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Cold Snake!

A

asymons

The Lab Rat
Hello all!

With this semester over, I recently moved myself and my cornsnake (Cornelius!) back home for a four-week break, and to get to the point, I'm concerned with tank heating. I've been using a basking lamp during the day in combination with a UTH side-mounted where he normally hangs out, but in addition, I can normally keep the ambient temperature of my dorm warm enough to keep him at a good temperature.

Now that I'm home, my parents are a bit stingy with heating our finished basement, where my room is. I do have an additional mini-heater that I use for my room, and I even moved the side-mounted UTH to a more ideal spot in the tank. Weirdly enough, Cornelius has been hanging out away from his usual spot (and the UTH) as if he were avoiding it. Thus, when I picked him up before bed this evening, he was unusually cold-- still very active and alert, but he was relatively cold to the touch.

I intend to suck up the cost and just buy a thermostat so that I can put the UTH under his tank, but is there anything else I can do to ensure proper heating? I may buy a red heat lamp bulb that I can leave on overnight, but I'd like to get some advice first. :)

Thanks!
Ashley
 
The uth dose nothing on the side of the tank and the snake can burn itself if it rest up on it on the side and its not regulated. try putting the uth under the tank but raise the tank up off of it "air gap" until you get close to 85F glass temp. it will take some time to get it to the right temp but its worth it
 
If you buy a thermostat and put the UTH under the tank, then you won't need to bother with the heat lamp. The UTH will be automatically switched on/off by the stat to maintain the optimum temperature.

Remember that a Corn's maximum safe body temp (about 90 degrees) is below human body temp. He should always feel cool or cold to the touch, unless you've picked him up straight from a heated surface.
 
I've always been curious about how you set the thermostat. If you are setting it for an 85 degree glass, it's going to be way to cold on top of the substrate. Don't you want the substrate at 85? In that case the glass would be well over 85, wouldn't it? This has bothered me quite a bit, so I have ended up keeping the glass around 85, but also supplement with a red heat lamp cause the room temp gets way to cold here at night in northern California.
 
A temp gun is invaluable. But watching the animals can tell you a lot, too. Are they hugging the heat, staying away, or settling in different spots? A digesting snake usually feels warmer to the touch because of where they put themselves. For my hot spots (where pads or tape runs) I usually aim for 105. 85 on the glass is very, very little heat in a 70 degree room. As I'm learning the hard way; after a lifetime of keeping herps, the room temps/stability is everything!
 
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