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Getting Corn Without Thermostat? (Advice needed!)

I

Irefe

New member
So, the basic rundown is I went out today and got all the things for my corn, tank, heater, decor, etc.etc. and while I was out, we went to a local reptile store, and there was a beautiful little corn there, a bit older then some of the others. He was active, bright eyed and when I held him he was very friendly and non-nippy, but actively exploring (he tried to climb up my shirt sleeve at one point), the woman there said he was a good eater and had been fed several times on F/T food. The store was well kept also, the water was clean and the animals seemed healthy, the only thing I noticed was there was two corns together in a couple of the containers, and there weren't any hides, but the containers were pretty small and had some substrate on the bottom they could hide under, and when I talked to the girl she did say they had too many corns at the time, which is probably why there were more then one per container in a couple of them (the snake I was looking at was housed alone). The people were also knowledgeable, the woman knew what she was talking about, and the man that was working there actually sexed the snake right in front of me.

Anyways, here's my problem: I can go pick up the little male I was looking at tomorrow, but I wasn't able to find a thermostat in any of the stores to go with the UTH I got, everyone I hear from says you need a thermostat, but no place sells them! I can order one online, but until it comes, I won't have one, is that okay? Would the snake be fine without the thermostat for a week or two? And if not, would it be alright if I left the heater off until I got it?

Also, does anyone have any recommendations for a place to order a thermostat that ships to Canada? This is the heat mat I got, because it was all they had unfortunately: Click

Oh, and here, have some pictures I took while I was there, let me know if you see anything really wrong that I should be looking out for, that I missed. Also excuse the bad quality photos they were taken by my phone.

(These first three are all of the guy I'm considering, I believe.)
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Not a corn but...

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Hopefully these pictures work, excuse my first try at posting them. Same with the link above.
 
I personally would wait to get your snake until you have everything you need. Maybe you can pay for it and they can hold it for you until you get the thermostat?

On another note *ouch* those petstore prices hurt :(
 
as long as you have a digital thermometer with a probe you can control the heat mat with a lamp dimmer, it takes a little more work and you have to be constantly checking on it because the temps will change with the temps in the house. you can purchase a dimmer switch at any hardware store :)
 
I asked about holds, and they won't do them, unfortunately lol. And yes, they are expensive, especially after seeing the prices at the expo I went too, which were a lot less then that.

I'm not sure how a lamp dimmer works. Actually I'm not sure how a thermostat works either, I don't see anywhere on the heat mat where it would plug in or what. Maybe the one I got doesn't work with a thermostat or...?

I'm also not sure where to buy a thermostat, there are very few places that sell them considering everyone keeps saying they're so necessary. My mom keeps saying that if no one's selling them, they're probably not necessary, even though I keep insisting it is.
 
You would plug the heat mat into the thermostat or dimmer directly, then the dimmer or thermostat will get plugged in to the wall. A dimmer will work temporarily, but I like thermostats because you can just set the temperature to 85 degrees and it will stay there. With a dimmer, you'll have to adjust the knob daily to get the temps in the correct range. The reason no pet stores sell them is because they generally don't know how to care properly for the animals. A thermostat is needed because without it, the temperature will rise well past 130 degrees, and your corn can't handle more than 90 degrees.
 
Okay, I understand now, thanks!

If I used a dimmer it would only be temporary until I got the thermostat shipped, are they expensive?

Looking at this one place, it says it ships within one business day, so I should hopefully be able to get it before Friday, what if I didn't turn the heater on until I got it? The snake ate last Tuesday and wouldn't be fed again until next weekend. Hopefully I would have the Thermostat before the snake ate, so it could help regulate digestion and all, but would a week without the heat hurt it? The temp where the snake is going to be is sitting at 72 right now, but it will probably get a bit warmer now that I've shut the window and everything.
 
Off Topic, but that "Okeetee" looks like a normal to me.

And at those prices, you can afford to buy a snake from a reputable online breeder, and with shipping pay the same price.

Normal Corns go for about $25 - $30 and shipping is around $35 - $40.

Just throwing that out there.
 
