Heating concerns for Western Hognose snake enclosure

PAHNKAPIE · 01-18-21, 01:23 AM

So I bought a 50-60 heating pad zoo med brand for my enclosure and stuck it to the bottom of my tank with a heat probe between the tank and the pad. The heat probe won’t let it heat past 108 degrees. However the interior of the cage is reading only at 69 consistently. It’s been like this for a few hours not going up or down. I don’t know what on earth to do I need the warm side to be like 80 degrees. The pad is adhered to the bottom of the 40 gallon tank and I already have all the substrate in the tank as well. I can’t Tip the tank on its side if I have to remove the pad and stick it elsewhere (if it even would after being stuck once) I’m kinda panicking that I might have to buy an all new heat pad or something idk. I feel like I’ve already just about broke the bank and I don’t even have the snake or the decor inside the tank purchased yet. Can someone please help me? Again I have one temp probe that keeps the pad from getting too hot between the pad and the tank. I have another probe just hanging in the warm side of the enclosure to measure the ambient temperature on the warm side. I can only set the heat pad to 108 degrees (that seems to be the thermometers max) but the ambient temp in the warm side is still only 69 degrees x.x which is only two degrees warmer than my room sits at currently. I’m also worried about how much electricity it’s going to take to keep this cage warm if one 50-60 gallon heating pad isn’t going to cut it.

Herpin' Man · 01-18-21, 10:39 AM

Sounds like your substrate is too thick, and isn't allowing enough heat through. If you are going to use a thick layer of substrate, you probably are going to need to switch to overhead heating.

chairman · 01-18-21, 10:55 PM

Under tank heaters don't usually raise ambient temperatures. You need an overhead heat source for that.

If you place a hide over the heat mat then the temperature within the hide should be higher than the ambient.

PAHNKAPIE · 01-20-21, 12:39 AM

I got a ceramic heat lamp and the ambient temp on the warm side has remained at basically 77. The spot right on top the heater pad is 80 degrees using a heat gun on the substrate to measure temp. I moved the log hide forward so it would be more on top of that 80 degree spot because it was only 77-76 inside the warm hide. The cool side has stayed at 69-71 degrees. Am I good? Or so I need to figure out how to make it even warmer?

PAHNKAPIE · 01-20-21, 01:47 AM

The heat lamp is only 40w btw, maybe should I just upgrade to a 60? The gal at the pet store seemed concerned it would melt the glue in my lamp fixture but a wire lamp fixture wouldn’t focus the heat downwards enough right? I keep getting some readings of 81 and 80 in the cage on the warm side in a few places but a lot of it is still 76-78. My thermometer won’t let me set my heat pad to a higher temp than it currently is set to as a note. The pad is set to 108 degrees and it’s only like 75-80 on the surface of the substrate as a result.

PAHNKAPIE · 01-20-21, 02:54 AM

So watching some videos and seeing some other comments online... I’ve dug out a slight little put on the warm side and lowered the heat pad temp to be about 98 (because the sensor probe is on the outside of the glass so it needs to be a little warmer to make sure the heat gets through the glass properly) so the heat can get through the substrate a bit better on the warm side. I filled in the back of the half log hide I have on the warm side to insulate it better and to make sure the snake will feel more secure in said hide. The substrate is thin on the bottom of the hide and a small area around the entrance to the hide. However it is 85-86 degrees on the surface of that thinner substrate on the warm side. There’s still plenty of room around the warm hide to burrow and on the cool side to burrow. I might upgrade my 40w ceramic bulb to a 60w to add just a little more heat to the higher areas of the warm side now. I THINK and HOPE this will work but I’d love some insight from you guys if you can provide it. This has been quite the process and I’m quite nervous I’ll never get this cage up to snuff... here’s some pics I tried to take of the lowered hide? Idk

https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...944/image0.jpg

https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...220/image0.jpg

https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...098/image0.jpg

PAHNKAPIE · 01-20-21, 01:49 PM

So checking this morning the warm hide stayed at 79-80 ambient with the thin substrate being 83-81 down in the small pit around the warm hide/hide entrance. The higher up substrate around the pit is at 75-74 with the 40w heat lamp on. The spot directly under the heat lamp is around 79-80 as well. Do you think that will be enough heat? The cool side is at 71-70. I know snakes need at least 75 to digest properly, is it absolutely essential that I get an area of the warm side up to 90? Or will having a warm hide area that remains at 80 consistently work?