• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Air temperature

A

anadyne

New member
Hi all,

Last winter I used an infrared light mounted over the warm side to keep the air temp in my corn's tank up around 80 or so. I have an UTH that I keep at 85, but of course it only heats the bottom glass and perhaps the substrate directly over it - it doesn't heat the whole tank. Once he pops out to explore around the tank he's in the ambient air temp.

This summer I took off the heat lamp because it wasn't necessary - my house temp was around 80 anyway this summer, so his tank air was as well. I just used the UTH to give him a warmer spot to hang out on as he wished.

Now it's getting chilly again but I'm hesitant to add the heat lamp back into his set up. The red light was annoying, I don't think my corn liked it and he came out a lot less when it was on. But my house gets down to about 70 in the winter even with the heat on. And I usually keep the windows open until late fall, so it can be even cooler.

The UTH will give him the right temp if he burrows, but I'm wondering if there's a recommended lower temp for the tank air? I have a digital thermometer with my thermostat controlling the UTH but I also have a little dial thermometer hanging on the wall to measure the tank air, and it does get around 70 at times. I'm wondering - since he does climb around and explore most evenings - if I should try to control the air temp?
 
We used an infrared lamp in the winter, too, when all we had was two big snakes in 20-long aquariums. Now that we have a bunch of little guys in Herp Havens, we're planning to go the heat tape route for some, and UTHs (which we already have) for others.

The infrared will undoubtedly still be used for the big aquariums, though. We have the UTHs under the big aquariums mounted so they're next to each other (one under the right end of one tank, the other under the left end of the other tank, just for clarity), and put the lamp kind of straddling both.

We put the lamp on a timer, and use the extremely accurate and scientific "guess" method to determine how long it's on. We have thermometers in the tanks, and adjust the timer to not let things get too cool in the wee hours of the morning.
 
Thanks so much for the response. I think I might return to the lamp for the winter after all then. My house is always chilly no matter the amount of heating used - something to do with the wind off the water in the winter - and the heat bulb brought the in-tank temp up around 80 most days.
 
I don't necessarily think you need the lamp. I think you are getting too caught up with the ambient temperatures in the viv. Yes, temps are important, but you do not need to heat the entire enclosure. As long as you provide an area, for your snake to use, to increase it's body temperature or reduce it, then you should be fine.

You have to realize that corn snakes are primarily ground dwellers. They don't spend a lot of time, basking in the sun. Open exposure leaves them vulnerable to predation. What they would normally do, is find a log or rock (or some other cover) that is warmed by the sun and warm themselves underneath it.

Regulated belly heat, is the best heat you can provide. If you are using a UTH and it's keeping the bottom of the tank warm, as well as the substrate, then you are providing enough heat for the snake to regulate. If the snake decides to come out of one of it's hides and explore, it should be fine. As soon as it realizes that it's body temperature is changing, it will seek out the appropriate area in the tank and wait for it to adjust, again.

JMO!

Wayne
 
I live in the UK and during the winter months, even with the house heating on, our ambient air temp often sits between 65 and 70*F, especially overnight in the wee small hours. I use UTH's for the warm end set at around 85*F and don't seem to have any problems, although they do use the warm end more often during the winter :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top