Yeah I noticed the Okeetee didn't look much like one haha. And I'm not very comfortable with the whole shipping thing, so I'd really rather not do it if I can help it. Even with someone that's reputable, I'd really like to hold/interact with it before buying. The lowest shipping price I've seen (mind you, I haven't looked really hard for Canadian breeders as I don't really want to do the shipping thing) was $70, which is almost the same price as the snake there.

And on top of that, my mom is one of those people that refuses to trust people off the internet, so she really doesn't want me to get one shipped.
 
Go to Walmart were the Termostats are. You will find a perfect one its only about $10 and works great.
 
Yes, I am in Canada, it makes shipping a lot more difficult (and expensive). Plus my mom would rather I paid more and got it from a store then had it shipped.

Oh, really? Well that's great then, we can pick one up tomorrow while we're out. Now that I have a better idea of how they work, it'll be easier for me to find one. Thanks PAIN!
 
I'm in Canada too! I also had the thermostat problem, but I found the Hydrofarm thermostat on amazon.com, was able to have it shipped to me, and it's great, all digital! 44 bucks total, shipping and all for me. :)
 
Amazon.com or .ca? From what I remember, .com doesn't ship to Canada, only Amazon.ca does. I checked Amazon.ca for a thermostat a while back but there wasn't anything good on there.

I'm going to check walmart tomorrow and cross my fingers for a good one. My mom says Canadian walmarts and American walmarts can have completely different stock, so. I'm not sure what I'll do about the snake if I can't find one at walmart...
 
Strange as it sounds, it amazon.COM did ship to me! Shipping time was about a week, maybe less :) I didn't get any fees or anything, it was straightforward. You won't find this thermostat on the .ca one. I hope you find one in walmart, but I doubt it since American walmarts likely are different like you're mom says.
 
Yeah I checked out their shipping and they do ship to Canada, so that's good, I'll probably get it from there if I need to.

My mom is driving me nuts though, every time I try to talk to her about where I could get this thermostat she keeps saying if they were necessary they'd be selling them in the stores, and I don't have a good argument for her. Anyone want to give me one? Besides the fact that everyone says they're necessary and not having one could kill the snake, because that is obviously not a good enough argument to spend $50 on a piece of equipment that could save my animal's life :p

If I can't get one at walmart/Canadian tire/etc. tomorrow, do you think the snake would be okay without extra heat for 3-5 days while I have a thermostat shipped to me? I figured not giving it any extra heat is better then accidentally frying it.
 
Perhaps you could get a heat lamp, and use that, while monitering the temps? Prop the lamp higher up somehow if its getting too warm on the bottom, ect.?

My mom asked me why I needed one too, but after I told her, "Well yeah, I could get a rheostat that stores sell, but then I have to check the temperature all the time, whereas with a thermostat you can set it - and forget it." And that worked for me :) Also, I think companies just haven't had the bright idea of selling thermostats. They've only got rheostats so far, so maybe they just haven't gotten there yet.
 
That's a good idea, actually, heat lamps look pretty cheap ($13-20 for a cheap one) and could work as a temporary solution until I can get the thermostat. Only now my mom's whining about me spending more money... Oh well, they're not expensive at least.

She just doesn't think I need to worry about regulating the temperature at all, that's the thing. She thinks if the thing is overheating the snake will be smart enough to move to the cool side, but if that were the case, so many people wouldn't be reporting snake deaths because of heating malfunction. I'm going to buy one anyways, I just might have to get a heat lamp first, and that's even if I get the snake tomorrow, I'm not determined to bring home a snake when I go back, but I would like to be ready in case I do decide to bring him home, that's all.
 
If you can find a low-power heat mat from a pet store, you can always control the temp by elevating the vivarium from the mat. Of course this requires constant temp monitoring. For some reason, plug-in thermostats with a probe are really difficult to find around these parts, so such system is what is commonly used.
 
I'm also from Canada! yay!

I made my own Rheostat
Link to DIY

I got the extension cord from a dollar store, dimmer and electrical box from CdnTire. Altogether it was roughly 10$ or so.
 
Rheostats need constant monitering, so the lamp idea or the lifting the viv idea is the best way for the OP to get her snake right away, but keeps the temps good IMO. :)
 
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