How can I keep a snake warm without the use of a heat lamp?

Question

I have a heat lamp heating the snakes cage, and have had one since we got the snake. The lamp is always on, because I live in Minnesota and the snake could very well freeze to death.

However, one of my friends who had a heat lamp just had his appartment start on fire. They think the cat nocked it over, and she (the cat) didn't make it. Now I am very worried about one of my cats somehow nocking the lamp over and having my house burn down.

We have had a heat pad on the bottom of his cage, but after removing it we noticed the desk that the cage is on was black, like it got burnt, from the heat pad.

Any suggestions? I am very worried, I don't want to lose any of my animals in something as awful as a fire.

The heat lamp is tied down by a copper (I think) rope from the ceiling, but I am still very worried..

Answer 1

Couple suggestions:

1. Heat cord. available at petsmart. runs under the cage but will not burn.

2. Heat tape. I believe this runs inside the cage but check directions.

3. Heat pad FOR REPTILES with thermostat!! I'm not talking about your grammaws old heating pad.
The way I have my heating pad is inside the cage with a piece of plexi over it with 1/4 inch gap so the heat can radiate instead of consentrating on one area of the plexi. This will insure that your snake doesn't get burned, and stays warm. Also go to repticzone.com very very helpful people there! If you find the sSIMONSs profile...that's mine..feel free to check out my Red Tail Boas!

**make sure your heat lamp has a clamp and not something tied to it. Clamping it to something it a better way to stablize it and even a cat won't be able to knock it over.

Answer 2

DO NOT get a hot rock no matter what ppl or pet stores say. snakes EASILY will burn on that. u said ur light was tied down by copper rope? from the cieling? not sure how well that is but what you can do is ge a small drill bit and drill small holes on either side of the fixture and use wire to wire it to the screen top if thats what you have. most reptile cages have that. it would be your best bet.

As far as the heat pad goes. what i do is set some newspaper under it for insalation the paper has never burned or got black marks. and it keeps the heat closer to the cage after the adhesive wears off. also if you wanted you could use 2 heat pades instead. but heat pads should be a worrie if you are using the ones for reptiles.

Answer 3

Use a 2-level heating plan.

1. Heat the entire tank to the lowest temp you want. This can be by being in a warm room, a heating pad or cables designed for reptile use, etc.

2. Use a heat lamp, ceramic IR emitter, etc. to create the 'hot spot'.

Using a 2-level approach gives you a lot of benefits.
- Safer- the heaters are both smaller and less hot
- Cheaper usually than one big heater
- Emergency fail-safe- if one dies, the other keeps things OK
- Less likely to burn the animal since you have better control.

Answer 4

Hey... You can buy little bumper things to elevate your tank enough that the heat pad couldn't burn the furniture (sp? tired and don't feel like checking it) underneath. I got mine at Walmart, but you could just use a stack of quarters or something at each corner. The heat pad sticks to the tank right? Ours do, but I'm not sure what kind you have. Anyway... I agree with the others. DONT USE A HEAT ROCK FOR ANY REASON!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 5

Heat tape is a possibility, or getting a heat lamp in a combo hood thats impossible to knock off.

DO NOT USE A HOT ROCK. These are notorious for overheating and causing serious burns on reptiles. A heat matt is fine as long as it is not directly touching the surface beneath it.

Answer 6

An under tank heater is the best type of heat to use. Unless your house is below freezing, I doubt your snake will freeze to death in it. What's comfortable for humans will be comfortable for the snake. If you use any heating device, make sure it's regulated with a thermostat to prevent burns.

Answer 7

hi there
ok for one avoid heat rocks they are dangerous and get hot spot and also have been known to cause fires
u shouldn't have the heat lamp on anyways at night they need the cool down period to sleep beter.. even in the desert it get 0 F at night
if u are really afraid it too cold for the snake at night i would suggest getting a heat pad on one side at night and use the heat lamp at night ... we never leave any heat on at night except for our own for the house .. we been doing this for 30 years .. no reptile amphibian has die as of yet.. we live in ontario canada... it does get cold in the winter .. and cool in the spring and fall specially at night...hope this helps

Answer 8

what we did with our lights was hang them from plant hangers that can screw into the side of the wall. that way, our cat cant knock them over.

heres a pic
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=58437323&albumID=1451838&imageID=17176968
(btw the tank this light is from is on top of our entertament stand, thats why its so close to the ceiling,)
we also have our heatmats on the sides of our tanks, instead of the bottoms. some of the heating pad brands recomend this for heavy bodied snakes. (exo terra) and thermostats are very important.

you have a lot of good answers from other hobbists as well.

Answer 9

I use a under tank heating pad for my boa and a red bulb heating lamp for my corn snake. It's the clamp on kind so it won't move anywhere. But whatever you do DON'T USE A HEATING ROCK!!! too many tragic stories where the poor reptie fried.

Answer 10

I heat my snake rack with heat tape. you can buy it by the foot and they will even assemble it for you.
it comes in 3inch(6watt), 4inch (8 or 10 watt) and 12inch (20? watt) put a helix themostat or a Johnson thermostat in between and once you got the temp set your done
you can get it at www.beanfarm.com

or check out www.kingsnake.com