• 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.

Corn Snakes Without A Heat Pad

S

snake_eyes

New member
i was wondering if Corn Snakes really do need heat.


i ask because of one of my teachers. he has several corn snakes which he has had for years and they are adults now. they are kept in his classroom but he doesnt provide them with heat. i asked why he doesnt and he told me that corn snakes are real tough and that its not really required for them to live happy and successful lives.

my teacher is a Biologist and CA State certified chemist. he is a PhD and knows his stuff very well. i trust what he says and from tha looks of his snakes (which are energetic and content with regular shedding and beautiful appearance), it seems as if he is correct. and i should mention that big classroom with tiled floors can be quite cold, but a heat pad is still not in use.
 
Ah, an education does not subsume wisdom, common sense or omniscience even within the field of one's academic degree.
 
coyote said:
Ah, an education does not subsume wisdom, common sense or omniscience even within the field of one's academic degree.
Click to expand...



he is experienced with reptiles and amphibians as he has raised many for many years. and these snakes are completely healthy.


but im still wondering if corns really do need them. since corns come from decidious forests, then temps would be low in general, right?


im intrigued by how healthy and normal these snakes are when they havent been using a heat pad.
 
Just because the snakes survive and appear healthy does not mean that it is the best environment for them. Although the snakes survive conditions it does not mean they would not feel better in a correctly heated vivarium. I suggest that it may bring about a shorter life span but i might be wrong.

Neither of the qualifications mentioned will study the correct care of reptiles in any depth. Experience is often much more important than education some of the cleverest people have absolutely no common sense.

If the person really cared about the snakes he would, with very little research, have realised that heat is important. Imagine how much money it would save major breeders if they did not heat their snakes and question why they do.
 
If the ambient air temps are warm enough for the months that corns are naturally active, feeding, breeding etc., then they could be just fine without supplemental heat.
 
There are quite a few people out there who's rooms are heated and use no other heat source. The classroom may remain warm enough for the snakes to digest. I notice mine sit on the cool side quite often, even after eating and digest fine. At the same time, except at night, my house stays a uniform 80 degrees.
 
What Dean and Meg said. Mine stay without heat for most of the year. It is only on the very coldest days of the year that I need to turn the heaters on.
 
Yep, agree with that. I take it from your post that the Corns are in California (reference to "CA State certified chemist"). That being the case, I suspect the ambient temperatures are fine and no additional heating is needed. Keeping them cool enough is more likely to be an issue, although being in a classroom I expect the air-con takes care of that.

We're a bit less fortunate here in the UK. I usually get no more than 2 weeks a year where my stats turn the UTHs off all day!
 
i suppose California's temperature is ideal for snakes...



i guess its true that Californians are spoiled...including snakes :p
 
i just use heat cable now, i havent used heat mats for years.
all my corns are fine and do all the normal things, eating and breeding etc.
 
So, are heat mats, heat cable, heat tape, heat lamps superfluous? Are the rest of us just dupes who are wasting our money?
 
i guess they are all similar and we just use what seems to be the best option for each of us.
i paid about £45, say about $80 for 160 ft of cable and it does about 100 snakes, if i was to have that lot on heat mats it would cost ?? well i dont even know where to start
 
Good point.
Mine are in cage "clusters" in different rooms. So I rely on the mats. I only have 10 snakes and 2 lizard set ups.
 
mine are going down by the day almost.
i find the cable heats up the whole room, i only have small room and its pretty packed, but its always lovely and toasting lol, and at this exact moment in the uk its about -5 c, so its pretty cold outside.
 
here in CA, the ambient temperature average in the day time is around 70-73degrees, and some degrees more since my room is right in the sun's tracks during the day.


with a computer, three stereo receivers, computer monitor, and other various audio equipment (turntables, etc) turned on, my room is like a large easy bake oven, even in november...its really sunny for this time of year and its been weeks since we've had some clouds. with all those factored in, my room is around 78 degrees on average (or higher when its noon and sun directly hits my room.) so i guess in these conditions my snake can manage.
 
coyote said:
So, are heat mats, heat cable, heat tape, heat lamps superfluous? Are the rest of us just dupes who are wasting our money?
Click to expand...

I guess it depends on where you live, where you keep them, and your own preferred temp range. I live in New England, I keep my snakes in my living space (i.e. I don't have a "snake room"), and I like the temp to be at about 67 all year round. So supplemental heat is not superfluous in my situation. I'm guessing that I could forego supplemental heat if I didn't use AC in the warm months. But I hate heat, so this is not an option.
 
Corns aren't native to California AFAIK. but I suppose the climate in the southern part of the state might suit them, I don't know about the humidity though. I would think the heat you keep your house (or classroom) at would have everything to do with whether you need additional heat sources or not. I know keeping my house at 80 degrees would be a bit too warm for me - and cost more than the UTH's probably!
 
So far I do not use any additional heat source. I live in AZ and my house temps run from 75-85 degrees depending on the time of year. Luckily I am comfortable at snake temps :)
 
I live out in the desert in California, winter time the over night temps can drop to freezing, of course my landlord doesn't wanna do anything about the heater not not working so a heat source is a should be for me.. The pythons enjoy basking and laying on the heat source in thier tanks. Some times I think my home gets a little to cool for the corns, as they slow down considerably. The summer time in my area can see temps in the 40C+/115F+ temps... Oh the lovely desert..

Regards
 
Yeah... if I didn't use UTHs... I'd have snake-sicles... the temp in my room over the winter is neg 15* C LOL... fine for me (no I'm not an eskimo, or penguin, or polar bear... I just like to be cold =P). But I guess, as long as the snake is getting enough heat to live and digest, you may not need one. :shrugs:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top