heating question

[zupanm]

Well after almost 3 weeks my snake finally ate. I think it was a combination of a shed that happened 4 days ago and being moved around a lot. Let me tell you.. it scared the crap out of me when he attacked the food. I was thinking he wasn't gonna eat.. then bam.

I have another question. I have a 20 Long tank for the snake right now. I was told when i bought him to get a 100 watt bulb. I also got a under the tank heater. Now when they are both on full blast the temp right under the buld is like 110! but the back of the hot area reads 85-90ish. The cool end is around 80. Now.. is that 110 reading from the bulb itself messing with the reading. What do you guys go by? SHould i get a different bulb or what? WHat do you guys think. I just don't wanna kill the snake from too much heat. Should i lose the bulb and just use the under the tank heater or what?

Also maybe this is related but the snake seems to hit in the hiding spot i made him a lot. My turtle did this a lot when i first got her due to the move. Is this also normal or due to the high heat from the bulb? [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_confused.gif[/img]
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[XzyluM]

How is your setup? You should have a thermometer on the warm and cool side about 1" from the floor level. What types of thermometers are you using? If it is stick on ones, those are usually inaccurate and don't read the temperature correctly. The floor level is what you want to know how warm the temperature is. 110 degrees is way to hot for a snake. I use a 100W bulb and a human heat pad on my current rubbermaid tub and the temps seem to stay around 86-88 while at times they could hit 90, but I cool it before they hit over 88. If you need something to manage your temperature, you could get a thermostat that will manage the temperature for you. Sometimes you have to play around with different W bulbs to get the temperature right. A heat panel or thermostat would save you a lot of trouble.
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[zupanm]

My thermometer isn't a stick on one. It does stick to the side but its a normal one i guess you can say. WHen i measured 110 it was placing the thermometer right under the bulb on the ground facing up to the bulb. So the thermometer was in the center of the hot spot in the cage facing up. When i place it on the side, just like you said, it reads high 85-90.
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[Lisa]

If you turn your light off and take the temp directly over the heat mat, you may find that this reading alone reaches 80 to 90 degrees......well I know mine does, so I think your bulb might be a bit strong because the hot spot shouldn't get hotter than 95 degrees really. Experiment with a lower wattage bulb or see what happens if you move the light away slightly from the heat mat. Keep checking your temps. I've got 3 thermometers in my tank at present and I keep moving them around all the time to find the true hottest and coolest points because they aren't always where you expect them to be. A thermostat is a good idea...I've just ordered one for mine cos my temps are getting too low.
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