Are UTH necessary?

Is a UTH really necessary? I mean, in the wild, corn snakes are subjected to much colder temp's that they would ever see in my condo.

The one corn I have now, yes, I use a UTH and set it around 89*-90* and he seems to sleep over it quite a bit so it's obvious he likes it but I ask because I'm really starting to enjoy the corns and I want to get more. Which is the reason I ask and leads to another question....

With multiple tanks/UTH's what controller do you guys find is the best? I'm just starting to research this and have only looked at the Eco-Zone with the capability for 4 probes. I would like to set up 6 tanks so that means 2 of these units at almost $400 a pop.

Thoughts?

Corns brumate during the winter. It's not cold all year long. A uth on a thermostat is a must. You might want to look into building a rack. It's a lot easier than several tanks. Anyways, your hot spot shouldn't be that high. 83 to 84 degrres is good. I use this thermostat- http://www.reptilebasics.com/ve-200 With that thermostat you can regulate multiple uth's of the same wattage. So you can run 6 tanks on this single thermostat if all the uth's match up.

What are you using to regulate your uth right now? what is the cool side temp? What thermometer are you using to read the temps?

Thank you for the info.

I use a thermostat with a probe for my uth's now. I also have a thermometer with a probe right next to it as a double check. The cool side is room temp, 80* when I'm gone, 76-78 when I'm home, 72-74 at night.

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Originally Posted by Andrew21

Anyways, your hot spot shouldn't be that high. 83 to 84 degrres is good.

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Oh, ok. I was going off this: “Provide your corn with a basking spot of 88-90° F”

I found here:
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?127291-Corn-Snake-(Elaphe-guttata-guttata)

Yeah, that caresheet has the wrong temps. Sounds like a good setup. What brand is the themostat?

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Originally Posted by Andrew21

Yeah, that caresheet has the wrong temps. Sounds like a good setup. What brand is the themostat?

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Oh gosh, I'll have to look when I get home. It's one the was recomended on this site actualy, used for plants of all things. I have three. One I sent back, another is starting to act up. All of them less than 3 months old so I'm less than pleased with these thermostats.

Ohh, the hydrofarm? You get what you pay for. Lol

Yup, that's the one...Not happy with them at all.

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So Andrew, That Reptile Basics thermostat, you're saying I can plug 4 or 6 UTH pads into this unit (via an extension cord or whatever) and monitor one tank with the probe and it should be fine? As long as all the UTH's are the same type/mfg/size/wattage/etc?

Yep. If they are the same brand and size/wattage, you should be able to. Now, the ambiant temp where the tank is actually at in your room will effect it, but not by a whole lot. If I were you I'd buy the ve-300. it's safer and has a night drop built in. for just a little bit more.

Nice - Thank you :)

Anytime!

I'm using that hydro farm one off amazon. No complaints yet. Have a Walmart thermometer double checking, but it's working really good on my tub.

I use and highly recommend the Herpstat 4. (4 independent outlets)

The herpstat 4 can do more than pretty much another thermostat (control lights/Proportional heating/non-proportional heating/cooling/humidity/day cycles pin each channel/night cycles on each channel/ramping between day and night cycles) and has a back up relay that will cut power to the unit in the case of a thermostat failure (ensures that the thermostat cannot fail in the on position)

They aren't cheap but they are worth it for sure:

http://spyderrobotics.com/products/herpstat_4.html

http://www.spyderrobotics.com/store/...35bb592c6f4c8a

Thank you everybody! :)

Be careful with the walmart thermometers. I found they're wildly inconsistent. I was getting crazy temp readings and discovered they're just not that good. Two probes in identical spots gave a difference of 7 degrees!?!! One was correct the other was off 7 degrees.

I've switched to the temp guns now. They're more $$ but worth it IMO.

As for the op, if you live in a moderate climate You can get by without any heat for corns. None of my corns have heat. They're at RT year round. Never gets above 80 in summer or below 60-65 in my house in winter. They'd eat, breed, grow, etc just fine. If you're up north where there are serious winters then it's a must. But for Texas, Florida, etc don't need it.

i live in Ontario Canada. it gets prettty cold here. -30 in the winter is not that odd. Ive kept corns for almost 20 years with out a single problem and mine have always been maintained at room temp. some where from 68-78. i have to say that a UTH is a waste of effort and money. unless of course your home is kept very cold.

OK, so I settled on the Reptile Basics; model ve-300 It seems like a pretty nice unit!! Got it mid week, just setting it up right now :)

I've set the the day time temp to 83*...sound good? What should I set the night drop too?

12hrs 2 83 & 12hrs night drop??

There's no need for a night drop.