Reptile & Amphibian Forums

It is getting cold in Illinois and are there any ways to heat up my california kingsnakes tank about 5 degrees? Right now i have a uth pad.
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Thank You,
Brad S.

Hey neighbor, it's getting a tad cool in Iowa also.

To answer you question, "I'm not sure",..but here's what I found out and did.

#1.. Be SURE your uth isn't getting up to the temps you want. I bought a uth for my 30 gal aquarium..it covered 1/3 of the aquarium's bottom, and a digital thermometer, everything was fine. Then the next week I bought a digital thermometer with a PROBE and found out the substrate BELOW the surface was a whopping 110 degrees. So I bought a dimmer-outlet-dropcord and made myself a rheostat, to control the amount of electricity going to the uth, thus controlling the heat. Since then, I've bought a tempgun (money well spent) from The Bean Farm (praise their Gods)..LOL. Just be sure of your temps of the substrate, from the top of it to the bottom.

#2.. If you REALLY need the extra 5 degrees, you need another uth or a smaller cage. But until then.. I read somewhere here that a 40 watt bulb (no more) and a 10 gal aquarium, seems to put out the right temps. I used a swingarm lamp and a 40 watt bulb over my calking's 10 gal with NO uth..and it seemed to work..I'd turn the light on in the afternoon and off late at night. Since then I've bought flexwatt and dimmer/oulet and made my own uth, and with my trusty tempgun everything's a breeze..LOL

sorry that this post is so long, I've had a couple of beers and I tend to ramble on..LOL..later gator..(heading for the fridge)
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Richard Evans

no not THAT one