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Why can't I get my Terrarium warm enough?!

P

Praetorian27

New member
I have a 20 gallon long tank that we are setting up for our new corn snake. I have a Zoo Med heating lamp with a 75 watt bulb, and a second one with a red bulb that I use at night. I have a Zoo Med under tank heater that is rated for a 30-40 gallon tank...mine is 20. I have substrate over the UTH as well as the rest of the tank, but it is a thinner layer over the UTH than the rest of the tank. I have temp probes under the substrate directly over the UTH, and another right at the surface layer of the substrate. With the UTH...and the heat lamp on full blast, it is still only 76 degrees on the warm side and 71.8 pm the cool side that has NO heating elements! Why the heck is my warm side still 9 degrees cooler than it should be?! It seems like I should be getting TOO warm on the warm side considering the UTH is rated for a tank twice the size as the one I am using. I see people saying to ditch the heat lamp and just use the UTH. There is no way I could do that. What do you think is going wrong?
 
I have a 10 gal with a 10 gal UTH. My temps hold at about 83 warm side and 74 cool side. I don't use any light other than natural sunlight if there is any. Mine took a few days to get up to temp, I also keep a towel over the top of her viv to hold in heat and humidity. Once it is up to temp you may have the opposite problem with such a large UTH.
 
I would get rid of the heat lamp- It could be that you have a faulty heat mat, it happens.
Or, if it's working properly, you would need to get a thermostat to regulate the heat mat- You can set it at whatever temp you want and the thermostat holds it around there.
Mine works great, it stays between 86-88, and it's nice not to have to worry about it.
I don't use any other heating elements, the lamps are too dangerous in my opinion, but if you decide on a thermostat, you might need the lamp for extra warmth until it arrives.

Just my personal opinions, I'm not an expert, just speaking from experience.
Regulating the mat temp stressed me out until I got a thermostat lol
 
Besides the heat mat have you checked the thermometers? Check them against each other out of the viv to see if they give the same room temp and check them against another thermometer.
 
I have three brand new thermometers in the tank...and it is the second UTH I have tried. I doubt all of it has been faulty. I am going to try moving all of the substrate away from the UTH and see what that does to the temp. The snake isn't here yet so I don't have to worry about it getting too hot.
 
Praetorian27 said:
I have three brand new thermometers in the tank...and it is the second UTH I have tried. I doubt all of it has been faulty. I am going to try moving all of the substrate away from the UTH and see what that does to the temp. The snake isn't here yet so I don't have to worry about it getting too hot.
Click to expand...

Good luck. Let us know what happens.
 
Any other viv's in the room? That heat pad should be all you need to get the temps up. I have a 55 gallon with a 40 gallon UTH and stays at 81, sometimes needs a little help with a red night bulb if the ambient temp in my room drops due to the heat not being able to keep up with a sudden temp drop outside.
 
11malibu said:
Any other viv's in the room? That heat pad should be all you need to get the temps up. I have a 55 gallon with a 40 gallon UTH and stays at 81, sometimes needs a little help with a red night bulb if the ambient temp in my room drops due to the heat not being able to keep up with a sudden temp drop outside.
Click to expand...

Just a 30 gallon aquarium. I use Zoo Med Eco Earth loose coconut fiber for the substrate. It is pretty thick, but I have taken a lot of it off the heater...only about 3/4" deep over the heater.
 
Aquariums with screen lids really aren't the best enclosures for snakes. They are convenient, inexpensive, and readily available, but they lose too much heat and offer little privacy for a nervous snake. Bottom heat is best. Lose the heat lamp. Maybe try insulating the glass? Sheet styrofoam is cheap and easy to use, but not pretty. You could use colored paper, some kind of background, or foamboard on three sides to give it a sense of security. Then cover part of the top to limit heat loss. The towel idea should work, but not in conjunction with a heat lamp. Got a fire extinguisher?
 
I use a towel on top without a heat lamp, just a UTH with a screen lid and towel on top, same with my 55 gallon viv, heat pad and a towel on top.
 
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