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24-09-2008, 05:58 PM
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i havent got a stat , however the lid to my exo terra is mesh , and my rooms generally cold - i respect your conclusion from this experiment but depending on a phew factors it could be rather a load of old tosh. my heat matt is 8 watts , my snake is alive ., no stat > am i just lucky or ............. .. .. ..
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24-09-2008, 05:59 PM
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24-09-2008, 06:37 PM
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What is your EXACT surface temperature over the mat, measured with a reliable digital thermometer or infrared thermometer? I've measured a seven-watt mat heating the floor of the faunarium above it to 140 degrees fahrenheit; the mat itself had spot readings of 145. That's certainly enough to brain-damage a snake even if it doesn't kill it outright. And just so you know: the heat mat should NOT feel warm to you, because your snake requires a basking temperature COLDER than human body temperature. Humans can tolerate temperatures up to and including over the boiling point of water (try a sauna sometime - some of them are blisteringly hot) because we have heat-exchange systems built into our bodies to keep our brains cool... but this sort of heat will kill a snake because they quite simply don't have the ability to keep cool without being able to move away from the heat source. Your snake is alive. Congratulations, you are indeed lucky in the same way that my ex-father-in-law has thus far been lucky driving home drunk twice a week for the last ten years. Doesn't make driving drunk or not having a thermostat on a heat source 'safe' behaviour. Both are avoidable risks, and risking the life of something that relies on you to provide correct conditions. There's never a problem until there's a problem you see - you might be lucky right up until the day you notice the bottom of the Exo-Terra is cracked and the aspen is smoldering. I've seen an animal brain-damaged by heat exposure. Chumley used to be lovely, placid, great to handle, safe around kids. Then a vet I entrusted him to used a microwave beanbag as his heating source after surgery - and he was exposed to this for a minimum of six hours. He is not the same animal I took to the vet - his behaviour is totally different. We can't casually handle him any more; he's had to be rehoused in an enclosure that prevents him from compulsive nose-rubbing and he's gone from being tame, inquisitive and lovely to lunging at you the minute you get near his cage. Unregulated heat source + reptile = eventual disaster.
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- Ssthisto  Member 1606 ... We HAD a three-bedroom house... Current lodgers: 1.0 E. c. maurus, 0.1 P. regius
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24-09-2008, 08:41 PM
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sorry mate , i didnt know those facts , i didnt realise. i just fort tat my snake would be better of hot than cold. taking into account all those factors i fell it paramount for me to turn the mat off completely , i hope this is the correct decision. i did indeed base my opinion upon the seemingly strong foundation of "the mat doesnt feel really hot to me" . now i know this information i shall "save my snake" . thanks alot mate. Xx
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24-09-2008, 10:32 PM
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22-10-2008, 01:28 PM
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Just thougtht i'd post something that has happened recently, concerning stats, well last sunday i sold a baby snake to a couple who bought it for their children, well from asking all the relevant questions and keeping they seemed to us that they knew what they were doing and had done the research,
well 36 hrs later the wife got a phone call saying the snake was lying on its back and was dead, well it was in our best interest to find out why, not only because the snake had left us a short time ago but it was previously housed in a room with the majority of my collection, so after asking questions they told us it was active a few hours beforehand and the temps were reading 84F. so we arranged to go and visit. on arrival we went in and checked there setup, everything looked good except there was no thermostat, the thermometer was one of the dodgy exo terra round ones and had bee placed in the middle of the viv and at the edge of the mat, the snake was in a smaller tub, inside thje viv and had been sat on the matt, well after looking over the snake and setup, i moved the thermometer directly onto the mat and within seconds it shot to over 90F, after talking for about 5-10 mins we rechecked the temp and it had maxed out the thermometer at 110F, therefore this was the reason for the snake being so active then dead a few hours later. the couple found out the hard way, and to make matters worse they now have to explain it to their young children, so in all a very steep learning curve.
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22-10-2008, 11:15 PM
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Fantastic Sticky
This is absolutely fantastic information. Thank you for taking the time to conduct this experiment
 I am certain that you will have saved both animals and owners a lot of unwanted upset.Alex
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27-10-2008, 12:32 AM
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Well, I have jsut got myself a Corn Snake and I have a small plastic Viv for it. I got it as a starter kit and the shop told me to place the Heat Mat on the bottom of the viv, on the outside. I have then placed about 2cm of substrate. Lucky I read these forums, as I have jsut taken my thermo from my lizards viv and tested it.
The heat on top of the substrate is 90 to 95F The heat between the mat and the bottom of the viv is 114F and rising. So im out tommorrow at 9am to get a habistat for it, what i'd like to know is, where do I place the sensor for the Habistat? So that I can get optimal temp for the snake? Any ideas? Many Thanks
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29-10-2008, 07:01 PM
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Good post
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