH

Yeah, that's one of the limitations of the cheaper thermostats like my repti therm 500R although I've noticed after a few days it does line out better and the temperature fluctuations are not as great.

I have a dimmer on my Flukers lamp and I like that too. It does hold a pretty constant temperature but you have to be careful because that depends on your room temperature staying constant.

The dimmer allows a certain amount of juice to your heating device and holds its output at a constant intensity. If the room temp gets hotter your tank temp will get hotter. During Winter there should never be a problem but during Summer if you don't have an air conditioner on and you're at work and a heat wave kicks in, your room temp might go to 95 or 98 degrees, plus add to that the heat from the heating device. The tank could get quite hot.

In the same situation with an on off thermostat when the room temperature went up and your tank got to the upper limit of where your thermostat setting the heating device would be turned off.
 
Using dimmers definately requires attention. As the seasons change, and house temps change, adjustment will be necesary.
 
SkyChimp said:
Using dimmers definately requires attention. As the seasons change, and house temps change, adjustment will be necesary.
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true
it's not quite set it and forget it but it is close
i still have the temp displayed clearly on the front and i glance at it all the time
 
*head explodes*

Well, she hasn't spewed her mice, so it can't be that bad. :p

So what about ambient vs. belly heat? Which is more important?
 
Belly heat vs. ambient heat. As long as a snake can warm itself sufficiently to digest its meal properly, I'm not sure it matters.

My snake has a choice. It can burrow under the substrate above the UTH and lay on glass at 90 degrees. Or it can climb its driftwood structure and lay beneath the heat lamp. More often than not, it will climb and lay under the heat lamp.
 
Lennycorn said:
That's all you need for a corn snake.
Remember the Kiss theory.
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Exactly. Since most (but not all) of us keep our homes at temperatures which are comfortable to us--in the 70-75 range--there really isn't any need to worry about ambient temps. If you live somewhere near the Arctic Circle and have no heating in your house, then you should worry. Otherwise, it'll be ok. Even if the temps drop into the 60s at night, your snake will be fine as long as it has a warm spot of about 85.
 
BeckyG said:
Exactly. Since most (but not all) of us keep our homes at temperatures which are comfortable to us--in the 70-75 range--there really isn't any need to worry about ambient temps. If you live somewhere near the Arctic Circle and have no heating in your house, then you should worry. Otherwise, it'll be ok. Even if the temps drop into the 60s at night, your snake will be fine as long as it has a warm spot of about 85.
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Thank you...
That's my feelings on it. :)
 
Okay, so I'm probably not going to be real popular with this reply, but oh well. My thoughts on temps are that as long as they are close, that's fine. Nobody here should be worrying about temperature fluctuations down to the tiniest fraction of a degree. If corns, or any other reptile for that matter, could only survive in the narrow range of temperatures defined by various caresheets, they'd only exist in about a five square mile area in the wild. There's not a place in the world where the weather is that constant.

Having said that, I'm not saying anyone should be reckless with temps, humidity, or any of that stuff. Chances are, unless for some reason there are some wild temperature fluctuations or part of your nightly routine involves scaring off the neighborhood polar bears, your snake is going to know how to take care of himself. Rather than eat and regurge, the snake probably just won't eat. I keep my room at 72 or so and have a UTH under half of the tank. I've never had a regurge, a bad shed (if it seems particularly dry, I'll mist him during the shed), or problems with any of my snakes not eating.

My theory, for what it's worth, is that as long as you stay in the ballpark, the snake can take care of itself. Nobody has to agree with any of what I just wrote, but like I said, I've never had a health problem with any of my snakes. I used to worry about the slightest temperature changes when I first started, and then I realized I was putting more stress on myself than what it was worth.

None of that was aimed at anyone in particular, or even this thread in particular... I just can't help but think that a lot of reptile owners wouldn't feel nearly as much stress if they realized things like this.
 
TrpnBils said:
Okay, so I'm probably not going to be real popular with this reply, but oh well. My thoughts on temps are that as long as they are close, that's fine. Nobody here should be worrying about temperature fluctuations down to the tiniest fraction of a degree. If corns, or any other reptile for that matter, could only survive in the narrow range of temperatures defined by various caresheets, they'd only exist in about a five square mile area in the wild. There's not a place in the world where the weather is that constant.

