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Posted - 13/12/2009 : 21:01:01
I bought my first corn snake on Friday, and have some "new owner" worries.
He is about 10 inches long.
The shop that I got him from sold me a starter set up, so I have him in a 18 inch by 12 inch plastic Faunarium, with aspen as a substrate. There is a water bowl in there, and a coconut shell as a hide. I have also put a cardboard tube with an hole cut in it, which runs along the full length of the container.
There is a Habistat heat mat under one end, and I have placed the container on top of some polystyrene to help insulate the container.
I have a thermometer at the cooler end of the container which is reading 20 degrees centigrade. The room that he is housed in gets cooler at night when our central heating goes off.
The snake seems to be spending most of his time towards the middle of the container.
He has fed yesterday on a pinkie mouse, and today is sitting mid way down the tube.
I am a bit concerned that the tank might not be warm enough. The area above the heat mat is warm to the touch, and from what I can gather if the container was too cold the snake would be spending all his time near the heat source???
I am about to buy a probe type thermometer to check exactly what the temperature above the heat mat is.
Can anyone recommend a good product for this?
The Faunarium has small feet on it, which means there is a small gap between the heat mat and the bottom of the container. Should I minimise this gap by taping the heat mat directly onto the bottom of the Faunarium?
Does it seem that this set up is ok?
Thanks in advance for any help and advice.
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| 7 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
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Posted - 14/12/2009 : 15:45:06
Well getting hold of a thermostat has proved more difficult than I thought. My local shops were shut or didnt stock have them in stock.
I can get one on Wednesday, its a MICRO CLIMATE 100 MINISTAT.
Do any of you use these? is it a good product?
I know that I can get a HABISTAT thermostat off the internet, but I would perfer to get hold of one asap.
Any recommendations?
I did mamange to get a probe type thermometer, the container today is 30.5 degrees on at the hot end, and 16 degrees at the cool end. |
| Taz Devil |
Posted - 14/12/2009 : 14:16:01
I have one of these to monitor my temps:-
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=228215&C=SO&U=strat15
I didn't get it from maplins I got it from the IHS show in June, but this is a great thermometer, used with a Habistst MatStat.
I mainly have it displaying the hot end temp as the cool end doesn't seem to move much during the day. I'm sure someone on here could guide you to a cheaper version. Possibly from eBay.
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| HannahB |
Posted - 14/12/2009 : 10:54:07
my cool end drops slightly due to me having a cold room so i wouldnt worry too much about it - if it were major 10'c drops in temp then it would be a worry!
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| SexyBear77 |
Posted - 14/12/2009 : 10:34:11
Glad to hear you are getting a thermostat today, they are essential bits of kit despite what anyone says! There is no safe way to control temps without them.
As for thermometers, digital ones are by far the best thing to have, 1 in each end ideally.
Snakes dont really need a nighttime heat drop, its difficult to arrange and it can be bad for them, especially if they are digesting food. I think you will find 99% of people on here just dont bother. |
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Posted - 14/12/2009 : 10:27:39
thanks for those replies.
I was worried about it getting too cold in there, so now I'm worried about it getting too hot as well.
A thermostat for the heat mat does seem like a good idea, so I will get one bought today.
I have a thermometer in there, but I dont think it is really up to the job. Its one that I had for my tropical fish tank.I'll sort out a couple for better ones today.
Anyway, over night the temp in at the cool/cold end of the container dropped from 20 degrees last night(when our central heating was on), to 17 degrees this morning.
I am thinking that in the wild the temp must drop over night???
But of course as a new owner I am concerned about getting everything right. |
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Posted - 13/12/2009 : 21:55:34
all sounds good but like sexy bear said it sounds like you have got nothing to controll your heat mat now if thats the case them heat mats get very hot wich could end up hurting your snake witch wont be good i am using a thermo controller 2 its really good it controlls the heat mat and light but not every one agrees about geting a light for your corn but i do because i beleave it promotes there health and helps them grow heres the most common stats i know off let me know if you got one i set mine at 28 c
this is the habistat heat mat controller
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HABISTAT-heat-MAT-STAT-Reptile-Vivarium-THERMOSTAT-NEW_W0QQitemZ260416554165QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Pet_Supplies_Reptiles_Spiders_Insects?hash=item3ca20944b5
and this is the thermocontroller pro witch i got
http://www.reptiles.swelluk.com/img/shop/original/lucky-reptile-thermocontrol-pro-2.jpg
and sorry bout the spelling lol |
| SexyBear77 |
Posted - 13/12/2009 : 21:10:26
Right-
Do you have a thermostat controlling your mat? Human body temp is higher than what the heatmat should be, so shouldnt really feel warm to you.
You should have had a thermometer already to monitor the temps, but if the shop didnt tell you to get one then its not your fault.
Cant really help you other than that, from the sounds of it your mat is too hot but without knowing exact temps then it is difficult to say. |
