Yes I agree with this.
@ckhirnigs113 Chris, you are overthinking again. You are going to go bananas before Eva even gets to you 
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I can’t help it! I need the snake to get here so I can stop preparing for it to get here!
Also, my daughter has changed the name again. Eva (aka Candy Apple) will now be called “Quinn.” Not sure where the inspiration came from, but it’ll do.
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I won’t throw any more opinions into this debate, but I will give you this heads up as I’m currently learning it myself. Your setup may work wonderfully for the season we’re in, but you may have to make adjustments as the seasons change. I had no problem with temps in the winter, but as we turn our AC on more and more, I’ve noticed it’s been harder to keep the hot spots hot, so I’ve had to add insulation to help keep the temps up. Never thought I’d have this issue in the summer, but I guess we like it cold at 73 in our house? lol.
In the end, as long as you provide the necessities, she’ll be fine. Do what works best for you guys and enjoy Quinn!
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My enclosure is sitting right under a ceiling vent, so I just ordered one of those magnetic covers to block the half of the vent blowing cold air toward the enclosure. I think we have our a/c set to 71F upstairs. I may bump that up a few degrees as well.
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You’ve got this! Don’t stress about precisely where and exactly what degree your temperature gradient is, nor how sharp its angle. Quinn (or whomever, TBA) will thrive as long as she’s got adequate warmth for digestion and cooler spaces to move to if she so desires.
Yes, exactly so. Corns live and thrive in many different environments across their natural range. It’s often said that they “tolerate” many varying conditions. Yeah, but the verb can be stronger. They don’t simply tolerate conditions. They thrive in many varying conditions!
I mean, we can certainly make that happen. I can ship tomorrow. 
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I got my 75W halogen basking flood bulb in yesterday and put it in my dome fixture sitting on top of the screen lid. The thermostat is due to arrive today, so I was curious to see how warm the basking spot on top of the half log would get with the bulb at full strength.
I had gone back and forth between getting a 75W and 100W halogen bulb, but settled on the 75W. I’m glad I did, because after an hour, the top of the half log measured at 120F! I definitely didn’t need a 100W bulb!
The ambient temp on that side of the tank got up to about 85F. Once the thermostat comes in today, I’m going to place the temp probe at the basking spot and set the max temp to 90F. Should I permanently install the probe there, or is it better to install it on the glass at the same height as the basking spot and adjust the thermostat to whatever setting keeps the basking spot at 90F?
I’m thinking I’m going to set the thermostat for the heat mat to about 85F. I have 2-3" of aspen substrate, so this should be a safe temp for the snake even if it decides to burrow down close to the glass bottom on the warm side of the enclosure.
Thoughts?
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This sounds fine. Do be aware that most normal thermostats have a range of a degree or two either way, which is perfectly fine for most species kept as pets.
Is this a digital probe? Just asking since cords going into the enclosure mean a space which the snake might keep pushing at until she gets out. She’s got no chores to do, plenty of time to exploit possibilities for escape. Also, I wouldn’t set the temp for 90. Above 88 is potentially dangerous for corn snakes. Again, thermostats can vary so a setting of 90 can give temps of 92 at times. I know she can get away from it, so she should be fine but I wouldn’t set the thermostat that high. (I don’t actually use basking spots for my corns, full confession.)
Given the size of the enclosure, the snake will be able to thermoregulate, which is the goal of providing different temps in different areas. All should be well.
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Sorry, meant to address this. I would put it on the basking spot. The air temps within her enclosure aren’t crucial. She’s in a human home, so they won’t be terribly hot nor cold. Her ambient environs are corn-snake-friendly. Any controlled temps should be where the snake might actually lie.
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I got this Repti Zoo dimmable thermostat:
It has a corded temperature probe. I wasn’t even aware there were thermostats with wireless digital temp probes. I bet they cost a lot more.
I’ll have to find a safe way to feed it into the enclosure without creating an escape path for the snake. My initial thought was to feed it between the edge of the screen lid and the center divider. I think it will clamp down enough that the snake won’t be able to escape. I also have the rubber plugs on the bottom of the tank and on the back glass. I might see what happens if I feed the probe wire through one of these and put the rubber plug back in place.
Thanks for the tips on temperature. I’ll start out setting the thermostat at 86F or 87F. I definitely don’t want it too hot. Luckily, the enclosure is so big that the snake will have plenty of room to thermoregulate.
