I am ready to put my 2ft corn snake in his 3ft vivarium....Help!!?

Question

Please... i need some advice on setting up. I have the right size heat mat inside the viv under the wood chippings, Where exactly do i dangle the heat sensor? does it need to touch the floor ar dangle above the floof? it comes in from a hole at the back of the viv. Where also do i stick the round thermometer? or do i lay it on the floor on the heat mat?

Answer 1

ok dont put the heat sensor near the floor it should be sensesing the heat of the viv as a whole not just the floor. the round theromoter shoul be on the side up high where you can see it, ensure that any light i up high or covered so the snake dont burn their selfs

Answer 2

The sensor of the stat needs to be laid on the floor on top of the wood chippings were the heat mat is.This will control the heat at the point where your snake is going to be in contact with it.If its in the air,dangling then the surface heat will be alot hotter than you need and may burn your snake.This is the correct and proper way to do it.

Theres nothing wrong with putting a thermometer loose on top of the substrate as again this will give you a good and accurate reading.You can also stick one on the wall at the hot end and cool end to give you visible indicators of the air temp at both ends.

Answer 3

The best place to put the heat sensor is right where the snake will be laying so you know that the temperature will be just right for the snake. I have large cages heated with heat tape, which is similar to heat pads. I tape the sensor right on the cage floor right above the heat tape and use a thermostat to keep it at the desired temperature. This way I know the temperature the snake is feeling is correct.

As for thermometer placement, I never liked stick-on thermometers and don't currently use them. Most people stick them on the back of the cage on the hot side, but this isn't giving you an accurate temperature of the basking spot, more of just the ambient air temperature. And using a heat lamp above one can give you a whole other reading since the thermometer is closer to the heat source than the snake. I use temp guns. I think they're one of the best tools you can use for caring for a reptile. You just point it where you want to know the temp and it gives you an accurate reading down to the tenth of a degree. You can point it at the cool side, the basking spot, the snake, yourself, outside, anywhere. They're pretty cool and they're cheap. I highly recommend them to anyone with a reptile. I got mine from here:

http://www.tempgun.com