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Proper Temperature Control

dasluder62

dasluder62

First Time Corn Owner
Okay, so from what I've been reading in this forum, I am NOT doing a good job with temperature control. I don't have a proper thermometer and I don't have a thermostat. Please help me to understand exactly what I need to buy when I go out the pet supply store today.

What is the difference between a thermostat and a rheostat?
The thermometers that I've looked at online have the probe attached to a suction cup - it doesn't look like something that can go on the bottom of the tank to monitor the temperature of the glass. What should I be using to do that?

If I make the bedding thicker, will that help to keep Joey from coming in contact with the heated glass bottom or will he just burrow down deeper?

If you are allowed to recommend brand names - please do.

Thanks.
 
First, what type set up do you have?
A rheostat is just a dimmer, decreases or increases the power at fixed levels. Thermostats will kick the power off and on or decrease/increase the power (if proportional) to maintain the set temp. A thermostat will maintain a constant temp regardless of ambient temps while a rheostat won't.
I recently picked up a hydrofarm thermostat on Amazon. For $25 I decided to give it a try. So far so good.
 
And making the substrate deeper may only serve to insulate the UTH and may cause temps to raise at the bottom of the enclosure. It is unlikely your snake would burrow down to a point where he would be burned or harmed, but it is not worth the risk of having such high un-regulated temps.
 
Hi jkgeorge. Thanks for replying. We have a 20 gal long glass Critter Cage. We keep it in our living room which is kept between 68 and 70 degrees in winter and 78 to 80 in summer. We were using an overhead lamp on a timer until about two months ago, then we switched to the UTH. We switched from green carpet to aspen about the about a week after switching heaters. The aspen is about 1 1/2 inches thick. I have one of those side mounted thermometer/hygrometer devices. I understand from comments posted here that it's pretty useless.
Joey does burrow under the aspen. He moves from hide to hide under the aspen and he sometimes lays on the glass. Usually he does this at the cooler side of the tank, but yesterday, he was on the glass near the UTH - not directly on it, just to the side of it.
 
What is the difference between a thermostat and a rheostat?
Click to expand...
A rheostat or dimmer will give you the manual ability to turn your UTH up or down. However you will have to monitor it and turn it up and down yourself. They work well if your home stays the same temperature year round, but it can be hard work if temps fluctuate by any amount.

A thermostat will automatically adjust the UTH. It will probably take a few days to find the right setting, but after that you can effectively just leave it be with occasional temperature checks.
 
There a number of ways to make sure your snake has proper temps. The best is the thermostat, and from what I have read, place the probe directly on the glass on the inside of the tank to measure the hottest part your snake could conceivably ever touch.

A rheostat can also work provided your house stays about the same temp.

Believe it or not, I don't provide any extra heat for my corns except for some nights in the winter. As you pointed out, during the summer your house is 78-80F. I wouldn't provide any extra heat then. Since good temps are 75F to 85F, your house will naturally be in a good range.

I only provide heat on a few cool winter nights, but keep in mind I keep my house at different temps during the winter than you do. We rarely let it get below 72F. On particularly chilly nights I use a UTH, but have placed ceramic tiles inside the tank above the heating pad. I've checked to make sure the temps are okay with my IR temp gun.
 
Thanks, captainjack0000! That is extremely helpful. I was under the mistaken impression that one HAD to provide extra heat. I used an IR temp gun just now and checked different areas of the tank - temps ranged from 79 to 81 with the UTH unplugged for the last 2 hours. So, I guess you're quite right. I don't need to add heat.

I like the ceramic tiles idea too.
 
I like my hot side to be about 84 to 85. 79 to 81 wouldn't cut it for me. But I suppose you can just watch and see if the snake regurges or has other issues. They need a gradient. When people say 75 - 85 degrees they usually mean 75 on the cool side, and 85 on the hot side. Not 81 everywhere in the tank. But a corn can do well in that type of set up.

I may be wrong,(I don't use uth's) but the probe from the thermoSTAT should be between the uth and the tank. Not inside the enclosure. Then you use a probed thermoMETER or temp gun to check how hot it is getting on the hottest spot the snake can get to. Then, you adjust the thermostat accordingly.
 
I was under the mistaken impression that one HAD to provide extra heat.
Click to expand...
Not heating at all is really location-specific. for example, you couldn't possibly leave Corns unheated at any time here in the UK. Even in Florida, if you're heavy on the aircon in the room where the snakes are, then supplemental heat might well be needed. Even in Florida, you'll need additional heat in cooler weather. Leaving a UTH+thermostat switched on year round, should be no overhead. If temps stay around the range you want, then the stat will leave the UTH switched off. It will then kick in when temps get too low - you won't have to worry about remembering to switch it on again.
 
I agree with bitsy. I only suggested not using heat because I saw you were also in FL further south of where I am at.

The best is to provide a gradient. I won't dispute that. The snake will know what is best and giving it a range of options allows for the animal to make the choice.
That being said though, a steady temp in the 78-82F is probably fine. It certainly doesn't hurt to provide a warm spot for digestion as long as cooler areas exist as well. That's assuming the warm spot isn't like a thousand degrees.
 
+1 for the hydrofarm thermostat on Amazon for $25. Will keep your enclosure between a consistent 2 degree range. Turns off once temp is 82 and then turns back on once the temp drops below 80. Of course you can set it whatever temp you want. I use them on all of my heating devices.
 
pheonix said:
I may be wrong,(I don't use uth's) but the probe from the thermoSTAT should be between the uth and the tank. Not inside the enclosure. Then you use a probed thermoMETER or temp gun to check how hot it is getting on the hottest spot the snake can get to. Then, you adjust the thermostat accordingly.
Click to expand...

You might be thinking of a rheostat. Using a thermostat, the probe goes inside the enclosure against the floor directly above the UTH. That's so it can measure and adjust the temperature to exactly what you want the snake to feel.
 
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