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If you go with a cord, do be very careful. It is surprising how strong the snakes are; they’re essentially all muscle and can get themselves into whatever position for leverage. They can and will shove into/up/over/off/through possible openings. You’re getting a good-sized yearling, not a little hatchling. That means she can’t fit through some spaces, but the rule of thumb is that if she can get her head into it, she can squeeze the rest of her through.
Cautionary note, one of the people who bought one from me last year lost her when apparently she went out through a port in the glass through which the owner had fed a thermostat probe. Yours is bigger than that snake was at the time she was lost, but I would personally be very hesitant to run a cord into a young snake’s tank.
If you really want to do a basking spot with that equipment (not necessary for corns but not inherently bad though she may not use it) as opposed to simply having lighting for the enclosure, here is my suggestion. I would place the probe beneath the light, outside the enclosure. I’d either get a good thermometer to place on the target basking spot or use an infrared thermometer to check the temps there. Figure out what temp you need to set the thermostat for with the probe in that new location in order to achieve your target temps in the enclosure. Maybe 100°F at the light hets you 85°F in the enclosure, or whatever. You’ve got time to figure it out before your snake arrives, assuming you really want a basking spot.
Someone else may have better ideas about how to set it up. Like I said, I don’t actually do basking spots so my wisdom here is limited.
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I know you can get a basking light stand to hold the dome light above the lid instead of resting directly on the screen. I’d be hesitant to put the probe directly under the heat lamp while it’s resting on the screen. It might get too hot for the probe to measure.
If I can’t find a safe way to install the probe in the tank, I won’t put it in there and I’ll stick with the UTH only for the time being. I want to make absolutely sure the snake can’t get out!
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If it was a PVC enclosure you could drill a hole just big enough to fit the probe through. You don’t want to drill through glass. And you don’t want to make any kind of hole in the screen mesh itself. Utilizing one of the holes in the glass that are currently plugged with a rubber plug sounds good. Make sure the hole is not too big if that rubber plug pops out. If you run the probe into the enclosure, how will you secure it in place on the wooden half log? It needs to be really secure so the snake cannot move it around at all. And you cannot use any kind of tape or adhesive inside the enclosure. Maybe drill a couple holes into the log and feed a small zip tie through them to secure the probe.
I like @caryl’s idea of having the probe outside the enclosure between the screen lid and the heating element. That way you can secure the probe and the snake won’t be able to move it.
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Unless I get a stand to raise the heat bulb away from the probe, I think it will get too hot right under the bulb for the probe to register the temp. I just looked up the max temp the thermostat I bought can measure, and it’s 140F. If the probe is a few inches under the bulb, I think it will get way hotter than that.
If I find a good way to feed the probe wire into the tank, I like the idea of a little zip tie on the half log with two little drilled holes. I’ve also seen that people have used hot glue to attach the probe to things. Is this a bad idea? If I put it on the glass, I could use one of the suction cups used to secure the fake plants to hold the probe in place.
I was thinking I could poke a small hole through the rubber plug in the floor of the tank that is just enough the squeeze the probe through. This would probably be the safest option outside of keeping the probe outside the tank with the bulb on a stand.
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I would not trust hot glue to be secure enough inside the enclosure. The snake could easily wedge itself and break the hot glue bond. And I would not trust the suction cup on the glass to securely hold the probe.
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Ive seen people say to put their plugs in the opposite way and seal them (so instead of being able to puch out they actually push the plug in) i dont personally have any holes in my tank large enough for a snake to fit all wire slots on my big tank r only big enough for the wire at the top of the screen i took a screenshot and marked it up to kinda show what ive seen
if u had something like this 1 u might be able to feed a wire through the slot if u take a bar out if it would still be small enough the snake cant fit
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I agree my snakes liked to knock off suctioned thermometers because they climbed them lol
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I’ll certainly avoid using hot glue in the tank. The suction cups I was looking at are for aquarium air lines but also come with little zip ties to secure other things, so I think they’ll work well if I can find a safe way to get the probe wire fed into the tank. Here’s what they look like:
@samanthabea If I can’t figure out a way to get the wire fed through my existing rubber plug, l’ll look into getting a replacement plug/vent for my tank that might allow a wire to pass through. Only issues is my plug is pretty small. I measured it, and the hole in the glass is only 1 3/16” in diameter. It might be hard to find a replacement that is that size.
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Are you saying the suction cup detaches from the glass or the probe falls off the suction cup? I didn’t consider the suction cup falling off the glass.
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The suction cup came off the glass many times because the snakes would crawl up on it and it popped off i ended up switching styles that came with a sticky thing on the back (excuse my technical terminology 
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