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too hot

J

JBLAZE725

New member
I have a problem where my house is very warm and because of this i cant get the temps for the snake down to 75 degrees even with all lights off. My setup is a 29 gallon tank with the reptile sand as a substrate, a water bowl on the far right side, a hide rock in the middle, a log tunnel on the far left side and a bendable structure throughout for climbing. For het I have a combo lamp on top of the tank. Even with no lights typical temperature is about 80 degrees and with the lamps on it can reach 90-92 degrees. I dont want it to be too hot for the snake and I want to make sure everything is ideal for it. Is this too hot or is it acceptable? Also if anyone else has this problem do you have any suggestions on how to fix it. Like I said I want everything to be perfect for the snake so all help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
 
What bulb wattage are you using?? Since it is a ~30 gallon tank, you could use one of the UTHs made for a 10-20 gallon tank and add additional substrate to create a thicker layer of insulation.

Temps in the 90s are not healthy and should be avoided. If your house is above 78-80 degrees, I wouldn't worry about heat. Here in Texas, I usually cut off the heat after early May.
 
The bulbs are all 60 watts, I didn't get the 75's because I knew it would all ready be quite hot. My problem is that even without the bulbs on it's all ready around 80 degrees so I can't really give him a hot and cold side to the tank because its the ambient temp thats all ready that high not a bulb causing the heat plus from day to night i cant make the temp drop because my house stays hot all day long. I can make sure the temps dont reach the 90's, but the best I can really do seems to be keeping them at a constant 80-82.
 
My first observation is the use of ' REPTILE SAND'.

I know opinion can be dividied on this matter but as a personal opinion and I suspect the opinion of many others on this forum, I would change your substrate as soon as is practicle.

The preferred choice appears to be Aspen shavings and I have to say I would highly recommend them. However, I have also used repti bark without any ill effects and only changed because of the apparent antiseptic and absorbent qualities offered by aspen. I'm sure others will have a view on your choice of substrate, as I am by no means what you would consider an 'experienced' owner having only owned my 2 corns for about 18 months.

With regard to your 'overheating' problem, I would personally go with and under tank heat mat as CAV suggested. I wouldn't imagine it getting too hot using an UTH and if you found it didn't quite get hot enough in cooler weather then you could add aditional heat using the lamp.

Hope this helps and I would be interested as to whether the more experienced among you feel my advice is correct. Would hate to be trying to help only to find I had gotten it horribly wrong.
 
i dont know much about snakes, im a beginer myself. but i have heard from other people that the heat pads can actually burn the sanke...just something to look into...i guess..


just my 2 cents
 
JBLAZE725 said:
I can make sure the temps dont reach the 90's, but the best I can really do seems to be keeping them at a constant 80-82.
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Congrats, 80-82 is the optimal temperature you’re shooting for!

My suggestion is cut the light and go ah-natural. If you still need to drop a few degrees, you can place the tank closer to the floor where the air is 1-3 degrees cooler. :) You are measuring the temp on the surface of the substrate correct?

Good catch on the sand Arkwright, I missed that completely. Definitely nix the sand. It is over drying, harbors bacteria and is uncomfortable for the animals. Remember, corns live in the forested southeastern United States, not the desert southwest. :)
 
I guess I'll just stop using the lights period because my temps are too hot with them. I was going to get a uth, but that would also put my temps too high. As far as the sand I didn't know that it was a bad choice for substrate. I bought my snake and setup from a local pet shop and that is what they recommended. I don't think they are extremely knowledgeable about some of their animals there. As soon as it's time for me to change my substrate i will get the aspen. Thanks for the help.
 
You may want to consider keeping a UTH...or even a human heating pad handy...whether you regularly use it or not...

I noticed you live in New York...so I can presume it isn't the OUTSIDE temp keeping your house so warm...and, unless the tank is sitting in direct sunlight (which I wouldn't recommend), your house is being heated to this temp...

If your heat ever goes out for any reason...or you have a drastic temp drop...better to be prepared by having an alternate heat source available...
 
Hes not in direct sunlight, hes actually in a very good spot where he doesnt have anyone messing with him and he doesnt constantly have people really around him so as not to stress him. As far as needing a uth my house is basically always this hot winter or summer, no real change in temp. the only time it gets any cooler is in the summertime when i have the ac on. If i ever did really need a heat source because temps dropped somehow i do have the combo lamp which works very well and as far as being to dry because of the lamp i have a hygrometer in the tank to show me humidity and I have a spray bottle handy at all times to mist the tank if necessary. My main reason in starting this thread was that i was worried a constant temp of 80-82 was possibly not good as i keep reading about having a tank with different temp zones one hotter one cooler and also having a daytime temp and a nighttime temp, whereas my temps were always the same and are constant throughout the tank. Like i said before though I am new to this and wanna do this as best possible so I am glad to hear all your suggestions as you know more than i do.
 
I don't think having a constant temp of 80 - 82 is going to cause any great problems. There is the issue of him being able to thermoregulate I guess, but then again would he need too at that steady temperature?

I guess if he gets too warm he can always take a dip in his water, so maybe making sure he has an adequately sized water bowl and fresh water everyday for him to bathe in if he wishes would be a good idea.

I live in quite a cool climate even in the summer, so my problems have always been keeping a warm side to the viv, a cool side has been no problem for me.

Not sure if this helps any.....
 
Arkwright said:
I don't think having a constant temp of 80 - 82 is going to cause any great problems. There is the issue of him being able to thermoregulate I guess, but then again would he need too at that steady temperature?

I guess if he gets too warm he can always take a dip in his water, so maybe making sure he has an adequately sized water bowl and fresh water everyday for him to bathe in if he wishes would be a good idea.

I live in quite a cool climate even in the summer, so my problems have always been keeping a warm side to the viv, a cool side has been no problem for me.

Not sure if this helps any.....
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I live in florida.. there are no seasons...just constant HOT...except those two days of winter.

but the AC is always on so i dont have the same problem of it being too hot...

i wish i knew more
 
FlaStangBabe said:
I live in florida.. there are no seasons...just constant HOT...except those two days of winter.

but the AC is always on so i dont have the same problem of it being too hot...

i wish i knew more
Click to expand...

Correction, you live in South Florida where you dont have seasons.

I'm in Tallahassee and we most definitely have seasons. As of late, it's been Tornado season. But seriously, it does get quite cold up here during the Winter and my heat never ever comes on, so sometimes a little bit of heat is required for them.
 
FlaStangBabe said:
i dont know much about snakes, im a beginer myself. but i have heard from other people that the heat pads can actually burn the sanke...just something to look into...i guess..


just my 2 cents
Click to expand...

This is more of a problem if the UTH is actually inside the viv rather than on the outside, or if you have it pressed right up against the outside of the glass. There are a couple of ways to avoid it too:

1. You can buy or build a thermostat for it so that the UTH isn't as hot as it would normally be just by plugging it directly into the wall.
2. What I do is have the UTH on a ceramic tile and the aquarium propped up an inch so that the mat isn't directly on the glass (plus I can vary the amount of heat that the substrate gets by moving the viv up or down).
3. You could also tape a piece of cardboard or something similar inside (on the bottom of) the viv...that'll keep the snake from coming into contact with the hot glass. It's not a great insulator, but a 1/8" piece of cardboard usually lowers the temps by about 2 degrees for me (measured from the surface of the substrate).
 
I do have a waterbowl that i constantly change the water in of course and it is big enough that he could easily get in and out and he would completely fit in it if he wanted to cool down. I also have a hide for him that is cooler than the rest of the tank so he goes in there to cool down also if necessary.
 
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