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7th Grade Science teacher here

K

KPerron

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Hi everyone!

I'm a 7th and 8th grade Science teacher and recently decided to get a cornsnake for our classroom pet. I bought it last week and am giving him some time to get used to his new home before bringing him to school.

I have a temperature regulation issue/question.

Here's my setup:
20 gallon tank (i know its a bit of over kill for a htachling but its a long story of why i have a 20 gallon)
reptibark substrate (planning on switching to Aspen as soon as he finishes digesting his last meal- i feed him yesterday for the first time
one "hot spot" hide
one cool side hide
water bowl in the middle
lots of greenery to make the huge tank seem not as big for this little guy

the kit came with two overhead lamps but i didnt like using them (couldnt get a hot spot for the guy and it would get either too hot or too cold for ambient temp) and i purchased a UTH that said it was good for a 10-20 gallon tank.

Here's my problem: I have a temperature probe on the ground in the hot spot hide right over the UTH (on top of the substrate). It is reading 92 which is from all my research too hot...I tried building up the substrate over it but then the ambient temp in the tank was too low...it was about 70 on the warm side and 68 on the cool side.

How can i get a hot spot that isnt too hot and still keep the ambient temperature high in the tank.
Any advice would be appreciated. I want to get this right so that my students can find out how interesting and not scary snakes can be.
 
Welcome to the forum. Nice to see other people from the same area on here. Any way you can use a dimmer to help adjust the hot spot. The other problem you might run into with the way its being heated is humidity. The lights might dry out the air too much
 
Thanks for the reply! I have always wanted to own a snake (I helped raise a ball python years ago when a boyfriend had one), but my husband didn't want one in the house. I found a loophole now that I'm a classroom teacher. I get a snake and it wont be at our house except for summers and long holidays!
Im not currently heating it with lights. I have a UTH that is getting a little too hot and I decided to order a thermostat but I still worry about getting the ambient temperatuer correct when the snake is in the classroom over night.
 
actually my classroom will get down to 60F on a cold night and 80F on a warm night. that is the temps we have to keep our units on according to the handbook, but my principle my make some exceptions if i ask. I'd rather not ask if I can control the temps another way
 
With a 20 gallon tank, make CERTAIN the lid is tight fitting and the mesh is not so wide that a baby snake can squeeze through it. Most people who have baby snakes escape from them lament that they NEVER thought the snake could squeeze out of that cage. And yes, a baby snake can climb up the sides of a smooth glass sided tank by using the corners and leveraging it's body. This has happened COUNTLESS times to others.
 
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