Having said that, I'm not saying anyone should be reckless with temps, humidity, or any of that stuff. Chances are, unless for some reason there are some wild temperature fluctuations or part of your nightly routine involves scaring off the neighborhood polar bears, your snake is going to know how to take care of himself. Rather than eat and regurge, the snake probably just won't eat. I keep my room at 72 or so and have a UTH under half of the tank. I've never had a regurge, a bad shed (if it seems particularly dry, I'll mist him during the shed), or problems with any of my snakes not eating.

My theory, for what it's worth, is that as long as you stay in the ballpark, the snake can take care of itself. Nobody has to agree with any of what I just wrote, but like I said, I've never had a health problem with any of my snakes. I used to worry about the slightest temperature changes when I first started, and then I realized I was putting more stress on myself than what it was worth.

None of that was aimed at anyone in particular, or even this thread in particular... I just can't help but think that a lot of reptile owners wouldn't feel nearly as much stress if they realized things like this.
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Yep...... Sounds like the KISS theory.
 
This is where Becky and I disagree - respectfully.

By not worrying about ambient temperature and supplying a 'spot' under the substrate that is sufficiently warm to digest food limits the options the snake has. In this scenerio, there is but one spot, the glass under the substrate and above the UTH, that provides sufficient heat. The snake MUST burrow and MUST make physical contact with the glass suface to absord the kind of heat it needs.

Does this work? Sure, it works. But it is not natural. Corn snakes are fossorial only to a certain extent. It is not natural that they have to burrow to obtain the heat necessary for digestion. Corn snakes are baskers, obtaining their heat from the sun, either through direct exposure or by lying on warmed surface objects. A corn will certainly get by with a warm spot under the substrate, its been proven time and again. But it's an adapatation to an unnatural setting.
 
SkyChimp said:
This is where Becky and I disagree - respectfully.

By not worrying about ambient temperature and supplying a 'spot' under the substrate that is sufficiently warm to digest food limits the options the snake has. In this scenerio, there is but one spot, the glass under the substrate and above the UTH, that provides sufficient heat. The snake MUST burrow and MUST make physical contact with the glass suface to absord the kind of heat it needs.

Does this work? Sure, it works. But it is not natural. Corn snakes are fossorial only to a certain extent. It is not natural that they have to burrow to obtain the heat necessary for digestion. Corn snakes are baskers, obtaining their heat from the sun, either through direct exposure or by lying on warmed surface objects. A corn will certainly get by with a warm spot under the substrate, its been proven time and again. But it's an adapatation to an unnatural setting.
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only if your ambient temps are incredibly low... that's what I'm saying, I don't think there is really just a 2-3 degree window in which a corn can safely digest a meal.
 
I'm sure that a corn snake can digest a meal at a temperature lower than the recommended 90 degrees. But the lower the temps get, the longer it takes. The longer it takes the more chance of complications. Low temperatures can lead to food rotting in the snake's stomach causing vomiting, gas distention, and even death.

Additionally, proper ambient temperatures help ensure health by assisting the immune system. A snake that lives its life at 72-75 degrees probably stands a better chance of developing problems than one that has access to ambient temps in the mid 80s.
 
While that is true, if you look at the mean temps for just about everywhere in the corns' natural range, they're a whole lot closer to 75 than 85 or 90...they manage to be alright for the most part. Like I said, I'm not here to prove anybody wrong... I'm just putting my husbandry practices out there and being able to back it up by a healthy record for all my snakes. I never said anyone had to take my advice - it's just what has been working for me.
 
I respect your opinion.

My position is that snakes can certainly survive and some can thrive in ambient temps of 75 degrees or less. I've caught snakes and lizards in Virginia in the winter.

The thing I've noticed, though, with wild snakes is that if its cool, usually find them basking - trying to warm up. With my snake, and with other captive colubrids, I've further noticed that they move back and forth between the cool end and the hot ends of the tank (no news there). That option doesn't really exist in a tank with a constant ambient tempertaure.
 
i agree with skychimp, the reason you should be a little more picky about your temps and humidity measurements, is because unlike in the wild (where the temps will vary more) your shutting your snake into the viv, with only the choice of temps you provide. In the wild a corn has access to larger areas and therfore can seek out places that provide optimum temperatures.
 
