Heatpad question

[padkison]

I've got my adult cornsnake in a 18" X 36" glass cage. Two hide boxes, one over an 8x8 heat pad stuck on the underside and the other box at the cool end. Substrate is aspen chips. I noticed last winter the snake pretty much stayed at the cool end. It has occurred to me that the heat pad end may be too hot because the snake pushes the chips aside and lays on bare glass. Snake ate well last winter without problems, but I want to make sure he can thermo-regulate.

Anyone have this problem?

I thought about using a pad like ESU's liizard liner or ZooMed's Repti Cage Carpet, but didn't know if those worked well. I also thought about using a substrate like ZooMed's Eco Earth. However, I was uncertain as to its suitability as a snake substrate, cleanability and adherence to feeder mice (impaction). The snake may end up pushing aside the Eco Earth anyway.

Thanks

 

[cka]

Is your UTH regulated? A lot of times when a UTH is stuck directly on the bottom of the glass the surface can be extremely hot, and a snake, not the smartest of critters, will burrow down, lie directly on the hot glass, and literally burn itself to death. A thermostat or rheostat will allow you to control how hot the UTH gets. Measure your temps right on the glass, then on the substrate above the glass, in the hidebox and out. I'd stick with the aspen; you can always lay a sheet of newsprint down and place your feeder mouse on it, or just use an empty plastic shoebox or sweaterbox (depending on your corns size) as a feedbox.

Some snakes prefer the cool side, some the hot. If he had no problems last year eating he should be good to go

 

[Junkyard]

Do you have a lot of airflow under the tank and pad. I seen too often tanks with broken glass where the heat pad is. This will protect the surface the tank is on and the tank itself to not get too hot, this is good to do even when a thermostat is in place. When I was doing this I made sure I have at few inches of space for airflow.

You should not have any problems if he was safe last year and did just fine.

 

[Clay Davenport]

I thought about using a pad like ESU's liizard liner or ZooMed's Repti Cage Carpet, but didn't know if those worked well.

I wanted to comment on this. I used to use carpet in some of my cages. It worked well actually and didn't look bad either. You need at least two pieces for each cage though to facilitate cleaning.
However, don't waste your money on the commercial carpet like ZooMed sells pre packaged. It's just carpet and the exact same stuff can be bought at Lowe's for a fraction of the cost.
I think the ZooMed carpet to fit a cage that size runs around $20 or so, but if you buy it at Lowe's the same $20 would get you 10 cages worth.
They sell it as indoor/outdoor carpet, and it's normally used to carpet a covered concrete porch or what have you. Not to be confused with the plastic all weather indoor/outdoor carpet which is not suitable as a substrate.

 

[padkison]

Thanks for the idea of propping the cage up a couple inches. That makes sense. I will also look into a rheostat. I am not looking to heat the cage so that it is summer for the snake. I am mainly concerned about digestion and a spot where he can warm up if desired (but not cook). Summer time the room temp is about 75-82F and winter about 67-72F. I kept the UTH unplugged all summer. I am also going to put a hand towel over the UTH and clean as necessary.

 

[Cat_72]

The UTH will run way too warm for a corn if not on a thermostat of some kind....I won't use one unless it's regulated. If you use a thermostat, you shouldn't have to worry about it getting too warm for the snake to lay on, but you still need the airspace under the cage for safety. And of course, you still need to keep an eye on the temps....no heating device is 100% foolproof all of the time.