• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

I need some help with my heating setup.

S

Snek

New member
So I have this baby corn snake... and she likes to live under her substrate in her 5 gallon tank. (The tank is longer than half her length, per multiple care sheets I've found online. She will be upgrading to a 20L when she's bigger or when our Beardie needs her bigger tank, whichever comes first).

So I picked up a ZooMed mini UTH specified for 1-5 gallons, and it does fit nicely on 1/3rd of the tank. I DID stick it straight onto the glass before reading that I couldn't get it off once I did, but oh well... it wasn't that much and I wouldn't use it on the 20L anyway.

I also grabbed a thermostat, which said not to put the probe directly on the heat source. However, since the snake seems to prefer being mushed up on the glass, I didn't see any other way to ensure I was getting the right temperature. So I put it right on the edge of the pad. Then I put two layers of t-shirt material taped down on all edges over the glass where the heater is, at least for a few days until I can get the temps right, so she doesn't burn herself. Then I put the substrate back and the hide on top.

Last night after we got this all set up, she coiled up in her hide for several hours. When I woke up this morning, I used my temp gun and the inside of her hide was only 78. I moved the substrate, and the pad was 88. And the snake was buried on the cold side. I picked her up and she was so cold... I put her back in and she coiled up in the hide, but by the time I left the house, she was buried on the cold side again.

I don't know what to do here. I know she's not too warm in the hide, since it's only 78. I thinned out the substrate in the hide so she has a much thinner layer and hopefully gets more heat, and I piled it up all around the hide. I don't want to up the thermostat, because if she DOES bury herself, I don't want her to get burned.
 
just to confirm...
-The UTH should be Placed under the tank, not in the the tank.
-The thermostat probe should be place(taped) in the center of the UTH inside the tank.

you will still have a temperature difference from the top of the substratum and the bottom of the tank. The snake will burrow if it needs more heat. This temperature difference will of course be greater with thicker/more substrate.

braingarble
 
yes, I have the UTH under the tank and the probe in the tank. It is on the edge, however... I can move it into the middle.

Is there any reason why she'd prefer to be buried on the cold side?
 
If the "cold" side is room temperature (somewhere between 70 and 80), then she'll probably spend most of her time on that side. If the ideal ambient temp for corn snakes was 85, then the UTH would have to cover more than 1/3 of the tank...

If you're not sure of the warm side temps, try removing whatever substrate you're using and replace it with paper towels for a while (with the probe under the paper towels). Go for a bare-bones setup while you get the temps figured out. And do put the thermostat probe closer to the middle if you can.

Also, make sure there are at least two hides, one on the cool side and one on the warm side. If possible, make them both the same. Corns, especially babies, like to hide and will choose security over comfort.

She will be cool to the touch unless she's been lying over the UTH for a while or you've been holding her for a while (warmed by your hands). Your hands are around 90+ and the snake is usually good at 75 -- that's a big difference and will feel cold to you. Even 85 (the warm side temp) will barely feel warm to you.

Finally, if she's brand new to you, she will hide more than normal until she gets used to the new home.

I think that's all I was going to say ;)
 
Snek said:
Is there any reason why she'd prefer to be buried on the cold side?
Click to expand...

what are your hides like? A hide is not a hide, if they can be seen easily. Especially a new snake in a new environment. Pieces of bark, smushed papertowel / toilet paper tubes are excellent. They love tight areas. Half logs, and other big cage decor items are generally avoided by small snakes.

My snakes generally hang out on the cool side until they eat. Just verify your temperatures are accurate on the warm side and not too warm.

Something to think about also is the room temperature. This time of year our homes are usually warmer (i see you live in NJ too). For example, If the snake room is 85F for a decent period of time, your vivarium is probably a few degrees cooler than that. If the substrate is close to 80 or a little above, that may work for your snake and it may not seek warmer temperatures.


-braingarble
 
No, we keep the AC on low all day for the cats. Not to make it cold or even cool... just comfortable. The living room and dining room are one big open space in our apartment, so she sort of has to be there.

The hide is a rock cave thing, and it has a little back "door" which, oddly enough, she seems to always have her head sticking out of, rather than hiding completely in the dark. You can't really see her unless you get right down to her level and look hard or shine a light in.

I didn't even think to get a reading on the cool side. I'll do that tonight.

Okay, so if the temp in her hide is like 78 degrees, that's okay? Because most things I've found say 85 on the warmer side for optimal digestion. I have her thermostat set to 85, which, like I said, had the inside of her hide at 78.

I don't really have room for a second hide. The water dish we're using at the moment is a bit large, because I read they sometimes like to soak when they're shedding. Like I said, right now, she's in a 5 gallon... which is actually fine for her size. There's just not a lot of room for stuff.

(you'd never know I grew up having corn snakes, would you?)
 
Although, the underside of her dish is open so there's a lip... she could easily curl up in there if she figured out it was there.
 
I have small dog/cat bowls in all my tanks, like the one you mentioned. They are water bowls and a small hide. Even my bigger snakes find their way under them somehow. good choice.
 
Yes your temp is fine she will burrow down if she needs to be warmer.

As far as spending most of her time on the cool side she will go to the warm side if she needs to. We recently fed both of our snakes and they both went right to their cool sides. Usually they go to their warm spots but not this time. I figure they know what they need better than do, I'm not a snake.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top