I hope these help
Temps, Lighting & Humidity

What temperature should I keep my snake at? The guy at the pet store said I should keep it really warm! I hear this a lot, and the truth is some snakes do need warm areas and some snakes will do well with room temperatures.
Boa Constrictors (most ssp) will do well with a hot spot of about 90 degrees F and an air temp in the low to mid 80’s. It is Just as important to give your tropical snake a place to cool off as it is to give him a place to warm up. An overheated snake will dehydrate, regurgitate and become just as ill as a snake kept too cold! So a nice temperature gradient is important. Night time temps should be about 5-7 degrees less.
Corn Snakes however, do not need the high temps and in fact occur naturally in many areas the regularly get snow in the winter. Now this is not to say that your Corn can be kept in the fridge. But a normal room temp should work well for the snake 75-82 degrees. Night time temps can drop by 5-10 degrees.
There are many different ways to heat a snakes cage and many people will debate the best methods. Heat lamps, hot rocks, heat pads, flex tape, ceramic heaters, and room heaters have all been used in the past with some degrees of success. Each has it’s advantage and draw backs. Heat lamps only provide heat as long as you keep the light on, so the snake has no heat source at night. Hot Rock (does anyone use them anymore?) gained a bad reputation for burning reptiles in the past and I don’t think the industry has ever forgotten it. However, the are new and improved and seem to work better. The main draw back on hot rock is that they require placement with in the reptiles environment as opposed to under the environment. This way the animal has access to the cords and possible electricity that goes with the cords. Leave the hot rocks for the lizard people. It is better suited for them.
Ceramic heaters and room heaters both have the same draw backs, they increase airtimes, thereby increasing the temps of the overall cage and not just a good warn spot for the snake to sit if needed.
Heat pads and Flex watt tape seem to be today’s choice for heat. A regular “humane” heat pad is not a bad way to heat under a snake cage if you only need to warm one cage (kept on low at all times !) but if you are working with a large amount of cages or racks of cages heat tape is the only way to go. Use with a dimmer or one of the new fancy digital thermostats you can control the temps down to exact degrees!

“I heard that I need a full spectrum light for my snake?” This is common mistake made by guys coming over from the dark side (Lizard keeping) to keeping snakes. Snakes do not need the UVA and UVB rays to process vitamin D3 so those expensive lights aren’t needed. However, lighting is a very important part of cycling a snake through the different seasons for breeding. The day/night ration will tell your snake (in combination with temperature and humidity) when breeding season is coming, when it is winter and when it is summer. I use regular 18” florescent under cabinet lights mounted to the back of my snakes cage. The cord comes right out of the back of the cage so it stays out of reach of the snake (see picture). Timers are then used to control the amount of daylight hours automatically. These timers are are inexpensive ($6 Wal-Mart) and make sure that you don’t forget to turn on and off the lights. The one important thing to remember is that what ever light source you may be using it will produce some amount of heat. Make sure you account for this heat in your temperature calculations.

“My snake never seems to shed all in one piece, he always has dead skin stuck to him?” Your humidity is probably too low. In Arid portions of the country the humidity can drop as low as 30%-40%. Most Boas require 70% or higher for there humidity levels. Corn Snakes are a bit more tolerant require ring 50%-60% levels. Frequent (3-4 times per week) misting of the cage is still the best method for keeping humidity levels proper. A large water bowl will also help, but misting is going to keep things humid for your snake. This will help your snake during the shedding process and you will find that your snake becomes very active right after a misting. It seems to stimulate activity in them. The almost seem to enjoy it!.
-----
Jim Hopkins "Hoppy"
Hopkins Holesale Herps
Hopfam1@aol.com

[ Show Entire Thread ]