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Heat Pads & Cardboard

C

ChiliCat

New member
Okay, so I am a little concerned about how hot the glass gets in my corn snakes cages, and I have heard the cardboard suggestion.

My problem with that is my one corn is a crazy little digger and when I have put the cardboard in the bottom of the tank she gets under it, though she's smart enough to go to the colder side. I don't think it nearly gets as hot as the undertank for my ball python, because I use reptile carpet and just put that over, plus she's big and lazy and doesn't tunnel, but she has a huge heater compared to my corn snake babies, hence the heat difference. I have put my hand on that glass and it hurt! While the glass on my corn snake tanks I can put my hand on it and leave it on it without hurting, so does that mean even if they get under the cardboard they are ok?

My question is do you put the cardboard between the heat pad and glass, or do you put it on the bottom of the glass tank? If that is the case I guess I should use thinner cardboard, but I know absolutely never never use tape, so how can I prevent her from getting under it?

:shrugs:
 
Two main suggestions: 1) Invest in either a rheostat or a thermostat to control the UTH's. One rheo or one thermo can control multiple UTH's.
2) Invest in an a digital thermomter with a probe. Never go just by touch to judge heat.


Also, many people like to attach their UTH to a ceramic tile and then put it under the viv. This serves as a buffer for the heat and helps spread it out more evenly. You can also use picture frame glass, which is probably a bit less effective than a tile. I have always used picture frame glass and rheostat with no troubles.
 
I do have a tempgun to measure the heat, I've just been overly paranoid and continually adjusting to get it to the right temperature for these guys between propping the tanks different heights above the mat, trying different thickness of cardboard and just about everything else. I will look into the ceramic or picture glass in addition to the heater.

Now are the thermostats available at Walmart like the temp gun was? Or is that something I need to buy online from a reptile supply shop?
 
Under tank heater. UTH. You can place the cardboard on top of the heat pad but you'll probably need to tape it down. I used to use a few sheets of paper towel or newspaper taped over the top and that worked fine. Now I attach a piece of glass to my uth and put the whole thing under the tank. Seems to work great.
 
ChiliCat said:
Now are the thermostats available at Walmart like the temp gun was? Or is that something I need to buy online from a reptile supply shop?
Click to expand...

You probably won't find a thermostat at Walmart. You may find a rheostat (basically a dimmer switch). An alternative is to build your own rheostat. It's easy and only costs about $7. Here's a thread with easy to follow instructions, if you decide to go that route.
http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19168


Most good online reptile supply stores will have thermostats for sale, and many have rheostats as well. Some of your local pet shops or Petsmart type stores may have thermostats too.
 
MegF. said:
Under tank heater. UTH. You can place the cardboard on top of the heat pad but you'll probably need to tape it down. I used to use a few sheets of paper towel or newspaper taped over the top and that worked fine. Now I attach a piece of glass to my uth and put the whole thing under the tank. Seems to work great.
Click to expand...

Not sure if you are saying this, but never, never use tape inside a vivarium. It will come loose and the snake wil get stuck to it.
 
I have had one problem in the past with tape and my green tree python due to the tape coming off of a perch, but I've never had a problem with tape and paper towel on a flat bottom of a viv. It's scotch tape and I have substrate over the top of that. Even if the tape loosens, the aspen sticks to it first. I've never had the tape loosen on paper towel though. It just keeps the snake from burrowing under the paper towel.
 
I do use UTH's for the BP's.. I didn't much thin about using the pad attached to the tile.. Wish I knew that before hand because the heater could be reused time and time again with different applications.. Any how, the UTH's are attached to the underside of the glass Aquarium.. I use a ceramic floor tile ( cut to size for the inside of the tank.. ) to distribute the heat more evenly.. Or at least this is my theory on it..

Regards.. Tim of T and J
 
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