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Putting the setup together tonight - questions

I

idloveaguinness

New member
Hi all -

So I'm getting the setup together tonight and had a few questions.

1. The tank is going on a painted (water-based paint) pine bookshelf. Should I have something between the shelf and the heating pad? I'm not worried about safety as much as I am having constant heat on the paint and things getting stuck together.

2. There should be a small airspace between the tank glass and pad, correct?

3. I got one of those Big Apple Herp thermostats (nice that I live only about 15 minutes from their warehouse), and also one of those Zoo Med yellow battery powered thermometers with a probe. I figure I'd use them both as an independent double-check. Overkill? Use hot glue to attach both probes to the glass, correct? That's two wires in the habitat.....not an issue? Do I hot glue the wires all the way to where they exit at the top of the cage, or is there no worry with the snake / wires?

4. I have two lid clips.....is that enough?

5. How deep should the substrate be? 2" or so for a baby?

Any other advice?

Thanks,
Kevin
 
1. I would put something between the heat pad and shelf, I myself just put little blocks under the tank on all 4 corners to keep it up and tape the heat pad to the glass

2. Unnecessary considering you have a thermostat and a thermometer.

3. Its not overkill, you should have both incase the thermostat isnt right. About the wires im not sure im just gonna put a small piece of tap on the probe to keep it in place and leave the wire, I dont think its necessary to glue gun the wires though but im not 100% sure.

4. I use 2 lid clips it should be OK, but you need to place on at each end so they are facing eachother. Like on the width part not length part, i just realised this recently and thought i needed 4 too.

5. Im unsure i use paper towel for a substrate, but I believe 2'' will be fine, if not perfect, I dont think it cant really be too deep considering a lot of corns like to burrow

Advice: Dont use any kind of lamps, dont hold him for about a week after getting to let him settle in ( I know its hard), keep 2 hides (one on cool side and one on hot side), dont let temps reach over 90 F (85 is ideal I believe). Thats all I can think of, although ive only had my corn for a little over a week so im not the most experienced person but all advice ive given is 100% accurate.
 
Checkersthecornsnake said:
1. I would put something between the heat pad and shelf, I myself just put little blocks under the tank on all 4 corners to keep it up and tape the heat pad to the glass

2. Unnecessary considering you have a thermostat and a thermometer.

3. Its not overkill, you should have both incase the thermostat isnt right. About the wires im not sure im just gonna put a small piece of tap on the probe to keep it in place and leave the wire, I dont think its necessary to glue gun the wires though but im not 100% sure.

4. I use 2 lid clips it should be OK, but you need to place on at each end so they are facing eachother. Like on the width part not length part, i just realised this recently and thought i needed 4 too.

5. Im unsure i use paper towel for a substrate, but I believe 2'' will be fine, if not perfect, I dont think it cant really be too deep considering a lot of corns like to burrow

Advice: Dont use any kind of lamps, dont hold him for about a week after getting to let him settle in ( I know its hard), keep 2 hides (one on cool side and one on hot side), dont let temps reach over 90 F (85 is ideal I believe). Thats all I can think of, although ive only had my corn for a little over a week so im not the most experienced person but all advice ive given is 100% accurate.
Click to expand...

This looks to be almost spot on!

Two inches of substrate is just fine. As mentioned, they enjoy burrowing.

I would highly advise against the use of tape. Snakes can and do find ways to it stuck to themselves. It can rip off scales which I'm sure you can imagine is not pleasant.

I use a hinged lid on the only tank I use. I feel comfortable with 4 lock things. If yours is one solid piece, two should be fine assuming they keep the lid in place firmly.

Glue both probes side by side on the bottom of the glass, above the uth and under the bedding. You use both that way you will always know the temp in the event the UTH fails. I personally use a Temp gun but I find it to be a nuisance compared with a simple temp probe on the bottom.

Hope this helps!
 
Ah thanks for the info i wont use tape then, hmm maybe ill hot glue gun a small portion and do it in such a way that is can be cut off with a knife easily if it needs to be moved or what not. Also the wire that hangs down, should i cover it, i dont think the snake should touch it?
 
You can pop a probe off pretty easily if it's been secured by hot glue...we did it without issue when upgrading our snakes to bigger tubs. I just used my fingernail to peel it of, but a butter knife would handily do the trick as well.

And I usually only glue the probe itself, but I think it's more whatever you feel comfortable with. Our biggest snake hasn't managed to dislodge hers or get wrapped in the cord.

Sounds like you have a good setup going :) G'luck :D
 
Great - thanks all for the info! I think we are set to go! I need to do some tweaking, mostly just hiding wires and stuff, but otherwise, it looks like we are good to go.
 
Thermostat set at 85F, Zoo Med constantly fluctuating between 85.5F and 89.4F. Is this OK, or should I go a little lower on the Thermostat?
 
Thanks. I guess I'm wondering, though, is one of them right, the other, or do I split the difference? If the thermostat is right, then is't 82 a little low? Hmmm.....
 
i know my thermostat reads a little off from what's true since the thermometer probe is glued down and the thermostat one isn't secured... they read a few degrees different. all i could really recommend is a second opinion on temperature. I use an infrared temp gun to spot-check everything.
 
great. The thermostat seems to change things up quickly. Those couple of degrees has the zoo med thermometer ranging from 82 to 86 now. Prob just right. This outa be fun. The corn has really brightened up in the few weeks since we bought him (he's dorming at the herp store til sat).

Thanks all.

Kevin
 
idloveaguinness said:
great. The thermostat seems to change things up quickly. Those couple of degrees has the zoo med thermometer ranging from 82 to 86 now. Prob just right. This outa be fun. The corn has really brightened up in the few weeks since we bought him (he's dorming at the herp store til sat).

Thanks all.

Kevin
Click to expand...

I am starting to think I am more excited that your son...and I forget, does he know hes getting this or is it still a surprise? I know it was discussed at some length at one point and time but I don't recall the end verdict.

I for one cannot wait till Saturday!:crazy02:
 
He doesn't know a thing!

This is a kid, that when he was 2, would say "I want nake"......this is his 7th bday.

He's going to flip.

BigByrd47119 said:
I am starting to think I am more excited that your son...and I forget, does he know hes getting this or is it still a surprise? I know it was discussed at some length at one point and time but I don't recall the end verdict.

I for one cannot wait till Saturday!:crazy02:
Click to expand...
 
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