• 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.

Need advice...First Time Snake Owner

I bought a thermostat with probe today. The internal temp on the bottom was 103F. The temp of the pad on the outside was 130F.

I detatched the pad from the tank and let it just rest on my desk (which is also glass). It still radiates heat up though, so it still warms the bottom of the tank. Internal readings at the bottom of the rank above the pad are now between 90F and 91F.
 
Good call on the thermometer. 90-91 is right at the top of the Corn's safe range. If you can bring the temp inside the tank on the floor down another 5 degrees to the mid-80s, you'll have a bit of wiggle room in case of fluctuations.
 
It is already starting to warm up, and temperatures above 90 are common in summer in Colorado. So I probably will be turning it off soon anyway.

So far he has tended to hang out on the top of the soil, where temps are a lot lower anyway. I am planning on getting one of those light dials that lets me lower it in increments.
 
You wouldn't need to turn it off or down if you had a thermostat - that would do it automatically and switch it back on when it got cool enough. Great labour saving device.

The rheostat dimmer type that you're looking at, will need constant manual adjustment. Bit of a pain if your indoors temps fluctuate by any amount.
 
JeffDenver said:
Is this what you mean?

http://s.petco.com/assets/product_images/0/096316680227C.jpg

http://www.petco.com/product/108340/Zilla-Temperature-Controllers.aspx
Click to expand...
Those are just rheostats Like bitsy said they will need to be adjusted whenever the temp in the room changes at all and need to be checked. If you get an actual thermostat it will turn the UTH off when it gets to the correct temp... then back on when it needs to warm up again, and your UTH will stay at one temp with no adjusting once you get it set then that's it... I have this below and it has worked great for over a year now.

http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/reptile-supplies/thermometers-thermostats-and-timers/-/zoo-med-500r-thermostat-with-probe/
 
I'm not familiar with that particular make/model of thermostat personally, but yep, that's the sort of device I was meaning. You could probably get some recommendations from US folks if you're considering a thermostat rather than a dimmer.
 
Since we are going into summer, I am not all that worried about heat issues. So I might just go with a dimmer. It'll depend on the cost.

Come winter I will definitely get a Thermostat. Temps in my room are not at all stable in winter, although they never really get below 60F.
 
They are right about the dimmers, they can sometimes be a pain. We have one that constantly needs to be moved because one time you will look at it and it will be over 90 then the next day it will be in the 70's. Sometimes we get lucky and it will stay at 86 for a week at a time. But I still have a couple. Our tub racks have 8 shelves each. We use heat tape on each shelf. Here is a link for the heat tape if you are interested in taking a look...
http://www.reptilebasics.com/flexwatt-heat-tape
On 6 shelves we have a 6 plug Ranco thermostat
http://www.reptilebasics.com/ranco-etc-111000-pre-wired and a 2 plug Zilla thermostat-Petco has them (they also come in 3 plugs). The Ranco is much easier. You set it and it adjusts to keep the temp within a degree or two range...you can set that part too. The Zilla is okay but it sometimes needs adjusted more because it is a dial and the Ranco is digital which is more precise. Of course since you only have one snake right now, the Zilla would work and you would have room on it to add one or two more. If you go big, the Ranco would be great. But the Helix would be top notch! But much more expensive. But worth it from what I hear. http://www.reptilebasics.com/helix-controls-dbs-1000
 
Just picked up a Zilla Temperature Controller about 2 or 3 days ago. Its worked great so far although its not digital and I find the dial is off by about 5 degrees. This is easily rectified by watching it when you set it up the first time. Other than that its been fantastic!

http://www.google.com/search?source...08&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=f49f42c0b66ccee8

**Note this thermostat comes as a 1000 watt unit w/3 plugs and a 500 watt w/1 plug. I own the latter.
 
Yep, that's what adult Normals look like. They range from buff/brown shades to deep oranges.
 
Thats why normals are my fav, they vary so much! Ive encountered a few in the wild and every one is different, its amazing!
 
Check out this guy I caught last summer! He was hard to let back go, almost like a natural hypo. (thats my coworkers hand, not mine :p )

DSCN6241.jpg
 
Thats why normals are my fav, they vary so much! Ive encountered a few in the wild and every one is different, its amazing!
Click to expand...

I cant believe that colors are that intense on a wild snake...and a North American snake no less. I hope mine turns out like that.
 
That's why I say there's nothing normal about a normal! A young friend of mine who also has the snake bug, rescued a normal from a crappy pet store and that thing just gets prettier and prettier the older it gets! I'm so jealous I didn't bring him home!

I wish I lived somewhere that corns are native. One of my dreams is to find and bring home a wild one. Like finding buried treasure!

Devon
 
Congratulations on your first snake! I think it's very honorable that you came here and asked for informaiton before you bought your snake. This place is a treasure trove of everything corn snakes. As you've already experienced there are a LOT of people here who have lots of experience and are very willing to help out.

Thanks for having an open mind and taking suggestions. Your tank looks great!

I'd just like to recommend a breeder in your area who is absolutely outstanding. If you want another snake (housed in a separate aquarium!) I would like to recommend John Finsterwald of Colorado Corns. Here is a link to his web page, he is also a member here.
http://coloradocorns.com/

He specialized in Charcoal based morphs, which I think you'd be into if you like the gray snakes. I love them. I've always been impressed with John's snakes and his character. He's a great guy!

Good luck, keep asking questions!
 
It is likely I will get a 2nd snake eventually, but right now I am at my limit. 3 bettas and 3 hamsters. Both only live a few years max, so it will not be too long.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top