Another corn snake heating pad question.?

Question

I have a 5 month old corn snake in a 10 gallon glass tank. I have an under the tank heater made by zoo med. The surface of the earth in the tank is a steady 85-87 degrees on one side and 75 degrees on the other side, which seems to be pretty correct. However at the very bottom of the tank where the surface of the heater meets the glass ( the heater is stuck on the outside bottom of the tank), my thermometer reads 110 degrees. If my snake buries herself down to the bottom, I know she can get burns. Is there any way of preventing a high temperature on the glass while still maintaining the 85 degree temperature on the surface? I looked at the EXO TERRA RAINFOREST heating pad, and it seems like it is better for a humid environment and would not produce as much heat on the glass. Any help is appreciated.

Answer 1

I've been keeping corns for many years and using heat pads. Corn snakes do not bury themselves in the substrate unless there are no other hiding options. It is not a behaviour that I have ever witnessed with any of my hatchlings or adults. I don't think you have anything to worry about. Your pad is performing exactly as it was designed and giving you appropriate substrate surface temperatures. The pad itself obviously has to be hotter on its uninsulated surface in order to achieve this. You can use a lower wattage/ temperature pad but you will likely have to thin out the substrate layer above it to keep the optimal temperature on the surface.

Answer 2

I wonder why some people use a 15 page dissertation to answer a simple question. If you keep the room or place where the Corn Snake is kept between 70* and 85*, you DO NOT need a light or heating pad. The light is nice, so you can view the snake but it is not required for snake health. The easiest way to tell what the temperature of the room is would to be to get a stick on reptile thermometer (available almost everywhere) and stick it on the window of the cage. If the liquid crystal readout is in the green, you need no alternate heat source.

Answer 3

First you need a larger tank . You also need a digital thermometer and put the probe on the inside of the tank . You are not getting accurate temps with a stick on thermometer on the outside of the tank . Only have the UTH under half of the tank , that way the snake can move off of the heat if he wants to . You do not want any part of the tank above 95 F . With a larger tank you will be able to get better temps .I would also use a different substrate like reptile carpet , then he will not be able to get in dirrect contact with the hot glass .

Answer 4

The Rainforest pad is still going to heat to a higher temp than what you need, if you don't run it through a thermostat as I said before.

Under tank heating is by far the best and safest heating option for non-arboreal snakes, but like anything else, you need to have it set up properly for it to work properly. Overhead lighting is harder to control, dries out the tank terribly, and does not provide the belly heat snakes need to digest their food efficiently.

Answer 5

Our ball python was burned on a hot rock - one that said was safe for snakes and lizards. The vet said to never use anything like that for a snake. They need warmth, but use a less direct method - a heat lamp for instance that shines into the tank. Our snake survived and is now fine, but I believe he was very ill for some time. He quit shedding right and we had to give him a bath to help him get it off. That's when we discovered the burn. After a trip to the vet we had to feed him antibiotics - that's fun! Not! I highly recommend a heat lamp.

Answer 6

is the heating pad the only thing producing heat in your tank? if so you could try lowering the heating pad temperature and get a over head bulb and that could work thats what we id in the reptile store i worked in. also, with the smaller ones we kept them in those 1ft containers with lids. we put them in those with water of course and on a shelf with a heat strip on the wall of the shelf so that the heating pad was on the back side of the container and not on the bottom so they could not burn themselves. or you could maybe put something on the bottom of your tank so that when your snake burrows to the bottom it is not directly on the bottom he is on whatever you put in there. hope one of these helps. good luck:)