Heating Suggestions

melissaisdown · 07-25-12, 08:08 AM

Hello everybody.

I'm somewhat inarticulate this morning so I apologize if this is a stupid question or if I'm bad at explaining. Anyways, I've recently gotten a 3 year old blotched kingsnake. Right now he's upstairs in a bedroom in his 55 gallon enclosure and all is well. Room temp is about 71-72 and I get him up to about 80 on the warm side when I turn his heat pad on.

But I'm going to be moving him downstairs where it's substantially cooler. I'm worried about it being too cool on the cool side and also that the heat pad isn't penetrating enough to keep the warm side at 80.

I was thinking of putting the larger pad inside the enclosure, fixed underneath thin tiles and also a smaller pad on the side of the glass. Does anybody have a set up like this? Also, I've read that these types of snakes, because they're native to Fla. and need humidity, are prone to dehydration. So I'm uncertain what, if any type of light, would work as a heat source.

Any suggestions for consistent, reliable heat in a relatively large enclosure for this type of snake is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

StudentoReptile · 07-25-12, 08:36 AM

Personally, I would never put the heat pad INSIDE the enclosure. Snake could get stuck on it, gets dirty/soiled from bedding/feces & malfunctions, etc etc. They're designed to be outside the tank, not inside.

I would keep the heat pad on 24/7, attached to a thermostat of course. Since you're dealing with such a tall tank (55 gals are my least favs...UGH!), I would use a heat lamp bring up the ambient temps a little. Cover the rest of the top with a towel or saran wrap. This would be more effective than pasting heat pads all over the glass. They're still only effective if the animal is resting on them; and you're not keeping geckos that stick to the walls, so putting them on the sides would pretty much be useless.

beardeds4life · 07-25-12, 08:51 PM

Putting it on the side works great because it brings up ambient air temps around that half of the tank.

StudentoReptile · 07-26-12, 07:23 AM

Well, whichever route you decide to use, make sure you use a temperature gun to know what your readings are in all areas of the enclosure.

melissaisdown · 07-26-12, 08:01 AM

I am probably going to go with flexwatt and see if it gets warm enough and is consistent heat. Thanks everybody!!

bcoop1234 · 07-26-12, 08:10 AM

If you use flexwatt you will definitely want to use some kind of thermostat, flexwatt will get so hot it will melt itself if its not regulated... There are a bunch of different ones out there. If your looking for one that works well and is not to expensive... and im bias since Ive had really good experience with mine... take a look at RANCO ETC-111000 DIGITAL TEMPERATURE CONTROL 120 - 240V. You have to do a little work on your own to get the plugs wired up, but they are only 46 bucks on ebay. I have mine wired into a surge strip and they work great.

melissaisdown · 07-27-12, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bcoop1234

If you use flexwatt you will definitely want to use some kind of thermostat, flexwatt will get so hot it will melt itself if its not regulated... There are a bunch of different ones out there. If your looking for one that works well and is not to expensive... and im bias since Ive had really good experience with mine... take a look at RANCO ETC-111000 DIGITAL TEMPERATURE CONTROL 120 - 240V. You have to do a little work on your own to get the plugs wired up, but they are only 46 bucks on ebay. I have mine wired into a surge strip and they work great.

Thanks for the advice!

StudentoReptile · 07-26-12, 08:08 AM

Make sure you use a thermostat with flexwatt.