oatmeal
11-29-15, 05:18 PM
Hello, everyone! I'm new to the forum. I've wanted a snake for a long time (looong time), and owned other herps for 15+ years. I recently acquired a 8-9mo male hognose snake, and I'm just completely in love with him! My spouse would have preferred a larger snake, but with the amount of herps we have already, I figured smaller was better in this case lol
Anyway, I'm having some troubles with figuring out the temps for our new addition.
My setup is this, and I'm very open to criticism and suggestions:
-10 gallon glass tank
-Heat mat on one end of the tank
-shallow water dish
-Eco earth substrate for burrowing: About 3 inches deep on the warm end, and 2 inches on the cooler end
-He has been eating f/t pinkies in his previous home, but has apparently gone off food recently. My guess is it is related to the weather.
I've ordered a flourescent light to mount on top to help with proper day/night cycles, but do not currently have it.
My concern is this: When I place the temperature probe deep into the substrate on the warm end, it's about 95 degrees. When I remove the probe, the ambient air temp on the warm side sits at around 80 degrees.
Is this normal? When I read care sheets, they usually say that the warm end should be about 90-95ish. Is this meant to be a basking temperature? I'm not really sure. I had not thought about this, as I've never had a burrowing herp before.
When I try to raise the ambient air temp using a heat lamp, the substrate becomes stupidly warm (nearing 100) so I just keep it off.
Is it a viable option to have the heat mat on at night, and use a basking lamp during the day?
I acquired a thermostat last night, and would like to set it up once I have a better idea of where my temps should be at.
Otherwise, he seems like a very active little snake. He spent the first few days exploring his viv, checking everything out. Now he's hiding a bit more, and I'm hoping that means he's settling in a bit.
If anyone can offer suggestions and share some of their experience, that would be great!
Thanks :)
Anyway, I'm having some troubles with figuring out the temps for our new addition.
My setup is this, and I'm very open to criticism and suggestions:
-10 gallon glass tank
-Heat mat on one end of the tank
-shallow water dish
-Eco earth substrate for burrowing: About 3 inches deep on the warm end, and 2 inches on the cooler end
-He has been eating f/t pinkies in his previous home, but has apparently gone off food recently. My guess is it is related to the weather.
I've ordered a flourescent light to mount on top to help with proper day/night cycles, but do not currently have it.
My concern is this: When I place the temperature probe deep into the substrate on the warm end, it's about 95 degrees. When I remove the probe, the ambient air temp on the warm side sits at around 80 degrees.
Is this normal? When I read care sheets, they usually say that the warm end should be about 90-95ish. Is this meant to be a basking temperature? I'm not really sure. I had not thought about this, as I've never had a burrowing herp before.
When I try to raise the ambient air temp using a heat lamp, the substrate becomes stupidly warm (nearing 100) so I just keep it off.
Is it a viable option to have the heat mat on at night, and use a basking lamp during the day?
I acquired a thermostat last night, and would like to set it up once I have a better idea of where my temps should be at.
Otherwise, he seems like a very active little snake. He spent the first few days exploring his viv, checking everything out. Now he's hiding a bit more, and I'm hoping that means he's settling in a bit.
If anyone can offer suggestions and share some of their experience, that would be great!
Thanks :)