I use an ON/OFF controller (the ones found in any herp store or online store) to turn all heaters OFF should the ambient temp in the room go above 80.



The heat cable/tape/pad should be on its own controller or dimmer, and that is plugged in to the ON/OFF controller mentioned above.



Some pet stores sell a thin slab of granite to cool chinchillas. The granite tends to stay about 4-5 deg cooler than ambient. Since kingsnakes get their temps from the mass of objects, placing this granite slab in the cage works pretty well when the temps are really warm, especially if you place a bowl of water on the granite too.



I live in So Cal too. Cooling is surely more of the challenge than heating. I don't like to rely on air conditioning, so thermostats are very important. I also have more heat-tolerant snakes now - that really helps too. I love montane kingsnakes but I just could not do them like they should be done - cool background temps for much of the day.
-----
Antaresia maculosa

Antaresia childreni

"Pythons the size of kingsnakes and with slower metabolisms"



Mark G

[ Show Entire Thread ]