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heating

J

Jake The Snake

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Hello, I am receiving a baby corn tomarrow. Bad news is I don't know if my tank is warm enough. I have a 20 long with a uth made by Natures heat. It is meant for 30 to 50 gallons though.
The stick on thermoneter says between 75 and 80. Is that enough heat for him to digest a meal quickly enough? What do you recomend for a 2nd 24/7 heat source? Thanks,
Jake

Here is a picture of what snake I am getting from Rays Reptilia.
 

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80 is fine.

Where is the thermometer located? The only reading that you are concerned with is on the actual surface of the substrate in the warm end.

A 30-50 gallon heat mat on a 20 gallon tank is going to be much too warm I'm afraid. I don't think you are getting an accurate reading.

Check out this site for specific corn snake info: www.cornsnakes.com

The same guy that runs Fauna owns that site as well.
 
heat

Hello, The stick um is about 1 inch obve the heat mat on the inside. I think I placed it right.
If there is a better place I will go and buy some more.
Thanks
 
how are you measuring?

I hope you're not using one of those thermometers that sticks to the side of the tank. It won't do you any good. What you care about is the actual surface temperature of the substrate. Get a proble type thermometer and check both the temperature on top of the substrate and just below the surface (corns often like to burrow). If you can't find a probe thermometer, just use a "people" thermometer and leave it sitting on the substrate for a little while. I bet you'll find that it is a lot hotter than you think.
Good luck! Looks like a beautiful little snake!
 
Jake...you can go to the grocery store and buy a reliable and cheap probe thermometer too (meat thermometer)...place it so the end touches the glass under your substrate...those little stick on thermometers aren't good for much anything...if you've attached your UTH to the glass you can add a thermostat or rheostat to it to adjust the temp. or you can peel it off, stick it on a heat resistant tile or surface and raise/ lower your tank above it to adjust the temp...the glass temperature when an unregulated small sized UTH is stuck directly to the glass bottom is HOT, hot enough to bake yer baby snake, which is dumb enough to just lay there and bake away........Good luck, looks like a sweet lookin' baby corn

ps you can use your UTH as your only heat source.........
 
All good advice. The only thing I haven't heard mentioned is a temp gradient. I know breeders who keep their herp room at a constant 82 with no additional heat and have great success, however, all my snakes have gradient and use it.

A temp gradient means you need a hot side of the tank and a cooler side of the tank.

Hot side being around 80-82 and the cool side 73-75 is probably a great gradient.

I have 2 20 gal Long tanks in my collection both have 20 gal UTH's and no other heat source.

One tank is divided into 2 sides with an acrylic divider and the UTH is mounted at the center back.

I use an infrared thermometer to temp all various points in my enclosure to be sure I am not getting any hot spots. The gradient is good in all...I would think that a heater that big will end up causing you problems unless you use a thermostat.
 
Agreed...they size UTH's for certain size aquariums for a reason...Jake, you can always use a low wattage heat bulb (like a red or dark blue bulb) instead of a UTH...use a a small clamp lamp or gooseneck lamp, shine it dirctly down on one end of the aquarium and measure your hot side temp under the light...Raise/lower it to get th e temp right...You can leave it on full time or turn it off at night (as long as your house doesnt get too cold) to simulate a night time drop...80-82 is a bit low for babies IMHO, but they can tolerate a pretty good range of temps and what works for some doesnt for others, but it's all good as long as it works ;*)
 
Personally, I prefer belly heat...I feel it helps my snakes digest better than radiant heat (as from a bulb or emitter) and doesn't create too high an ambient temp (air temp), but as long as you adjust your temps to be in the right range you should be fine.

Of all snakes, Corn snakes are probably one of the most tolerant of temp changes, within reason.

Pay attention to your snakes...they know better than any of us or any book.
 
Yea. A UTH with 30-50gal capabilities arent good for a 20gal tank.
Ive had problems with that particular brand of heat pads as well. I like the ZooMed het pads. They work great, on or off a thermostat (mine are on a thermostat, just incase.)
 
I use ZooMed's as well.
I leave them on all the time...and have never had a problem...
If my house has a sudden drastic temp change...I regulate by partially covering the screens.

Never had a problem...
 
Zoomeds are very cost efficient as well.
I only have 1 tank left, as my switch to racks is almost complete, but it's still running on a ZooMed.
 
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