Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey, I got my first kingsnake! I picked her up at a show today, she's a reverse stripe Cali King, and she wolfed down a pinkie when we got home. I just wanted to check what the best basking temp is, the warmest the hot side has gotten so far has been 88 degrees. Is that temp adequate? Thanks for any help!
-----
2.0 African Fat Tailed Geckos (Goliath and Jambo)
1.2 Leopard Geckos (Chandler, Casper, and Monica)
0.1 White Lined Geckos (Janice)
1.1 Crested Geckos (Basil and Banana)
1.0 Ball Pythons (Snuggler)
0.1 Corn Snakes (Pheobe)

i keep mine 70-75 at night snd 80-86 during the day

I fiddled around with the thermostat and got it to where the heat pad gives the hot spot a temp around 84 right now. Liza seems to be enjoying it, she's stretched out digesting at the moment. Thanks for the info.
-----
1.0 African Fat Tailed Geckos (Jambo)
1.2 Leopard Geckos (Chandler, Rachel, and Monica)
1.1 Crested Geckos (Basil and Banana)
1.0 Ball Pythons (Snuggler)
1.1 Corn Snakes (Gunther and Ursula)
0.1 California Kingsnake (Liza)

How big is your snake? How big is your cage? I keep my warm side about 89 degrees, but I have a 55 gallon aquarium. If my snake doesn't like that high a temperature, he can go to the other side. He has typically spent much of his time under a hide at about 79 degrees. Right now, he's halfway under a hide that is 86 degrees. At times, he goes into a bank of substrate where the temperature is typically around 71 degrees.

Bill
-----
It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

My kingnsnake is only about 14 inches and is in a ten gallon tank. The heat pad takes up around one fourth to one third of the floor space, probably closer to one third. The ambient air temp is around 79-80 degrees the hot spot floor temp itself is around 87 degrees.
-----
1.0 African Fat Tailed Geckos (Jambo)
1.2 Leopard Geckos (Chandler, Rachel, and Monica)
1.1 Crested Geckos (Basil and Banana)
1.0 Ball Pythons (Snuggler)
1.1 Corn Snakes (Gunther and Ursula)
0.1 California Kingsnake (Liza)

I'm not all that experienced either, but those conditions sound right. If she has plenty of hiding places and enough substrate on the cool side to burrow when she wants to burrow, I'd think she'd be pretty happy.

Bill
-----
It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

If your tank actually ranges from 79 to 86, you should do one of a number of things:

1. Move the heat pad to heat less floor area in your existing tank, or

2. Use a larger tank (allows for a large cooler area), or

3. Employ a nightime temp drop scheme.

IMO option #2 yields the best results in that it lets the snake choose. You'll find your snake using the cool end at various times of the year and for various functions just as much or more than it uses the warmer spots.