| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| paula houghton |
Posted - 20/04/2010 : 21:22:58
if i put the heat mat on the floor of the tank, were is the best place to put his false stone hide, on top of the mat on the heat soures os on the cool side? all advices most wecome thanks  |
| 20 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| paula houghton |
Posted - 13/05/2010 : 23:24:22
thanks guys,my new stat is a digital one thats why i thought the readings would be the same as my therm, but obviously not! :) |
| Kellog |
Posted - 13/05/2010 : 03:28:14
Definitely agree with Danny. I had a microclimate and had same issue as you did....major temp drops once it switched itself off before it would switch itself back on, although it never got to above the 30oC. So I complained, sent it back and got a Habistat pulse, which I am so much happier with.
I always go with the thermometer reading and then fiddle with the stat to get it right....stats are not totally accurate and you cant be sure it is heating it to the heat it says it is, whereas the thermometer is the thing you can actually see a fluctuating reading on - as opposed to just a mark on a dial. (hope that makes sense, severe brain fog at moment  )
xxx
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| DannyBrown91 |
Posted - 12/05/2010 : 18:52:23
Always take the reading off your thermometer and tweek your stat accordingly. |
| paula houghton |
Posted - 12/05/2010 : 18:43:06
hi me again, still havin trouble with my temps. i bought a mini start 100. but could,nt get the temp right it was either in the 30+ OR if i turned it down just slighty it would drop to around 22c well i got fed up costantly messin with it (how my poor corn is managing the temp swings i don,t know), any way i have just gone out and brought a thermocontrol ii and after fiddlin round with that and setting it at 28c max which it is in range my other thermo,s temp is 33c. so do u think i should just take notice of my sat or my therm, i have such a headache with these temp issues :( |
| DannyBrown91 |
Posted - 01/05/2010 : 16:23:29
It totally depends on the size of your snake to how big of a viv/faun you put him in. In an 18x18 inch viv i would expect your snake to be anywhere between 18inches and 3foot long.
If your snake is still fairly small make sure you pack it out with plenty of cover for them. |
| paula houghton |
Posted - 01/05/2010 : 13:10:40
thanks for all the advice.i miss unerstood the mat thing, i was thinking the smaller the mat the lower the temp it would heat too. i have now sent off for a stat so hopefully it wont take to long to arrive...allthough i got a book on keeping cornsnakes and looked it up on the net, the heating part was very confusing and as i,ve never had a pet with heat reqiaments before ( unless u include my tropical fish )i was not picking up the importance of a stat, but now i do, wish i,d foud this forum before it would of saved me money and worrie. mind ou i can save the other mats for my bigger wooden viv in the future...which reminds me of another thing to ask. the viv my corns is only 18x18 inch, the girl in pet shop told us it would do for a good couple of years, but now i,m not to sure if this is right either at what age did you all put ur corns in a bigger viv!!!! :) |
| Kellog |
Posted - 01/05/2010 : 03:55:28
quote:
Originally posted by paula houghton
hi all, sorry another mat question. am still havin trouble with temps, with my first mat iwas getting readings of 38=39c so went an got a smaller mat put it on the floor of tank and it was reading 34=36c so i took it out and put it under tank, it hardly made any diffrence atall, so of i went and brought another mat even smaller and only 7 watts, yet my readings are still 30-31c would this temp still be to warm dont know what to do now and cant keep buyin mats. any advice will be gratfully accepted! :)
You talk about a tank Paula, does this mean that your corn is in a glass/plastic faun? If so then the mat needs to be outside the tank with an airgap between it and the tank base (I am NO EXPERT with this as have only dealt with wooden vivs, but am almost sure this is right).
You need to make sure that the mat is covering one-third of the tank floorspace and is connected to a stat to control the heat of the mat (I know this has already been mentioned but it is important enough to be repeated). You need to have the probe for the stat and the probe for a digital thermometer within the tank touching the base, as this will then measure the heat coming through from the mat (again, as far as I know this is right but you could do with this being confirmed by someone who uses fauns and heatmats outside their tanks).
