Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Is there something that will help bring a heat pad up to a certain temperature and keep it there? How do you guys keep your temps constant?

Heating pads are designed to operate at preset temperatures which aren't to be increased. If your cage temps (not your cage, your reptile's cage. I'M ONLY JOKING!!!!) aren't high enough you might try a heat light, heat panel, ceramic heat emitter, or possibly a larger or extra heat pad. That is, assuming the temp of the room can't be increased to make up the difference.

I only use heat pads as an extra source of heat, not main.

Hope this answers your question.

Take care!
Mike
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It is said that 1 out of every 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Think of your 3 closest friends, if they're normal, then it's you.

I use a zoo med thermostat with a UTH and ceramic emitter. It only has to be reset once per season to make sure it doesn't become too hot or too cold with the changing weather.

Hey!
I'm sorry I left out a reply to your 2nd question, keeping temps constant.

You can get a cheap, $25 - $30 thermostat but these usually don't last very long. A good one will cost close to $150 but are worth it.

Let's say that a heat pad is your main heat source, which is OK, a lot of people use them as such and there's nothing wrong with doing so. Plug a heat light, CHE, heat panel, or whatever, into a thermostat and set it for the desired temp. Leave the heat pad on constantly, not going through the thermostat.

Keep an eye on the cage temps throughout the day, for several days, to make sure you're keeping the desired temps. If the heat pad isn't big enough to keep the temps from falling too fast it will prematurely wear out your other heat source and/or the thermostat. Not to mention chaotic temp fluctuations, which aren't good.

Later!
Mike
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It is said that 1 out of every 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Think of your 3 closest friends, if they're normal, then it's you.

You can also use a light dimmer. You can pick one up from Wal Mart for about five bucks.
Sam

Thanks. I have heat pads and lights, but their cages seem to be too hot, which is lame. If I turn the lights off, the cages sink to about 78. Also, what lights do you guys use if any? Mine seem to burn out way fast.

"Also, what lights do you guys use if any? Mine seem to burn out way fast."

Misting/moisture can cause some light bulbs to blow, fast. The specialty heat light bulbs seem to be more sensitive to this than household light bulbs.

This is why I like using CHEs (ceramic heat emitters). A bit more expensive ($25), but since they last a long time, they end up being cheaper than what you'd pay for specialty heat light bulbs during the same time span.

Like Sam (cottonmouth111) said about using a dimmer, placing a dimmer on the cord of a CHE makes it easy to reduce the heat to desired temps. Good suggestion, Sam!

Another great benefit of using a dimmer is avoiding the trial & error method of finding the right size (wattage) bulb for that particular setup. Worth their weight in gold in this case!

Dimmers are by far the simplest, cheapest way to go. I use this method for several cages. However, even the cheapest thermostat makes it easier, less of a hassle, to get & keep temps regulated. Probably the most deciding factor would be how much the room temps fluctuate. Of course, the number of thermostats you'd need is another important factor.

As for choosing between lights or just a heat source (CHE, heat panel, etc...), it depends on whether or not it will be a source for a photoperiod.

In your case, for a corn snake, I'd use a household light bulb set on a timer, and maybe even a dimmer, and leave the heat pad on continuously. I feel that 78 is fine for overnight temps for a corn, and several other reptiles, too. Check acceptable temp ranges per animal, though.

I mostly use household light bulbs (where UV isn't needed) because I don't need them to be a nightime heat source and they're set on timers to go off at night.

I recently got my first Leopard Gecko (my son's) and I used a red heat light for nighttime heat. I started getting lazy & began refilling the water bowl, which I kept directly under the red light, by pouring water through the screen top every now & then. The little bit of water that got caught in the screen top, eventually caused the bulb to blow, within a few weeks. At first I blew off the chance it was the water & thought maybe it was a faulty bulb. Bought another one, did the same thing within a few weeks. After costing me $15 within a month's time, I've learned my lesson.

Andrew,
I hope you didn't take offense to my first replies. The way I interpreted your questions I thought it sounded a bit "elementary" for you because I've seen some of your other posts. But I figured I'd play it sfe & try to cover all the bases. If not for you, for those silently reading these posts.

Take care!
Mike
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It is said that 1 out of every 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Think of your 3 closest friends, if they're normal, then it's you.

I'm not worried about it bro, i've got a salt shaker close at hand.

I've decided to switch up my whole room system. I'm getting two 30g tanks for my corns, and i'll have 3 20's for my leopard geckos. I'm also getting a 18x40x18 set up for the cresteds i'll be getting. At least I think that's what i'll be getting.

Thing is, when I got the snakes so long ago, I really listened to everything the pet store said. Big mistake I guess. I've had 2 corns living with each other for about..i'd say 4 years, as I got them when I was a sophomore in HS. This has really put a damper on their growing. They don't fight, I check them regularly and they've never had any wounds. I feed them both in cage (which I probably shouldn't) but they don't try to bite when handled. I'm trying to decide whether or not I should seperate them. Some say yes, others no. Thing is, they've been together this long without problem..do they really need to be seperated?

I don't even know what to do any more. :

I'd say leave the corns together as long as there's no problems. If you were to seperate them now they'd be miserable. Snakes do get attached to each other.

I had two w/c corns together for about 4 months. One I've had for over a year (4-ft long) and the other one (3-ft long) for 4 months. Once I got the 3-footer in good condition & back to killing its prey before trying to eat it (explained below), I gave it away. My 4-footer has been obviously missing the other one ever since. Its been about a month now & its just now getting back into its regular routine/habits.

I don't see how it could've affected their growth unless you've been unable to feed them regularly due to their being housed together.

They're fine, leave 'em be.

As for the 3-footer's eating habits when I got it, the poor thing was so starved that it would try to eat its prey live, without constricting it. Usually people go from live to frozen/thawed but I had to reverse it in this case, and I sometimes do in cases of rescued w/c.

To get back to good health I fed it F/T but would shake & pull on the prey while it was trying to eat it. I did so to try to get it back into constricting its prey so it could be released back into the wild. It took a few months but I finally got it to where it knew the difference between F/T and live and it would constrict its live prey before trying to swallow.

I'll spare some of the details of what took place while trying to re-train it to constrict. Needless to say, it made a good argument for pre-killing prey for captives.

Take care!
Mike
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It is said that 1 out of every 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Think of your 3 closest friends, if they're normal, then it's you.

Yeah, mine have always eaten f/t because we had a mite scare at the shop I used to go to. They do fine with em, just a few shakes from the tongs.