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Tank won't get hot enough!

PnyKlr

PnyKlr

World's Tallest Midget
*WARNING...Long post!*

I have successfully setup my tank and placed the UTH under about 1/2 of it (a little less than have, actually). My problem is that the tank isn't getting warm enough.

I am using newspaper for a substrate. I have a digital thermometer on each side (cool and warm). The warm side thermometer is touching the newspaper, but it is about 1-2" away from the actual UTH (my warm side is 24" x 12" and the UTH is 17" x 11").

Is aspen better at holding heat than the newspaper? Should I move the thermometer probe to a spot over the UTH? Also, the cold side is VERY cold (about 55F while the warm side is 65F) will it heat up once the warm side gets to temp?



*EDIT* I moved both probed to a more interior position in the tank, with the warm acutally IN the substrate rather than touching the top. The cold side is about 55-56F and the warm side is HOT! lol about 88 and climbing. I have the UTH on a rheostat so adjusting it won't be a problem. What can I do to maintain an appropriate temp on the cool side? I though about either mixing the substrate up on a daily basis to "mix" some of the warm with the cool, putting a space heater in the room with the snakes, or purchasing another UTH for winter-time use on the cool side.

I figured the mixing the substrate would really stress out the hatchlings, a space heater will drive up my electric bill :eek1: , and I would rather not rig up another rheostat (I would need another outlet to plug everything into blah,blah,blah).


All opinions will be well received from this noobie (I'm a bigger nooB than I though I was!). I just want to get everything off to a good start, and not stress out the hatchlings too bad. Hey, at least this is all coming about now, instead of when I actually have the snakes!
 
Can you

It does sound like you need to get your gradients under control here. The ambient temp is too cold in that room. THe UTH will warm up for belly heat but the other side needs to be warmer. Yes Apsen does hold some heat well and they can burrow on it as well. But there needs to be a warmer cool side.
May I ask what is being kept in this tank ? You mentioned Hatchlings...

What room in your house is this in and can you warm that general room temperature up?
 
further

You mentioned a reference to multiple snakes...IF your planning on keeping multiple snakes in one tank you might want to investigate that and reconsider. Its truly not a good idea and I would hate to see you have unnecesary problems with your new snakes :sidestep:

:)

Dawn
 
The tank is a 55 gallon aquarium, and yes it is for 2 corn hatchlings. However, the tank has been divided into separate "compartments" for each snake. The UTH straddles the middle of the divided tank so that each snake section gets half of the UTH.

The setup is in my finished basement (its basically our living room) ans the temp is usually pretty stable. I'm not sure why it is so cold in here this year, but I certainly didn't think it was 55F! I can place a heater in the room to warm it up and see how it affects the temp of the tank.

Should I bury the temp probe into the substrate, or place it touching the top of the substrate?
 
I reccomend

First if I were you I would go buy one of those indoor/outdoor digital thermometers that you can post on the wall in that room. You can get them at Target or walmart easily. MIie is made by Holmes and has a probe which you could put inside your tank. That way you can get two temp readings from it. It also measure room humidity as well!

If you find the room is staying that cool, you will need to raise the ambient temps of the room. Also for a tank that size..you should have two UTH heaters ..one on each side for the snake . I would reccomenend putting them on the two opposite ends of the tank and letting the middle of the tank be the cooler temps for the snakes and of course having a hide in each side form them to choose and feel safe. I am glad you have a divider to seperate this two. That is safe thinking . There are so many potential issues when housing together.:)

I am not an expert, but these setups are how I would reccomend. I am just someone who loves and has raised many snakes and learned from experience and others along the way. There is Always something to learn when it comes to captive keeping and breeding of snakes so welcome to the fun world! :rolleyes:
 
I have a humidity guage in the tank itself, and I have an outdoor thermometer that I can place in the room itself. Sounds like a space heater will be the way to go...although I don't like leaving them on 24 hours a day.
 
Yes, I agree you need to get the cool side temperatures up to 70-75 degrees.
Isn't 55 degrees to cold or a "living room"? You might need a space heater. This room sounds great for brumating your corns when they get older but for now bump the heat up. And I don't think mixing the bedding will help.
On the warm side apply a thin layer of aspen then the probe, above the uth, with hide on top of that, to get a good reading. 80-85 degrees is what your shooting for.
As for re-rigging the rheostat or buying another uth or whatever.
Yes......You have to do what it takes to your husbandry right.
This give you a good "base" if you have other problems, such as regurges, not eating, respiratory infections.

On a side note, how long have your had your snakes?. I mean did you get them at the same time from the same place?. Because quarantine come to mind here.

Well, Good Luck and keep us posted. :cheers:
 
I don't have the snakes yet, they are arriving (from the same place) some time this week (between Tuesday and Friday...I'll be getting an email).

As for the space heater and rheostat, I said I'd rather not do either of these, but I will if it's necessary!

My 55F living room. :grin01: It has NEVER been this cold in here before. It seems as if it got cold right around the time my husband installed an exhast fan down here, so I got to snooping. It appears as if he had conviently "forgotten" to properly insulate the ehxast piping, and there is a bit of a draft coming from the outside of the house. The high gas bill should have been a hint!

So, i am now off to the hardware store for some expanding foam, the petstore for some aspen and screen locks, and to some other place for some stick-on velcro. No use getting the tank setup just to have one escape!

Thanks for the help so far, and thanks Lenny for putting up with all of my lengthy questions!
 
Well I think it great that your getting it all set up before your snakes come.
and sorry for sounding like a butt head but it's "all for the snakes welfare".
Great!! Now I sound like a social worker. Ha!
But I defence of your husband, I'm in construction and I'm sure you don't insulate the exhaust piping, just install "flapper" like on outside dryer vents to help with stopping cold wind blowing back in. But I'm not sure of your situation. :shrugs: Anyway sounds like your on the right track.

Good Luck :cheers:
 
I keep fish, and I've learned with them that its better to get the kinks worked out BEFORE the "package" arrives than to figure out something's not right when the critters actually need it. I want to be able to place the hatchlings in the tank, and leave them be for a few days....I really don't want to stress them out by fiddling with things inside their tank.

My situtation: The hole in the wall of the house is of a larger diameter than the pvc piping coming out.

I've decided that I'm suprised nothing has decided to move in and live with us with a gaping hole (exaggeration) in the side of the house! :grin01:

Thanks for everything, everyone!
 
best of luck

I too really appreciate the fact that you are planning your housing and covering all your bases in advance of your cute little snakes arriving! I am endlessly blessed by having mine and know that you will be too. (we have 22 currently with two of them pregnant so more are on the way!)

Regards
Dawn
 
This is probably the only time I'll ever say this, but I'm really glad that the guy I'm buying from couldn't ship right away! Normally, I would have gotten them last week, and I would have scrambled to get everything ready on time. The seller has just moved his business (2,000 snakes) about 2,000 miles! He had to settle in before he could ship again.

I am VERY excited to be getting the corns this week. These will be the first snakes I have ever had, and I'm sure I won't regret it! Luckily, my husband undertands my need for critters. :grin01:
 
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