setup and heating

[jpenninmd]

i know this question is answered in many forms and i apologize fora new post i am new to snakes and tried to do a lot of reseach before buying one. Yesterday i bought a baby butter motley corn at the midatlantic reptile show.

here is my setup and would to hear constructive criticism on improvements in terms of heating.

30 gallon tank with small UTH approximately 12" x 6" under one third of the tank.

ambient room temp approx 70 degrees
directly above uth is 80 degrees
corner behind uth .5 inch away approx 72 degrees
supplemented with 40w basking lamp brings same corner to approx 80 degrees

opposite side is just slightly warmer than ambient room temp approx 72 degrees

options:
1 keep it as is
2 buy new bigger uth
3 ditch heat lamp and just use current uth

thoughts?

 

[jpenninmd]

Sorry basking lamp is a infrared bulb used for 24/7 heat source

 

[PtDnsr]

Welcome to the forums! Congrats on the butter motley - I'm envious. How are you measuring temperature? UTH's can get much hotter than we anticipate. What are you using in the way of hides and such?

~Katie

 

[SnowCorn87]

I just got my first snake yesterday, a beautiful little snow corn hatchling. Right now I just have him in a small 5 gal terrarium since he is not very big. I bought a small heating pad for the one half of his terrarium (4"x6" I think). It is made by Exo-Terra. It just sticks to the underside of the terrarium. It gets very hot and I keep turning it off for an hour every few because I am worried it will melt right through the bottom. Is this possible? It has no setting at all, you just plug it in and it heats. I don't want to fry my lil corn. What should I do? Maybe I am overreacting, I always kept and bred parrots and small exotics before, this is my first experience with a rep so I am new to all this heating and everything. Please let me know what you think. Thanks guys.

Nick

 

[jpenninmd]

i have two hides one is a u shaped log thing and the other is a resin cave thing one on each end of the tank.
i am measuring the temp with 2 digital probe thermometers on the substrate, one at each end.
Substrate is currently cage carpet, durafelt type stuff.

The UTH if you place the probe directly on it between it and the glass is only about 85-90 degrees. tested prior to buying the snake.

 

[SnowCorn87]

Forgot to add, I use "Jungle Earth" for a substrate... Basically just looks like stripped bark and stuff.

Nick

 

[CAV]

I just got my first snake yesterday, a beautiful little snow corn hatchling. Right now I just have him in a small 5 gal terrarium since he is not very big. I bought a small heating pad for the one half of his terrarium (4"x6" I think). It is made by Exo-Terra. It just sticks to the underside of the terrarium. It gets very hot and I keep turning it off for an hour every few because I am worried it will melt right through the bottom. Is this possible? It has no setting at all, you just plug it in and it heats. I don't want to fry my lil corn. What should I do? Maybe I am overreacting, I always kept and bred parrots and small exotics before, this is my first experience with a rep so I am new to all this heating and everything. Please let me know what you think. Thanks guys.

Nick

Is the UTH specifically made for a smaller 5 gallon setup?? Most of the smallest UTHs are made for 10-20 gallon tanks and tend to get too warm on a 20 gallon.

You need to purchase a reliable and accurate digital thermometer in order to safely ensure that your temps aren't too hot for your snake. Anything above 83-85 degrees should be considered unhealthy for your snake.