You dont want a temp that is higher that 30oC as it can be dangerous to your snake. If you are getting that then I would suggest you turn the mat off until you have a stat to control it. You can keep an eye on the temp (it sounds like you do have a digital thermometer) and can turn the heatmat on when the temp drop below approx 26oC....but you must switch it off again once it reaches 30oC and leave it off overnight - all the while it is unstatted it can heat up too much. If you do have a stat then I would suggest that it is malfunctioning and you need to replace it as soon as possible.
xxx
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| DannyBrown91 |
Posted - 30/04/2010 : 19:24:42
Actually the hottest the stats go is 35 but because there not 100% accurate they can get hotter. That is why an accurate thermometer is so important. |
| Sta~ple |
Posted - 30/04/2010 : 19:01:47
The mat size you had first would probably have been perfect no? It doesn't matter what size the mat is, they all still heat up to around the same temp.
As danny aid, you need a stat and it allows you to control the the temp and the hottest you can set it is 34 |
| DannyBrown91 |
Posted - 30/04/2010 : 16:01:20
Do you not have a thermostat?
Thats what is used to control the temperatures. The heatmat needs to be big enough to cover 1/3 - 1/2 of the floorspce of the "tank" and then regulated by a thermostat to keep the mat at the needed temperature. |
| paula houghton |
Posted - 30/04/2010 : 15:51:49
hi all, sorry another mat question. am still havin trouble with temps, with my first mat iwas getting readings of 38=39c so went an got a smaller mat put it on the floor of tank and it was reading 34=36c so i took it out and put it under tank, it hardly made any diffrence atall, so of i went and brought another mat even smaller and only 7 watts, yet my readings are still 30-31c would this temp still be to warm dont know what to do now and cant keep buyin mats. any advice will be gratfully accepted! :) |
| DannyBrown91 |
Posted - 22/04/2010 : 18:53:14
Like staple said, bigger watage = bigger mat. Depending on what size viv/faun you have you need a mat which will take up around 1/3 - 1/2 of the floor space.
Its easier if you try to find the size of the mat rather than the wattage. |
| Sta~ple |
Posted - 22/04/2010 : 18:46:55
Bigger wattage normally means the heat matt is bigger. 20 watts is normally a 17 x 11. I would say buy a heatmat that will fit into a the viv that the snake will be when it's older if it is in a faun. This way you save money. If the snake is is a wooden viv then you will need to buy a heat mat that covers 1/3 to 1/2 of the floor. |
| paula houghton |
Posted - 22/04/2010 : 18:38:37
sorry another mat question, after looking at mats on line i am now aware that they come in diffrent wattage mine is 20 watts am i best getting one with a lower wattage as is a small viv :) |
| mikerichards |
Posted - 21/04/2010 : 22:38:20
quote:
Originally posted by dazb
As long as you take the temperature reading from inside the hide, and set your thermostat accoringly it doesnt matter if the hide has a bottom or not really.
Not really a good idea, if the temp differential is 10 degrees, then the hide maybe at 30 but the mats at 40, which is less than ideal.
Always always take the temp reading from the mat itself, that way if the snake does com into contact with it (and he will) then you are safe knowing it wont be too hot. |
| reptiledanny |
Posted - 21/04/2010 : 19:19:41
very true, plus if the snake buried under the hide then he could get burned. so therefore you would need the stat probe under the hide but then the hide wouldn't get hot enough if it had a bottom. |
| DannyBrown91 |
Posted - 21/04/2010 : 17:36:28
quote:
Originally posted by dazb
As long as you take the temperature reading from inside the hide, and set your thermostat accoringly it doesnt matter if the hide has a bottom or not really.
But then the outside of the hide would be too hot as the hide wouldn't take up the whole of the warm side. |
| dazb |
Posted - 21/04/2010 : 16:41:16
As long as you take the temperature reading from inside the hide, and set your thermostat accoringly it doesnt matter if the hide has a bottom or not really. |
| DannyBrown91 |
Posted - 21/04/2010 : 13:03:23
Wouldn't matter if it was a a box or something which you used as a hide, just the shop bought ones like the exoterra snake cave. |
| Sta~ple |
Posted - 21/04/2010 : 12:38:05
I guess something like a cardbox box it wouldn't really matter then specially if it is something like a shoe box. |
