Hey guys !! Im new to snake some help ?

[GarterGuy17]

Wow your snake's are beautiful. The picture with Cee Cee and seely is just wow , I love it ! So which brand is best ( Reptile bark wise ) ? The lamps I'm going to purchase off of petco so that shouldn't be a problem. Maybe ill get both an under tank pad. Even though the house stays warm most of the time it might be necessary on some days.

[infernalis]

Why give petco your money?

I get "sunbeam" reflector bulbs at Dollar Tree for a buck all the time.

[GarterGuy17]

Well I thought of petco because I have to buy the actual lamp not only the bulbs , but now that you tell me this I will but the bulbs in the dollar store. Thanks for the advice

[infernalis]

Reflector hoods are $ 8 at wal mart, home depot or Lowes.

Shop around, Petco is a rip off.

[EasternGirl]

Thanks...Cee Cee and Seeley are always posing like that...I swear they do it on purpose for the camera! An option for your lamp fixture might be a terrarium hood...Zoo Med makes one..the Naturalistic Terrarium Hood...that has two sockets so that you can put a daytime bulb and a nighttime bulb in it Zoo Med Naturalistic Terrarium Hood at PETCO I am not sure about different brands for reptibark...I just bought what they had at my pet store. I didn't like it though so I switched back to carefresh...my snakes like it better for burrowing, and I feel it's safer. With under heat mats you have to make sure the tank is propped up on the bottom so that the heat can escape from underneath, and you have to make sure you have plenty of substrate over the mat...but not too much. About 2 inches is good. You may want to wait until the snake is a little bigger if you are getting a baby...I worry about snakes burrowing down and getting burned on the hot glass with heat mats...but that is my opinion...others use them and do not agree. I don't use one with my baby albino...I worry too much about him burrowing and getting burned.

[chris-uk]

....
With under heat mats you have to make sure the tank is propped up on the bottom so that the heat can escape from underneath, and you have to make sure you have plenty of substrate over the mat...but not too much. About 2 inches is good. You may want to wait until the snake is a little bigger if you are getting a baby...I worry about snakes burrowing down and getting burned on the hot glass with heat mats...but that is my opinion...others use them and do not agree. I don't use one with my baby albino...I worry too much about him burrowing and getting burned.

The depth of substrate over a heatmat should be minimal shouldn't it? I vary substrate depth across the width of the viv, around 1cm over any mats, and deeper for burrowing on the cold side.

My mats don't get hot enough under the substrate to cause burns - what sort of temps do people have their mats at to worry about burns? I've monitored both surface of the substrate and the glass underneath and the glass doesn't get too hot when the substrate is at 28C.
With an albino I'd be more concerned about UV from a lamp than burns from a heat mat.

[GarterGuy17]

Oh wow thanks for the tip .

[EasternGirl]

Yeah...Wayne is right...I buy the sunbeam bulbs at the dollar store too...except I do buy the red night bulbs at the pet store. And I do like the double socket terrarium hood....it is more expensive though...so you may want to go with what Wayne said and get the more inexpensive reflector hoods.

[GarterGuy17]

I'm actually looking for one now , but how do you do it ? meaning do you change the bulb every morning and every night ? or what.

[infernalis]

I'm actually looking for one now , but how do you do it ? meaning do you change the bulb every morning and every night ? or what.

Garter snakes don't need a bulb at night... I keep about 70 in my house, and have worked with hundreds of babies, never once did I heat the cages at night.

They are North American colubrids, they spend very chilly evenings outside in nature, have been forever.

Unless you allow your house to fall below freezing inside at night, it is completely unnecessary to run a heat lamp at night.

Please don't confuse garters with tropical snakes or boids.

$7 at wal mart...