Heat pad

[Licag]

Hi everyone I'm new to forums in general and apologize if i do something wrong. Well I'm planning on getting my first snake but want to do as much research as I can before making the jump. I'm also on a tight budget, of course I will provide everything the snake needs I just hope to do it without spending unnecessary money. So since I'm getting a baby snake I'll have to upgrade from the first set up eventually and I was wondering if I got a 14 watt seedling heat pad with a thermostat, could I turn that down enough to heat only a small baby snake enclosure(plastic tub) and that way save on the money of upgrading when I transfer to a larger tank? Sorry for the long post

[dannybgoode]

No animal should be purchased if you can't afford it. Snakes are not cheap and still get ill and need vets - if you can't afford an unexpected vet bill don't get the animal.

That out of the way a 14W heat pad on a stat will only heat to whatever temperature you set the stat to so yes that could work.

But, to reiterate my first point, reptiles are not to be done on the cheap.

[Licag]

Dannybgoode thank you for your response, of course I absolutely know that there can be unexpected costs or emergencies and am prepararse to deal with them . I've just always been frugal with my money so wanted to know if there was a less expensive yet safe way to go about things but I of course will never put saving money before the quality of life of my snake.Thank you very much for your response:)

[bigsnakegirl785]

As long as the pad doesn't take up more than maybe 1/2 the enclosure (1/3 is preferable if I'm not mistaken), it should be fine if it's being controlled by a thermostat. If it covers too much of the bottom, it won't give the snake the option to escape the heat pad to thermoregulate.

[Doug 351]

What kind of snake?

[trailblazer295]

Generally no to the heat pad, a pad that covers a small tank properly will not be large enough for a large tank. As BSG said you should have certain amount of coverage so the snake has the option to choose hot or colder areas.

[Licag]

Thank you everyone for the advice, I've decided to go with a reptile heat mat and just control it with a trusted thermostat. Luckily there's a reptile expo near me this weekend so I should have everything by then:) Doug351 I'm getting a baby corn snake, not sure what kind yet as I'll probably change my mind several times at the expo

[Doug 351]

Cool, corns really don't need as much heat as pythons and boas, because genetically, they come from cooler climates.

I know some here may disagree with me, but I'm at a loss as to WHY you can't just put PART of the UTH under the cage.

I had no idea IF you already had the seed mat.... Sooooo....NO! Buy a reptile UTH, ............and.......just to "avoid futire regret"...(part of a TV commercial). (Gold commercial),,,,bite the bullet, and start small, and work your way up.