I'm not suggesting anyone keep a cool side at any old temperature whatsoever. My point is that most people (with a few exceptions) keep their homes in the mid 70s temperature wise. If the home is in the 70s, the cool side of the tank will also be in the 70s. This is the recommended temp for a cool side. So it's fine, unless you happen to be one of those hot natured people and keep your home consistently at 60. If that is the case, you may need some supplemental heat on the cool side as well.

Then, of course, you have a warm area of about 85 covering approximately 1/3 of the tank, not just a tiny little pinpoint of heat like you seem to be suggesting that we who use UTHs have.
 
BeckyG said:
Then, of course, you have a warm area of about 85 covering approximately 1/3 of the tank, not just a tiny little pinpoint of heat like you seem to be suggesting that we who use UTHs have.
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I understand that if the ambient temp in the house is in the 70s, the ambient temp in the tank would be the same. I keep my house about 72. The trouble I've run into is trying to get the warm side up to the mid 80s using just a UTH. I can get the ambient temp up a few degrees by setting the UTH so the glass temp is 90. But in order to get the ambient temp up to about 80 or a little over, I have to increase the power to the point the glass gets to be over 100 degrees - too hot for the snake. Getting the ambient temp to 85 using a UTH produces glass temps for me well over 100 degrees. In order to keep the glass temp at a reasonable level, I use an overhead light. I find it's much better at raising the ambient temperature to desirable level. This way I can keep the UTH heat at a reasonable level.
 
I wanted to try something... here's my setup:

The ambient temps outside my corn's viv, which I don't normally have additional heat on, are 76 degrees. I have a smaller redtail boa in a nearby viv, so I took the UTH out from under him and sandwiched it between the corn and redtail vivs (giving side heat to both). I fed my corn his usual 2 adult mice the same night, and 4 days later, I still haven't seen him on the warm side of the viv (the redtail, on the other hand, hasn't left his warm side).

The corn has no sign of a lump, and literally not a full minute after I put him back in the viv after cleaning it just now, he went to the bathroom on his newly-installed newspaper. Whether that was from this feeding or some left over from the previous, I don't know, but at least I know stuff is moving (which I should also mention, he's very willing to prove to me even without additional heat).
 
TWGarland said:
i agree with skychimp, the reason you should be a little more picky about your temps and humidity measurements, is because unlike in the wild (where the temps will vary more) your shutting your snake into the viv, with only the choice of temps you provide. In the wild a corn has access to larger areas and therfore can seek out places that provide optimum temperatures.
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Obviously what the majority of the posters here do are what we've read in books by such folks as Kathy Love and Don Soderberg.... perhaps they aren't the experts that we all seem to think they are?

Personally, I don't know SkyChimp from Adam, so I'll go with the advice that someone I know, Kathy Love, gives to new and old keepers all over the world.
 
Weebonilass said:
Obviously what the majority of the posters here do are what we've read in books by such folks as Kathy Love and Don Soderberg.... perhaps they aren't the experts that we all seem to think they are?

Personally, I don't know SkyChimp from Adam, so I'll go with the advice that someone I know, Kathy Love, gives to new and old keepers all over the world.
Click to expand...

Corns thrive at temperatures in the same range as humans find comfortable. this means approximately a range of 70 deg F - 88 deg F.

Thermoregulation is the freedom of choice process by which herps purposely move in and out of areas of higher or lower heat to ptimize their body temperature for various functions.

In nature, the sun is the ultimate source of heat, either directly (basking) or indirectly (by warming other surfaces upon which the snake rests).

A good method of offering heat to a limited portion of a cage is a heating device under or inside one end of it.

Spotlights or hooded reflectors may also be used to direct incandescent light to a special basking rock or branch that a snake can utilize easier.

All of these quotes are from Kathy Love's book. So just what is it that I have said that is inconsistent with any of this?

I swear, sometimes it seems the old timers on this board disagree simply for he sake of disagreeing.
 
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