| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Bellman |
Posted - 27/02/2011 : 13:00:01
We just brought our new baby corn snake home yesterday, and we are having some difficulty in heating up the faunarium. We have a heat mat underneath the tub, with a dimmer thermostat attached, but the mat itself doesn't appear to be warming up correctly.
Fine, we went and replaced the mat, but the new one is also remaining quite cool - with only a slight warming to the touch.
Are we doing something wrong? We tried plugging the mat straight into the mains, thinking the thermostat might be malfunctioning, but still no joy. Why aren't out heat mats warming up properly? Any thoughts? |
| 10 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| lotabob |
Posted - 27/02/2011 : 16:16:28
Sorry to confuse you, its just a rule that if your temperatures aren't right you don't feed them. They need a temp of about 28 degrees to digest their food without it the food starts to rot and they regurgitate it. If you have a nice warm spot then thats OK don't worry about not feeding though I would recommend that you dont feed or handle now for 7 days to allow your snake a bit of time to settle in. I'm sure you'll already know but definitely no handling for 48 hours after a feed to allow digestion.
The dimmer stat will still do its job it just wont be able to cope with lower temperatures. I aim for a temperature of 28 degrees, I personally find 30 is too high for Spot but you'll get to know your snake, watch how he behaves, if he is swapping between hot and cold then you've got it right, if he is spending all his time in just 1 end then your temps may need a slight tweek. (always in cold end = hot end too hot, always in hot end = hot end not hot enough) though not an exclusive rule, they will choose safety over temperatures so its vital to provide plenty of cover and hides for them. |
| Bellman |
Posted - 27/02/2011 : 15:40:27
Ok, everything is good now. The temperature has reached over 33 (so we turned down the dimmer), and I at least know that the faunarium has a nice warm spot for little Spectre.
Thanks for the advice - I had been putting the probe in the wrong place. The stat seems to be doing the trick, although I do plan on getting a normal stat - I'm just borrowing this one until the new one gets here.
What was that about feeding and heat? We fed him once yesterday, and he seemed to take it no problem at all. We put him in another tub with no heat and no substrate (because I read that a clean environment is best to avoid ingesting substrate), and it seemed fine. Very feisty and grabbed the pinkie with gusto, swallowing easily.
Should we be doing something else? |
| lotabob |
Posted - 27/02/2011 : 15:10:54
That may be your problem, the mat is too low wattage for the stat. The mat is perfect though, I use the same wattage without a problem. What ever you do though please don't run the mat without the stat, they can achieve incredible temperatures far too hot and potentially dangerous. If the shop you bought your stuff from sold you or allowed you to buy the wrong stat (because they are a lot more expensive than a £20 mat-stat) then you should have a word and they should swap it for you. Becuase its not overly cold at the moment, just put your snake in the warmest room of the house and turn off the mat while you go get the right stat, as long as you don't feed with the heat off then the little guy will be OK.
The thermometer probe needs to be a close to the mat as the snake will get, they burrow so right on the very bottom is the best bet. (My snake actually moves the substrate off the mat in the hot hide and sits directly on top of it, they know where the heat is and will seek it out)
They do make you worry while you get things up and running but you just get used to checking things over and you can get to the point where you do it automatically without even thinking. Keeping a record of anythiong and everything is a good place to start, I'd be lost with my snake diaries, they have 1 each and really help.
Another one I find handy is to use either something heavy or some aquarium sealant and fix your probes into place, snakes seem to love moving them so fixing them down just puts your mind at rest tht they are still in the right place. |
| Bellman |
Posted - 27/02/2011 : 13:50:54
Ok, it is a ProRep mat, 150x280mm 7w.
Living Earth Electronics Habistat Dimmer (max 600w). Which may be the problem, if there is a minimum wattage. I think that plugging the mat straight into the mains does increase the temperature a little.
I am using a digital thermometer, although the probe is resting on the top of the substrate, so I'll try burying it and seeing if that helps.
Thanks for all your help, guys. It's a little daunting to have all this worry about a little snake! :) |
| kdlang |
Posted - 27/02/2011 : 13:17:33
Is it definitely a dimmer stat you have got? Ideally you need an on/off mat stat or a pulse proportional stat with a heat mat. Dimmer stats are more for use with bulbs I think.
How are you measuring the temperatures?
Sometimes when I am testing mats, I have found they heat up better if they have something on them like a hide or some wood |
| matty18714 |
Posted - 27/02/2011 : 13:14:16
The minimum wattage for a dimmer is for habistat dimmers only as far as I'm aware. So what brand mat and stat are you using? |
| matty18714 |
Posted - 27/02/2011 : 13:13:12
The base on the faun (without any substrate), should be about 29*C. So you have the mat and then the thin plastic floor of the faun on top of it. If you are measuring air temperature, and you are if you are using a dial thermometer or your digital thermometer isn't touching the floor, there's your problem. A mat isn't designed to heat the air. |
| lotabob |
Posted - 27/02/2011 : 13:10:40
What is the wattage of the heat mat? The reason I ask is I'm almost certin a dimmer stat has a minimum load capability of 40 watts, anything less than 40 watts wont work properly and as far as I know a 40 watt mat would be enourmous.
Also where are your probes and how are you measuring temperature?
Dial or digital thermometer? |
| Bellman |
Posted - 27/02/2011 : 13:10:12
Not directly. But the problem is that it seems insufficient to keep the faunarium warm enough. The temperature inside the tub is hovering between 20 and 25. I am concerned somewhat - isn't the warm side temperature supposed to be edging 30? |
| matty18714 |
Posted - 27/02/2011 : 13:07:34
It should only be slightly warm to the touch. Have you actually measured its temperature? |
