under tank heater

Question
Hello. If i want a corn snake will i have to leave the under tank heater on all day and night or just all day? also, if i have a under tank heater made for a 10 gallon tank, can i still use it for a 20 gallon tank or should i buy another one? And will the heat of an under tank heater melt a rubbermaid container?

Answer
You can leave the heat on only during the day. The warm side of the tank is needed to help the snake digest it's meals. Usually this means for about 2-4 days after it eats, depending on the size of the meal. As far as the heating pad size, you should try to keep about 1/3 of the tank "warm". So it really depends on how big your heating pad is. If the 10 gallon pad/heater covers about a third of the tank then it should be ok. As far as melting the rubbermaid container, it depends why type of heating pad you are using. My guess is that it won't melt it, but try it out and just watch it for the first couple of hours to make sure.