winter blues

[babygerl3094]

this is my fist winter since we had our snake, we got him in the summer and havent had any troubles maintainin his temps. but we are have a cold cold cold winter !! and his tank temps drop alot at night. i have the UTH and i bump it up at night just to rise the temps at night.... along with the light heat... i was wonderin if i should buy a stronger heat lamp for the day and night to help..... or any other suggestions would be appreciated

[cinderbird]

do you have a thermostat or a retro stat? if you dont i'd strongly recommend one since they will help keep the temperatures constant ( a thermostat especially ) and since you've got an UTH. they can spike to well over 100 degrees F if not controlled. i am currently using a johnson which i would highly recommend.

[babygerl3094]

no i dont, i dont have a problem keepin the heat constant though.... well.... now i do only at night.. cause its gettin very cold here and the temps are dropin very low here at night.... durin the day the temps are fine and stable all day, but at night they just drop.... and ive tried to bump up the UTH a bit so that it can stay warmer, but by mornin its 78 on his warm side and thats with the UTH on and the night lights.... so i was wonderin if i should get a higher watage or if there was another way to keep the temps from dropin at night...

[cinderbird]

A thermostat will allow your UTH to heat up to the right temps and depending on the type ( proportional or non proportional ) they will do that in two different ways. The UTH can also get the ambient temps on the cool side up as well. i, again, would highly recommend a thermostat. if you don't have any way of controlling the temperatures in your guy's enclosure i wouldnt ever get a higher wattage anything you cant directly control. Your UTH could spike (and like i said, i've seen mine uncontrolled get to 114 F and that is dangerous for your snake ). I cant think of any excuse or reason for someone not to control their heating elements with a thermostat.

i have a UTH and a CHE (ceramic heat emitter) and they are BOTH on a thermostat. my temps stay within range and pretty contestant whereas my room temperature dosent. I have the CHE ( ceramic heat emitter ) because my room is so cold. its like..68 in here and theres two windows and its just cold. she stays 94 on the warm, 80ish on the cool. it fluctuates around 79 when its low to 84. you could try another UTH on a seperate thermostat or a lamp of some kind. be careful as lamps tend to suck humidity away.

Johnson and ranco are not exceptionally cheap but they work well. i have a johnson myself. ( 85ish )

herpostat (?) and helix are the two proptorional ones (i think) you can search for how they work. i cant remember how to word it. (125ish maybe cheaper ).

there is also a reptitemp 500R which i would not recomend. i again, had one as well and it would spike and drop over 20 degrees. 78-104. not good.

if this was just a jumble of stuff im real sorry. ive been reading and studying for hours and just stopped to check the forums again.

[Argentra]

One - Get a thermostat ASAP or at least a rheostat. Trust me, you need it to keep proper temps.

Two - Make sure your top is foil covered and your back and sides are insulated. Glass does not keep heat in well, and in winter especially you need some form of insulation such as cork or blue foam board.

Three - If, after that, your temps still drop at night try wrapping a blanket or thick beach towel around the tank (being careful to not cut off air flow to the heat mat). I do that for mine at night and it really helps keep the temps stable.

Try to stay away from getting high watt bulbs or CHEs since they suck out the humidity. My bulbs are all 40 or at most 50 watt, even at night.

[NightLad]

herpostat (?) and helix are the two proptorional ones (i think) you can search for how they work. i cant remember how to word it. (125ish maybe cheaper ).

HerpStat, from Spyder Robotics. I have this one and it works great. You place the temp probe in the tank and then digitally set what tempature you want the HerpStat to maintain. It will compensate for any changes in the outside environment to maintain the temp you specified. I LOVE it. I'm Canadian and we just had a wicked bad cold snap/snow storm in my area, but the hot-side temps in the enclosure never waver from 92.5F. (Maybe 1 degree from time to time, but it is quickly corrected by the unit.)

I bury the wire under the substrate and then leave the probe itself sitting on top of the substrate near the middle of the hot side.

Helix is another brand of proportional thermostats that works in the same way. Just set it to the temp you want, plug the UTH (heating pad) into the unit, set the temp probe, and walk away. I'd recommend plugging the unit into a surge protected/grounded powerbar, though - just to offer further protection to it and your snake.

[eel88]

Unless you are rich or have more than one snake ranco, johnson and definitly helix and spyder robotics are just plain over kill. You probally looked at the prices of these and instantly crapped youre pants i know i did the first time i looked at the prices. Currently i have two RANCOS and i love them to death they make youre life a lot easier. But the above post is not entirely correct the zoo med 500R is a great little thermostat it just takes a few hours of dinkin' around to get the temps right. I first bought it for my ball python and was entirely happy with it. Then i got 6 more snakes and it just wasnt' cutting it so i bought the ranco. I still use the zoomed for my corn snake i have been using it for over a year with no problems. They are still kind of expensive around $40 dollars new at a petco but you do need one. Or do a search for a rhestat on google to find a place that carries them they are much cheap and with a little more work it will do just fine. Just make sure you check the temps a lot with them because the temps will change with it. Now for the heat lamp. Im guessing youre using a glass tank if you have the lamp. Id recommend getting some tin foil and some duct tape. And cover about 2/3 of youre screen lid. Foil the top of the lid and the under side of it and tape it on. If you don't like the way it looks paint it or cover it with fabric or paper be creative with it. It will help a lot with humidity and keep youre temps up. Good luck and get a thermostat they are well worth it.

[babygerl3094]

yeah when i looked at the prices my mouth dropped.... and i only have 1 snake... i already covered the top with the foil and such, its just at night that ive been havin trouble with... 40 bucks though doesnt sound to bad....