• 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.

Shoe Boxes and Heating

M

Malkingray

Certified Vet Tech
My 1st cornsnakes will be arriving late this week. The 2 yearlings will be housed in 20 gal. long aquariums. The 3 hatchlings I am considering housing in plastic shoe boxes. Can you use the under tank heating pads with shoe boxes? I have not gone out to get the shoe boxes yet, I am not 100% sure I am going to use them. Otherwise I will put them into 10 gal tanks which I need to go buy. Also in the winter will I need to use any additional heating sources (heat lamps, etc) or will the heating pad be enough? I am planning on *hopefuly* breeding the 2 yearings in '06.
Thanks.
Amy
 
Your getting enough snakes that building a rack system would be much less expensive that three new tank sets and heaters. Check out this thread for more information: Rack Systems

TO answer your question, UTH will be much to hot for a shoebox.
 
If you're considering using an UTH, attach it to the end of the box instead of underneat it. You still need to put something between the heater and the plastic because it may warp or melt, but keeping the heater above the snake will keep him from cooking himself. If you have several boxes that you are stacking on a shelf or something, you can attach the heating pad to the side of the shelf and put the shoeboxes near it to regulate the temp.
 
DO NOT USE A UTH WITH A PLASTIC SHOEBOX!!!!

I'm not trying to be mean Flygning, but the smallest UTH is made for a 10-20 gallon aquariums, not 4qt shoeboxes. It simply creates too much heat, regardless of where it is placed. A hatchling has zero chance of surviving this setup.

Just my .02......
 
I'm not saying to put it directly on it--I'm saying to seperate it a bit. A heating pad attached to a shelf wall a few inches, maybe 6, away from a stack of shoeboxes won't create too much heat. I guess I wasn't too clear on that, and I'm sorry for being misleading. I have the heater actually attached to the side of a sterilite container (with a bit of padding between) for my adult snake, and that doesn't create too much heat, so I guess I wasn't thinking too much about them being hatchlings. Sorry if my post created any confusion! :bowdown:
 
I am using a rubbermaid box that slides in and out of it's holder, and I've attached the UTH to a piece of picture glass. That way I can put a spacer on it, and place it under the box without it touching directly. I think you have the right idea Flygning.
 
The concern isn't with the distance as much as the size.

The shoebox containers are only 1/10 to 1/20 the size of the aquariums they are designed for. That overwhelming amount of heat, generated in such a small place, creates the problem. Is that worded better?

I'd hate for us to give deadly advice to a new keeper. That would make us as negligent as the ignorant pet store employees we complain so much about. ;)
 
While I don't use any outside heat source right now because it's so hot in general in the house, I tested out the system. I have the smallest UTH I could find, attached to the side of the shelf, with the stack of wee ones' boxes about six inches away. The temperatures on the inside of the shoeboxes were within the recommended ranges. I tested it for about 2 hours, and the temps never got too high. I see easy it would be to misuse, though, so I'm adding a disclaimer: DO NOT USE THAT METHOD WITHOUT MONITORING THE TEMPERATURES VERY CAREFULLY. Or, easier yet, don't use the method...But I don't know of any better way to do it and it works for me :-/
 
Thank you for the advice! I didnt think the shoe box and under tank heating would work together and I am glad I asked. I will look into the rack system, I have 1 10 gal. tank here and can pick up 2 more fairly cheap, but I don't want to buy new 10 gal and then have to up grade in a year and buy 20 gal. tanks and if I do get more involved with breeding tanks will get expensive too. I'll check out the link in one of the posts.
I am very interested in genetics and have studied canine (specificly Labs and Dalmatians) feline, cockatiel, rats and a few other species ( I have never bred any of them though) and the corn snake looks like a fun way to experiment and apply what I have learned all these years.
What type of heat lamps are safe to use (ceramic vs lamps)? Pros and cons? I will absolutely stay away from heat rocks! I treated a lizard when I was in school (vet tech) year ago that was SEVERELY burned.
Thanks,
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top