Yesterday I was looking for an aquarium on Craigslist for some garter snakes I plan to pick up at the upcoming reptile show. I ended up with two of the following: 50gal ExoTerra terrarium, Herpstat 1 controlling UTH on hot side, incandescent heat lamp on hot side, Blue moonlight LED light, timers for day and night lights, hides on both hot and cold side, Humidity sensor and temp sensors in both enclosures, and a bunch of snake care stuff. I didn't even want the snakes but wound up with an albino and a banana BP. Gorgeous snakes. Both purchased from a reputable breeder. The previous owner is moving and was having a hard time getting rid of all the stuff. I paid 425 for everything.
I'm not understanding the importance of having both a UTH and a heat lamp. The heat lamp is only on during the day. But the snakes hide all day long and don't seem to go between the two hides. From what I can tell the snakes stay in either the hot or cold hide all day. So if there is a UTH in the hot hide then why is a heat lamp used? Why don't they thermo-regulate during the day? This morning one was in the hot hide (lying on UTH set to 96 degrees) and the other was in the cold hide at closer to 70 degrees.
Just a quick description of the setup - heat lamp on hot side, on during the day only. UTH on hot side attached to herpstat set to 96F. Temp probe is inside the enclosure just under a rubberish mat.
Thanks in advance.
Reply With Quote