Thermostat Question

[lxhiddenxl]

I just got my creamsicle corn female Calypso on Thursday. I am looking for thermostats but I haven't been able to find any that have decent reviews and are a reasonable price. I really don't want to spend more than $50 on one. Right now I have a heating pad and a heating lamp. The reason I have both is because my room is pretty cold around 65-68 degrees and I have two thermometers one on the cold side one on the hot. The cool side is between 70-75 and the hot side is between 80-85, as long as I use both heat sources. But I am gone all day so I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for the thermostat?

 

[Buzzard]

Hydrofarm Horticultural Products makes this one which is great for us. It is rather inexpensive $25-30 and works great.
http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTP...40743178&sr=8-1&keywords=hydrofarm+thermostat

 

[bitsy]

With an unregulated heatmat and a lamp, Most makes of heatmat get to well over 110 so I'd expect the floor of the tank (where the snake is) to be very much hotter than 85. Do you have the funds for a digital thermometer? The best plan is to measure the temp on the floor surface with one of those.

Measuring the air temp is a red herring as the snake isn't up there. Also with a heatmat, it will be much hotter on the floor than part way up a tank wall, which is where plastic dial and cardboard strip types of thermometers tend to be used. I've seen one of the dial ones be 20 degrees wrong.

 

[Nanci]

Hey Buzz, is that a proportional thermostat, or off/on?

 

[AliCat37]

You can find thermostats online on amazon, and like bitsy said, if you are using both heat sources, you are more than likely cooking your corn snake. Heat mats regularly hit over 130 on the floor, which is where your snake is. Air temps don't matter.

 

[Buzzard]

Hey Buzz, is that a proportional thermostat, or off/on?

I believe it would be considered an on/off rather than proportional because you set the desired temperature and it clicks on and off as needed to maintain the set temperature - it works great for us.

 

[ratsncorns]

I can also vouch for the Hydrofarm thermostat. Its my backup and I havent had any problems with it. The price is right!

 

[lxhiddenxl]

I actually have the heat mat on the side of the tank even though I know it is less effective. I was worried about putting it under the tank since the tank isn't elevated that much. And she LOVES to climb... caught her sleeping in the vines I bought her the other day... so cute! But thanks for the tips! I will definately look into that one. It's hard to look for these things when you have no clue what you're looking for!

 

[bitsy]

Bear in mind that heat mats are only designed to heat the surface nearest them. That means the only way she can benefit from the mat is to get near it. She might be climbing to find the right heat gradient.

 

[lxhiddenxl]

Is that a bad thing? This is the set up I have for her cage...

 

[bitsy]

Well Corns can climb and some are inclined to do it anyway. But they're not arboreal and most spend the majority of their time on the ground. Seems better to cater to their natural inclination rather than give them a setup that possibly moves them into a position they might not find ideal.

 

[lxhiddenxl]

hmm.. I have four low hides, one on the cool, one on the hot and two in the middle. She loves those leaves, I saw her sleeping in them last night. I figured I should give her a at least one large branch and a bunch of on the floor for her. I've seen her use everything. At night she likes to do her "rounds" in her cage and she climbs over everything. I will def be buying the thermostat for her. I love her she seems to be a pretty good girl... she doesn't run from me when I reach my hand in to grab her.

 

[icejd7]

Hydrofarm Horticultural Products makes this one which is great for us. It is rather inexpensive $25-30 and works great.
http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTP...40743178&sr=8-1&keywords=hydrofarm+thermostat

I have this as well and it works well. The temp fluctuates though 2-4 degrees. Im using mine as a backup/quarantine thermostat and i m currently using a ve-300 proportional thermostat on my normal setup which keeps a consistent temp. A digital thermometer confirms the temps on the ve-300 is consistent.

Also if i read correctly, the heat mat should be on the bottom glass for belly heat which most people agree to.

You can also purchase little rubber circle stick ons to place on the bottom of the tank to elevate it enough for power cord to place the heat pad underneath.

 

[lxhiddenxl]

Finally got the thermostat. It was a little pricey but it also can adjust humidity. I know that they don't need high humidity but the winter can be pretty dry here because of the heaters and things.

Anyway, it is all set up now with the UTH on the bottom of my tank and the probe on top of it. Also bought some more leaves and even a little snake pool incase she wants to take a swim. Did a whole tank cleaning yesterday and reorganized everything and she seemed to love it. Explored her "new" home for a while. Found her this morning in her still favorite hide, the purple water bowl. I have it set at 85 the highest I saw it go last night was 87. Think that's good?

 

[lxhiddenxl]

Oh, and the lamp on top is only on at night when I want to see her roaming around the tank. I keep it really dim. She hates when I turn the bedroom light on. This way we are both happy

 

[bitsy]

All sounds very good! That's one happy Corn you have.

 

[lxhiddenxl]

Thanks! My boyfriend thinks I'm crazy... whenever I have a pet I keep buying them stuff. I want them to have a good time, I mean she's in there all the time might as well give her something to do!

 

[Lindseybree]

I use the hydrofarm UTH as well and can also vouch for it! As mentioned before, it does fluctuate a couple degrees below and above what you set it (mine's only every gone 2 degrees each way), but I figure the ground outside doesn't always stay exactly the same for them either.