Bulb or Pad??

[One More Herper]

One of the UTH on my display tanks just went kaput, I have an extra C-Lamp and a 250 Basking Bulb. Any thoughts of problems that my arise in using a 10-12hr basking cycle with a corn snake instead of a UTH on 24/7. Just need a second opinion on the matter

Thanks
-Ben

[SerpentLust]

Honestly, I'm more of a fan of lamps anyways, no idea why. I use a red bulb 24/7 and then if more heat is needed (it is in the winter) I plug in a UTH then.

[Auskan]

I have no idea if it will be a problem but I am currently trying my UTH on a timer that turns it off between 10pm and 7am. This came about from a thought that since "natural conditions" include a cooling off period at night, perhaps it wouldn't hurt to try to simulate that in captivity. However I've only been doing this for 4-5 days so don't have enough data yet to see if it makes a difference.

[Jeff_Favelle]

I have no idea if it will be a problem but I am currently trying my UTH on a timer that turns it off between 10pm and 7am. This came about from a thought that since "natural conditions" include a cooling off period at night, perhaps it wouldn't hurt to try to simulate that in captivity. However I've only been doing this for 4-5 days so don't have enough data yet to see if it makes a difference.

The Earth is the biggest buffer in the world. (well I guess it IS the world but....). Being the biggest buffer and heat-retainer, you'd be surprised at how little its surface cools off at night. And if snakes get their heat conductively, then perhaps a drop at night is not necessary.

And if there's no drop at night, then you either have to have the bulb on 24/7, which sucks (I mean, how'd you like to live in permanent light?) or you'd have to use bottom heat.

I'd choose the latter.

[KingFfaj]

just make sure you can put the bulb on a dimmer switch so as not to over heat it.
I have just started using a UTH (In the viv) at night time so it can get dark. Also the ambient temp only drops by 2 degrees 78-80ish hot spot but the actually matt gets to about 88-90 to the touch? i may burry it more

[sapphire_moon]

you put the UTH IN the cage? How are you measuring your temps? because unless you have it on a dimmer or something like it then it will probably be getting way to hot. and for a corn they need temps to be about 85 and I've seen some people say the keep their adult corns at about 90 (degrees F)

[daver676]

Originally posted by SerpentLust
Honestly, I'm more of a fan of lamps anyways, no idea why. I use a red bulb 24/7 and then if more heat is needed (it is in the winter) I plug in a UTH then.

This is exactly what I do. I use a red basking bulb, and a human heat pad on 24/7 all winter. The temperature in the enclosure drops with the room temp at night, but not to unacceptable levels.

In the summer it will probably just be the UTH.

[snakey]

Heres your best bet. First accept the fact that bulbs burn your reptile and those ceramic emitters you cant tell if they are working or not any way, they also get hot enough to burn your snake. And we wouldn't want you to burn that now would we. So get ready to spend some green and do it right. Use dessert rays heat pannels {check your dimentions to see wich size is right}, and control it with a digital proportional thermostat wich has a built in ajustable night drop feature. This is what I use on all my cages now, and beleive me, Ive tried everythig! This works! And your snake will not get burned, and will not have sleep cycle interupted and you'll use less juice, and these things last for years.

[Lisa]

UTHs use less energy (lower wattage) as they only produce heat and don't waste all that energy on light.
Also look where you usually find corn snakes, low light areas such as wooded areas or under things... putting a 250 watt light on them will just stress them out.

The lights on our tanks are just for our enjoyment and 1/2 our snakes don't have lights at all.

[LISA127]

250 watts sounds way too intense, doesn't it??

[K1LOS]

yeah, a 250 W bulb is gonna need a dimmer, or its gonna need to be raised pretty high. Why not just get a different bulb if you choose that route.

Where applicable, i like to use UTH for heat so i can have a light cycle, but not loose my temps at night (the ambiet air in the house drops, and all the cages will drop with it). Just mho, but i hate seeing a red light all night long.

Geoff