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I can't maintain the suggested 24-30C daily temp, I can only do about 22-23. Should I

hypnoctopus said:
You can also try putting it on the lower side (outside) of the tank, so it won't burn your table.
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What? You can't mean 'under', since that's precisely how I would burn my table, but then what on Earth do you mean by the lower side? I'm confused.
 
Eek! I would advise against putting a uth in there without a thermostat. They have been known to get up to 13O F! Please don't let your snake get a burn! Yes, they *should* move off of the mat if it's too hot...but sometimes they don't. I have seen terrible pics of burns from this very situation.
Besides that, the uth, (once regulated) won't burn your table. 81-85 F won't burn anything. The uth should always go under the glass. It should come with little plastic bumps to elevate the tank slightly for air circulation.
 
Eek! I would advise against putting a uth in there without a thermostat. They have been known to get up to 13O F! Please don't let your snake get a burn! Yes, they *should* move off of the mat if it's too hot...but sometimes they don't. I have seen terrible pics of burns from this very situation.
Besides that, the uth, (once regulated) won't burn your table. 81-85 F won't burn anything. The uth should always go under the glass. It should come with little plastic bumps to elevate the tank slightly for air circulation.
 
reptire said:
What? You can't mean 'under', since that's precisely how I would burn my table, but then what on Earth do you mean by the lower side? I'm confused.
Click to expand...

She means stick the heat mat on the side of the glass tank, on the outside of the glass, rather than on the bottom. I prefer to offer my snakes (except arboreals) belly heat, but this set-up will still at least provide an ambient-air temp gradient.

kameo37 said:
Eek! I would advise against putting a uth in there without a thermostat. They have been known to get up to 13O F! Please don't let your snake get a burn! Yes, they *should* move off of the mat if it's too hot...but sometimes they don't. I have seen terrible pics of burns from this very situation.
Besides that, the uth, (once regulated) won't burn your table. 81-85 F won't burn anything. The uth should always go under the glass. It should come with little plastic bumps to elevate the tank slightly for air circulation.
Click to expand...

Good points. I would not use any heat source without a thermostat! As mentioned, they can get very hot! You would think a snake will move off of a surface that is too hot, but sometimes they won't. Most heat mats come with four rubber spacers that you stick on the corners of your cage to raise it off the surface a half-inch or so. If not, you can improvise with little blocks of wood, etc.

Please understand that no one here is attacking you; we're just concerned about the welfare of your snake. If you can't afford the things you need to provide the right environment, your snake will eventually have health issues.

Kathy
 
I use that exact UTH with Marvin my leopard. The little feet it comes with can raise the tank up off the table to give it some air flow. I also put extra bits of slate tile on each of the corners to raise it up further. Please don't use the UTH without a thermostat.
 
It is not strictly a UTH. This product is the one.
http://www.exo-terra.com/en/products/heat_wave_desert.php
If you take the time to look at it and are interested in my snake's well-being (just as I am - the problem with buying a thermostat is that I'm a poor university student so I'll have to wait at least another month before having money for that), I have a question.
I have no thermostat, so should I put it...
a.) in the vivarium itself and then carefully monitor whether it becomes too hot (checking every 5 minutes, etc. - I have to "luxury" to do that since I'm recovering from surgery so I'm at home all the time)
b.) under the tank with the hope of it not burning my table (the link talks about "extreme temperatures" so I'm guessing over 30C - I guess I can still monitor it some way or another but it's risky)
c.) on the side of the tank, outside

If c.), how will it help my cali king digest? I remember reading somewhere that glass is not a good holder of ambient temperature.
 
Which size? I am very familiar with that mat. Option "B" would be my choice but *do not adhere it*, get or borrow a good infrared thermomter and see *exactly* how hot it is getting before throwing your snake in there.
 
That is the brand UTH I use. No where on the packaging does it say that they can be used in the tank. They come with nice rubber feet to place on your tank to raise it up. I cover the sticky part of the UTH with tin foil and then attach them to my tanks with aluminum tape, so they can be easily removed and reused on another tank if needed. On a thermostat they will not get hot enough to burn a wooden surface.

I have one that is not on a tank currently, I will go plug it in and see how hot it gets.
 
If it comes with rubber feet, I will be able to raise the tank and I won't have to worry about burning the table and newspaper the tank is on. Then all my problems are solved.
 
I had my UTH sitting on a wood floor in the middle of the room. It was on for about 3hrs & the temp went up to 96.6 fahrenheit, it was still climbing when I unplugged it.

How long has your snake been at room temp? If it were me I would be inclined to try and bump the room temp up a bit until you can save up for a thermostat.
 
Thank you Alicia. This snake? Two weeks. But it's not a problem, if the mat does get that hot, I will just switch it off for a few hours.
 
reptire said:
Thank you Alicia. This snake? Two weeks. But it's not a problem, if the mat does get that hot, I will just switch it off for a few hours.
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So you are worried about burning a table but not about harming the snake? Until you can get a thermostat you would be best not using the heatmat at all and saving up for one.
 
Since it's quite warm right now, I might wait a few days before setting the mat up. I shouldn't really do any physical activities if I don't want to risk having to call an ambulance and risking massive blood loss.
 
reptire said:
Since it's quite warm right now, I might wait a few days before setting the mat up. I shouldn't really do any physical activities if I don't want to risk having to call an ambulance and risking massive blood loss.
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I'm a registered nurse and whilst an adult shouldn't run a marathon after a tonsilectomy setting up a heatmat wouldn't really be regarded as excessivre activity!
As the temperature won't be regulated, why not wait until you have a thermostat?
 
Setting up a heat mat isn't the problem, the lifting of my HEAVY vivarium to put the rubber legs under it is.:)
 
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