Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Within the past two weeks I was given a Black Mexican Kingsnake. I was told that an under tank heater was a good choice to heat the tank. But I don't know if it is working properly or not. The instructions say it can heat the tank to 90-100 degrees but the tank stays the same temperature as my house. I tried putting the thermometer on the bottom glass of the tank where i put the heater and it was about 95 degrees but the rest of the tank is cool. I'm just concerned that the tank may get too cold. An associate at the pet store said to try putting a towel on top of the tank and it would help to keep the rising heat from escaping. I tried this and it did nothing. Is it normal for an under tank heater to just heat the bottoom of the tank and nothing else, if so, how are you supposed to check the temperature of the tank?

Placing the towel on top may help contain some of the heat, but the heat pad still will not heat the whole tank. That's really not what the heat pad is meant for.

The heat pad is meant to create a hot spot.

Place a hide box directly over the heat pad, you will find that your snake will hide most of the time.. He may come out of the hide to hunt/explore and the temp may be a bit lower in the rest of the enclosure.. but, he will return to the warm hide soon enough..

Hope this helps & Good Luck!

~ Mike Russo

Snakes crawl on the bottom, not through the air! The heat pad is doing exactly what it is supposed to, the snake will move on and off the "hot spot" as it needs to, to help digest its' meals. No worries and the taking off and putting on the towel could stress your snake. Like lifting their hide away, it takes the security away. Lose the towel idea and moniter the snakes' behavior. Try a hide on both sides of the tank and let the snake become accustomed to its' new surroundings for a while.
Todd Hughes

I use heat tape with a rheostat, that way I can adjust the temps for my cages and I run the heat tape along one side of the cages to give my snakes the options to cool off and heat up.

Scott

Thanks for the replies. I figured the pad was working properly, I've just never owned a snake before. I was given the snake because my friend could not keep it anymore. So I wasn't completly sure of what I was was doing. The towel was not covering the tank, just covering the top to keep the heat in, It does seem kind of pointless to leave it there, so I will take it off. Once again, I appreciate all the help.

What subtsrate are you using?

You need to make sure that the snake can access the heat through the substrate. As mentioned, placing a hide spot over the heated area will trap some of the warm air inside the hide, thereby heating the ground as well, which is good.

Put a lamp dimmer in-line with the heat pad so you can "dial it down" when warmer weather comes.

If the top is screen and the room is very cool (like 60's) then partially covering the top is not a bad idea at all. It won't hurt the snake or scare the snake, etc. You can use plastic sign material or cardboard or pegboard or plastic film or ...
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Mark