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Undertank Heat Mats

C

Cujo

New member
Okay.. I have a 30 gallon tank..hides..aspen bedding..now I Live in Illinois and so I have decided a heat mat is best for my corn (I dont even have one just yet)..now for th 30 gallon tank..which brand heat mat is recommended???some mats say they emit 100 degrees..now even with the bedding doesnt that seem TOO hot..I'm assuming (and maybe wildly as I'm new to corns) but even with the bedding to disperse the heat..wont that be over heating the tank? I have the a/c on so I figured the heat mat with regulate the temp..but I'm concerned as I dont want my future snake to get burned. Thanks in advance..


Cujo
 
with any heat mat you will want to buy a rheostat/dimmer to make sure that it doesn't overheat and burn your snake. They work great.

Good luck with your new corn!
 
During the day you really dont want your tank to go above 88 and at night you dont wanna go below 70. Glass aquarems have a harder time holding heat in. But yes if it gets too hot the snake could get too cozy and burn itself badly. Do not use a heat stone though. They can burn the snake badly, but I have recently seen something like a cave that is a heat stone. It is a hide. But if you have to get the heat mat that goes 100 degrees then definatly get a themomatur that can regulate your the heat :)
 
They are on ebay all the time. Also you can find them at major petshops. If not then you probably can find them at bigapple or LLL. Those webpages you can find at kingsnake.com Hope that helps. :)
 
I just put a small dish towel in between the heat mat and the tank bottom and the temperature on top of the substrate measures 83-86ºF. I could buy 3 of those rheostats, one for each heat pad, but my dad's bday is coming up and I have been saving to get him something nice. :)
 
snug as a bug in a rug

hehehe Get him a CORN
Click to expand...
good idea (lol)


I bought a reti-therm under the tank heating mat for my ten gallon tank for baby corns, it covers just over half the bottom of the tank, first i sugguest that you do not stick it to the tank you may never get it off, I just put on a sweatshirt inside out and then stuck it to the fuzzy side of the sweatshirt over and over so it wasn't sticky anymore, then I went out and bought a dimmer that you would put on a cord of a lamp to make the light brighter or dimmer, it's not accurate however, it was cheap and I can sort of control the heat, then I bought (at a rummage sale) a digital thermometer that has a long cord with a rubber tip as the heat sensor which I place on the glass right above the heating pad so I can easily check temps. I live in Wisconsin, so in the summer I don't really need it unless I turn on the ac, of course winters are chilly and heating is necessary. I also heard someone puts a layer of rubber under the tank to help disperse the heat or to keep it even, or something, that could be helpful (and it helps minimize vibrations)
 
I don't think it is a good idea to put anything between the tank and the heat mat that could catch on fire, like dishtowels or clothes. Of course, this is just my opinion. I bought two of the special reptile reostats (at $20 each), which you can plug TWO items into. I am still not able to keep the heat low enough, even with it set on low. So I am hoping that it works better in the winter. One of my baby snakes regurged again because it was too hot! SIGH! I am afraid i might have to go with the thermostat, which is close to $100. I used to have all my heat mats mounted onto a ceramic tile, then you can raise or lower the tank from it. Might go back to that, instead.
suefrederick
 
I have been reading all of the posts I can about heating and temps. and I still can't seem to get it right!:rolleyes: I have heat pads with the Reostats and on low it's too cool, alittle turn up and the bottom of the tank is way too hot!! Now my house (with the AC on) is about a constant 76, so I figure the warm side of thier tanks should be around 85...right? But if I make it so the top of the substraight is that warm then the tank bottom is reading over 105! I'm so afraid they'll get burned I turn it back down. So what do you guys do? I have read that some people don't use any heat sourse if their snakes are housed say in their living rooms, but don't the snakes still need the temp. differences to properly digest? How can they do that in one constant temp?
Also I like that idea about the sweatshirt lint! I used a piece of newspaper but it tears.

:confused: Any advice please!

Colleen
 
Go with flex watt heat tape and a simple dimmer switch. Attach it to the tank with foil tape. Whole setup would run about $15.
 
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