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heat pads or heat bulbs?

P

Pandora

New member
i know alot of people use undertank heaters, is there anyone out there that just uses the heat bulbs? i use a bright one for the day and black one for the night.(both are 75 watt) is this not an adequate source of heat? and while i'm on the question of heat, does anyone's snake ever feel a little cold to the touch when taken out of the tank?
 
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I use both, and if the tank gets too warm I just raise the light (it's hanging). My room gets COLD in the winter, so without the light, it's like having a warm floor and cold air. I'd imagine that's not too cozy for my little guy.

In the summer though, it's one or the other. Usually just the light is enough (the UTH seems to get too hot in the warmer temps).
 
Pandora said:
i know alot of people use undertank heaters, is there anyone out there that just uses the heat bulbs? i use a bright one for the day and black one for the night.(both are 75 watt) is this not an adequate source of heat? and while i'm on the question of heat, does anyone's snake ever feel a little cold to the touch when taken out of the tank?
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You could have just gotten a red bulb (infared heat) and saved yourself some money. Red bulbs are okay to have on all the time, or you can buy a timer and have it come on whenever you'd like. I use that with a UTH for my ball pythons, and it works out fine.

Yeah, at times my corns are cold to the touch when they come out of their tank. Not a big deal, at least it hasn't been for mine.
 
I was using just the red light bulbs for heat. But found that at night when the temps in my house got a little cool, it wasn't keeping the temps right. So I started using the UTH with a temp control on it. The controller is on its lowest setting, so I can turn it up if I need to. From experimenting I found with both my tanks I had to kick the lighting down. I went from using a 100 watt bulb with the 29 gal tank to a 60 watt bulb and went from a 60 watt bulb to a 40 watt bulb in the 20 gal long. I switch between a day bulb and a red night bulb. I bought the lighting fixture that has 2 sockets, so all I have to do is switch one off and the other on. You can put them on a timer if you want.

I find that my guys are cool to touch also. They seem to be eating and moving around fine so I'm not worried.

Jean
 
Snakes are cold to the touch because they are cold blooded where a person's temp is 98.6 degrees. You will feel a temp difference when you hold your snake.

I use both UTH and Light source for heat, where I live it gets very cold and where my snakes are housed at in the room it gets pretty chilly. I even put a space heater in I run at night, I keep room temps around 75.
 
Krenna said:
Snakes are cold to the touch because they are cold blooded where a person's temp is 98.6 degrees.
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Just FYI.

Cold blooded simply means they cannot internally regulate their body temperature (ie. they don't sweat to cool down). They basically take on the temperature of their surroundings. Hot when surrounding temps are hot, cold when surrounding temps are cold. It does not mean they have cold blood.

Warm blooded animals can regulate their own internal temps. We can move around to warm up, or sweat to cool down.
 
Red bulb or ceramic heater

What is better, red bulb or ceramic heat bulb? Pros and cons. Cost is not a factor, I'm a newbie and I haven't bought anything yet, I'd like to get it right the first time, not buy cheap now upgrade later. I've done that in the past and just ended up wasting money. Would the red bulb change the appearance of the color of the snake at all?

I live in a really HOT NYC apartment, so I'm not going to get the undertank heater. I think heat coming from above is more natural. Also, with the heat comes dryness. What should I do about that--spray or do you think the water dish and bulb will create enough humidity for them?
 
IguanaMama said:
What is better, red bulb or ceramic heat bulb? Pros and cons. Cost is not a factor, I'm a newbie and I haven't bought anything yet, I'd like to get it right the first time, not buy cheap now upgrade later. I've done that in the past and just ended up wasting money. Would the red bulb change the appearance of the color of the snake at all?

I live in a really HOT NYC apartment, so I'm not going to get the undertank heater. I think heat coming from above is more natural. Also, with the heat comes dryness. What should I do about that--spray or do you think the water dish and bulb will create enough humidity for them?
Click to expand...

Well, if your apartment is hot, then perhaps you dont need anything. I leave my corns at room temperate and they've done just fine--they have no other source of heat. I might change that up, but I'm not really sure yet.

A red bulb wont change the appearance of the snake---at least not when viewed under a normal light. Your snake might appear a bit different when they're under a red light, but that's not a big deal. If you go with an overhead light, I'd suggest also getting a multi-setting timer and just have it come on every so often---you dont need to leave it on all the time, especially if your apartment is hot. Corns dont need a temp of 90 to thrive. 75-85 is more than enough, and you'd even find a debate on whether or not a temp gradient is necessary for them. Like I said, I personally dont even use one, but that's just me.

If your apartment doesnt dip below 70, I really dont see the need to buy a light. I'd honestly just get a UTH and have it set on a low setting and leave it be. Heat bulbs create a lot of heat, obviously, and like I said corns dont need a hot temperate. You dont need to spray your tank. The water bowl adds moisture and humidity, especially when coupled with heat. If you do decide on a heat lamp, remember to put a towel over half of the screen top to keep the tank from drying out. Corns dont need a relative humidity that's high, nothing like a ball python. I'd say normal humidity in your house is probably around 40-50%, which should be fine for the corns. I dont even measure that for mine.

In all honesty, I'd just go with the UTH if you feel you have a need for an extra heat source.
 
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