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could my corn be burnt?

A

ashlyn

New member
i bought my uth two days ago and i've just tried it because i'll pick up my snake tomorrow... the bottom glass temps are about 95°f... is that too hot even if i'll add paper towels plus a good aspen's layer?
 
Yup, 95F is way too hot, keep in mind corns often like to burrow. Aspen seems to encourage burrowing IMO, this will bring your snake right into contact with the high temp.

The hottest part of the tank that the snake can come in contact with should be no more than 86F. 84F IMO is ideal. (not enough coffee yet)
 
can someone post the link on how to make a dimmer switch? That is awsome and you can easily control the temp :D
Thanks guys!
 
it's in the husbandry forum in a thread called "how to make a rheostat for less than $7" or something like that...should be fairly close to the top of the list I would think
 
I don't think your snake can get burned. If it gets too hot, it will just move out that spot before any serious tissue damage occurs. However, if it is too hot, the snake will never be in the warm spot and then it might have digestion/shedding problems (I learned this the hard way :(.
 
daufoi said:
I don't think your snake can get burned. If it gets too hot, it will just move out that spot before any serious tissue damage occurs. However, if it is too hot, the snake will never be in the warm spot and then it might have digestion/shedding problems (I learned this the hard way :(.
Click to expand...
Um....I'm pretty sure this is wrong...
 
Yes, that is very incorrect. Reptiles aren't on the "Smartest Animals of All Time" list.

Since they're endothermic animals, unlike mammals and birds which are exothermic and give off body warmth...they don't know when its too hot and they can end up cooking their own tissues. Especially if you turn the UTH off during the day and on at night. Their temp rises with the temp of the UTH they'd been sitting on top of all day and they simply cannot gauge the change of temp very well. Just Google "reptile thermal burns" and you can come up with a whole list of stuff to look at or read.

I've not yet made a rheostat myself, but it looked simple enough for even me to do (I'm electrically challenged). What I've always done is to use the rubber feet the UTH's come with to elevate the tank, and then stick the UTH to a ceramic tile that'll fit the entire surface of the UTH and just place that under the tank on the table top. The ceramic insulates the table from the heat, and its far enough away from the glass bottom of the aquarium, that it never gets too hot to the touch for a snake. Of course I don't know what your average room temps are, but I like a cooler than normal house and mine never peaked above 90* on the inside of the bottom.

This also has an added benefit of being able to move the UTH to a different tank or removing it altogether later if you end up with fish in the tank. I hate the idea of the permanence of the sticking on or the ruining of the UTH removing it. =)
 
Taceas said:
Yes, that is very incorrect. Reptiles aren't on the "Smartest Animals of All Time" list.

Since they're endothermic animals, unlike mammals and birds which are exothermic and give off body warmth...they don't know when its too hot and they can end up cooking their own tissues. Especially if you turn the UTH off during the day and on at night. Their temp rises with the temp of the UTH they'd been sitting on top of all day and they simply cannot gauge the change of temp very well. Just Google "reptile thermal burns" and you can come up with a whole list of stuff to look at or read.
Click to expand...

I would second this opinion. When I was a kid I had a baby iguana get burned by one of those stupid "hot rocks". It was the last time I ever listened to a pet store employee.


What I've always done is to use the rubber feet the UTH's come with to elevate the tank, and then stick the UTH to a ceramic tile that'll fit the entire surface of the UTH and just place that under the tank on the table top. The ceramic insulates the table from the heat, and its far enough away from the glass bottom of the aquarium, that it never gets too hot to the touch for a snake.
Click to expand...

I had all of my tanks rigged this way after reading this suggestion here, and it worked well for me also. I've since gotten a thermostat, but still have two ten gallon hatchling tanks set up like this. They are on a high shelf and it's easier just to pull the tanks down for feedings etc. It is much easier to do this when not dealing with an UTH stuck to the bottom.
 
But doesen't the room temp vary enough (summer to winter) to change the temps in the Viv. I mean with the tank set at one height.
I use a Uth too, duck tape to the bottom of the glass (so I can removed too).
With a rheosta controlling temps. A probe on the top of two inches of aspen.
And my temps change.
 
Lennycorn said:
But doesen't the room temp vary enough (summer to winter) to change the temps in the Viv. I mean with the tank set at one height.
I use a Uth too, duck tape to the bottom of the glass (so I can removed too).
With a rheosta controlling temps. A probe on the top of two inches of aspen.
And my temps change.
Click to expand...

You do get some variance, which is why I switched to a thermostat, but it's within a tolerable limit. If you get the pad on the tile, and set up so it's about 88-89 degreees in the summer, it will drop to about 83-84 degrees in the winter.
 
Taceas said:
Yes, that is very incorrect. Reptiles aren't on the "Smartest Animals of All Time" list.

Just Google "reptile thermal burns" and you can come up with a whole list of stuff to look at or read.
Click to expand...

OK, I googled "reptile thermal burns" and after reading the first page of results, I find "Most reptiles heat receptors are in their backs". However, all sites were referring to heat rocks and bulbs but never heat pad. Even the example posted on this thread points to heat rock as the culprit, which makes me wonder what the temperature differences between a heat rock and UTH are?

It seems my snake understands when it was too hot before it got burnt. Maybe I should submit it to the Smartest Animals of All Time list???
 
daufoi said:
It seems my snake understands when it was too hot before it got burnt. Maybe I should submit it to the Smartest Animals of All Time list???
Click to expand...

It could just be that the pad didn't get hot enough to burn him. Some of the better ones are made to peak at 90 degrees or so without a thermostat. The cheaper ones can get much hotter, and/or have a lot of variation from pad to pad. I'd hold off on writing your snakes acceptance speech for now :rolleyes:
 
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