newbie snakes

[thomas1123]

ok thank you ill post some pics later. im going to the petstore now to get the lasy bit of things so far i have frozen pinkies, thermometer, hygrometer, and water dish. i think that is all i need for now!
thanks!

[NennaMeerkat]

Later tonight or if not then tomorrow afternoon I will be posting a picture of my tank since I redid it today. It will give you a good idea of what you will need. Just in case you might have missed something Just have to look for my thread when I get to taking the pics.

[thomas1123]

ok so i just got home about 20 minutes ago and i bought an exo-terra digital themometer and i installed it and everything. well now the thermometer says that it is 100.3 degrees F? i put the thermometer in the hot hide which is under the heating pad and the aspen bedding is a least 2 in. what should i do? are digital themometers really accurate?

[infernalis]

Most digital thermometers I have seen are spot on.

Exotera - oh yeah, that's going to be accurate.

[thomas1123]

ok i checked and now its at 99.1 at hot side hide its about 95 outside yhe hide, 83-85 at midtank, and 73-75 on the cool side. is the hotside temp to hot? and if it is how can i bbring it down?

[infernalis]

That's about 10 degrees too warm.

They sell thermostats that can be used to lower the heater temps a bit.

[thomas1123]

yeah im thinking what i can do is buy reptile carpet and put under my substrate so that way the snake cant get burned and then ill put a dimmer switch on the heating pad and lower the temp to the right temp. should my hide be hotter inside and a cooler temp on the outside? my hide is holding in some heat as you can see. lol

[Damion930]

Don't forget ur king is going to burrow as well so you don't want it to be to hot under the substrate

[mistersprinkles]

Kingsnakes in particular like to get under anything that isn't nailed down. Using a carpet under the shavings won't help. Just go by the temperature of the actual enclosure glass itself over the heat pad. Don't go by the temperature of the shavings on it. If you give them the substrate they're looking for they'll spend a lot of time burrowing anyways so they will pick the temperature they want to be at if you give them the right range.

You're doing just fine though I think your snake will have a long happy life. Your temps are a bit off but you're working to adjust them and that's what matters. Little things like that with a less sensitive snake aren't going to hurt anything.

[thomas1123]

ok thank you but im not getting a kingsnake... lol im getting a westewrn hognose lol thanks for the help ill try to get some pics up later tonight

[Damion930]

Lol my bad got my threads mixed up

[thomas1123]

its all good man lol

[sickvenom]

Originally Posted by thomas1123

ok thank you but im not getting a kingsnake... lol im getting a westewrn hognose lol thanks for the help ill try to get some pics up later tonight

they burrow too, so the advise is still valid.

[NennaMeerkat]

Yeah you HAVE To get a dimmer switch to help with the temperature. No worries though you go to any Home Depot or other big chain hardware store and get one for fairly cheap. Bought mine online for 12 dollars (without shipping). The Dimmer plugs directly into your heat mat's plug and then into the wall. Using the Dimmer you can safely lower the temps until you get them perfect.

[Lankyrob]

Or get a thermostat and it will adjust temps automatically for you