Milk Snake Temperature

[Cricket1234]

So I recently got a young Pueblan Milk Snake. He is healthy, eats very well, and I am very happy with him. I am currently battling to keep the humidity up, and I am switching him to repticarpet or newspaper, But what I came to talk about is the heat. When I first installed his heat pad, I waited several hours, and then did a temperature check. It read 82 degrees. But after I got my snake, I realized he never used his warm hide. I took the temperature, and it was 90 DEGREES! I have been trying to figure out how to lower the temp. Could I add more paper on top of the heat pad? I already had a sheet so if he burrowed he would not burn himself. But will adding sheets of paper on it affect the temperature? If so, how much paper do I need and how much will it lower the temperature? If not, is there another way to lower the temp of a heat pad a few degrees? Thanks in advance for answering one of my dumb questions! :laugh:

[Andy_G]

You need a thermostat to control heat output as no pad or tape should be run full power. There's one on amazon called a jump start...it'd suffice for one or 2 snakes but its also not the best out there. Also, if you don't have one, get a temp gun, it'll be your best friend for measuring surface temps.

[Cricket1234]

You need a thermostat to control heat output as no pad or tape should be run full power. There's one on amazon called a jump start...it'd suffice for one or 2 snakes but its also not the best out there. Also, if you don't have one, get a temp gun, it'll be your best friend for measuring surface temps. I was going to get a thermostat but I thought I wouldn't need one cause I thought it would stay at 82. Boy was I wrong...

[TRD]

You could try a dimmer I suppose, but thermostat is the way to go with heatpads. I guess some dimmer wouldn't cost much and suffice as interim solution. Not sure where to find those in the US, maybe home depot or similar...

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTYwMFgxNjAw/z/~qgAAOSwv9hW5p0S/$_35.JPG?set_id=880000500F

This would let you tune down the power to the pad, but again, thermostat does a way better job because it automatically adjusts for temperature changes.

90 F is way too hot, aim for somewhere around 82-84 F, but you know I suppose :)

[Cricket1234]

K thank you! Definetely looking into a thermostsat.

[Cricket1234]

Does anyone have pictures of their thermostats? I have been doino research on thermostats and many look like there isn't a place to put the plug in. I am wondering which thermostats are designed for controlling the output of a device and not the room temp. Thanks guys!

[chairman]

Here's two very popular companies:

Thermostats (http://www.reptilebasics.com/thermostats)

Temp and Humidity Controllers : Spyder Robotics (http://www.spyderrobotics.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1)

[Cricket1234]

I researched some other thermostats as well as those ones. They seemed a bit pricey, so I was thinking of getting the Zilla Temperature Controller. It is currently on sale for 35 bucks, and has good reviews. Does anybody have experience with these? I am willing to buy some of the ones posted above (thank you chairman:D) if the one I am debating on getting is not good. Thanks guys!

[TRD]

I don't use any thermostat as I don't use anything that can actually burn my snakes or cause such huge spikes or drop in temps that the animal is in any type of danger. However I did research the subject for some time and I came to 2 conclusions;

1- I wouldn't get an ON/OFF type thermostat
2- I wouldn't get a pulse thermostat (as I don't use heat mats)

The reason is that an ON/OFF will turn the whole heatsource to maximum power, and completely off. It has a buffer of a few degrees (ie if set to 82 F it will raise to 86 F then switch off, then turns on again when temp drops to 78 F or so). So temps would never be a stable number. Imagine laying in water that gets too hot and too cold constantly, that's what your snake will experience.

A pulse thermostat will turn the heatsource ON/OFF very rapidly by delivering pulses of electricity. This can be used on a heatmat.

There's a third type called a dimmer type thermostat, but this is generally not suited for heatmats as it requires a minimum wattage load that heatmats won't reach unless they are really big or you also connect a light source to the same device.

In any case you have to take care with minimum wattage load on any thermostat, otherwise it may not trigger it at all.

Both dimmer and pulse stats are better, but more expensive. Cheap products also tend to malfunction more often... and, well, look-up pictures what happens to your snake if a heatmat thermostat malfunctions. It literally fries them. I would suggest you don't go cheap on things that can be a potential hazard to your animal.

[Cricket1234]

I don't use any thermostat as I don't use anything that can actually burn my snakes or cause such huge spikes or drop in temps that the animal is in any type of danger. However I did research the subject for some time and I came to 2 conclusions;

1- I wouldn't get an ON/OFF type thermostat
2- I wouldn't get a pulse thermostat (as I don't use heat mats)

The reason is that an ON/OFF will turn the whole heatsource to maximum power, and completely off. It has a buffer of a few degrees (ie if set to 82 F it will raise to 86 F then switch off, then turns on again when temp drops to 78 F or so). So temps would never be a stable number. Imagine laying in water that gets too hot and too cold constantly, that's what your snake will experience.

A pulse thermostat will turn the heatsource ON/OFF very rapidly by delivering pulses of electricity. This can be used on a heatmat.

There's a third type called a dimmer type thermostat, but this is generally not suited for heatmats as it requires a minimum wattage load that heatmats won't reach unless they are really big or you also connect a light source to the same device.

In any case you have to take care with minimum wattage load on any thermostat, otherwise it may not trigger it at all.

Both dimmer and pulse stats are better, but more expensive. Cheap products also tend to malfunction more often... and, well, look-up pictures what happens to your snake if a heatmat thermostat malfunctions. It literally fries them. I would suggest you don't go cheap on things that can be a potential hazard to your animal.
K I was just wondering, thanks a bunch!