Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So last night I went out and ended up coming back the next morning and finding my burm had pulled down my heat panel. It must have been there for a while. The news paper was all brown and crusty and the heat panel is all brown in the middle. My burm was fine she was on the other end of the cage. Currently I did not have it hooked up to the thermastat because of the cold winters.

Has anyone else had this happen? Is it safe to say that it would not catch on fire? If it would have been hooked up to the therestat would it not have burned?

Thanks

Jeff
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0.2 Rotts
1.0 Super Tiger
0.1 Green Burm
0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Red Tail
0.1 Blood Python
1.0 Green Ananconda
1.0 Emerald Tree Boa

You got real lucky. Fires happen all the time in this hobby due to improper wiring, compressed heat tape, or faulty electrical equipment and I have seen good folks lose whole breeding colonies. It sounds like you may have been within minutes or hours of a house fire. This would not have happened to this extent if a thermostat was hooked to the heat panel if the area in the cage went up higher than the setting of the thermostat.

Please use a digital-proportional thermostat from now on and consider yourself very lucky that you can learn from this without having to experience loss. In my early years (70's) I used many different electrical heating devices, usually in the form of heat lamps/light bulbs, and more than a dozen times in the first few years alone snakes were able to pull down cords or bulbs or somehow move the heat source and I walked into a snake room with smoldering shavings (i used shavings then) or smoking plywood. I was lucky then too. Nowadays and for the last 18 years I have heated whole snake rooms and or whole facilities and controlled the overall ambient temps and humidity levels. It's much safer to use one heat source for a whole room than to use 200 individual heat sources for different cages. Simpler and cheaper too. Naturally, for folks with a few snakes this isn't that big a deal and I am not suggesting heating whole rooms for just a few snakes.

Anyway, if you continue to use the heat panel I would secure it with strong screws or bolts and use a reliable digital-proportional thermostat rated for the wattage of the panel. These ease up the heat source to provide a continuous flow of heat and thus it will never be too hot.
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David Beauchemin
High End Herps.Inc
http://HighEndHerps.com

question. Is it OK for the cage to stay at the same temp? I though you needed some heated areas? If so what heat do you keep the room at?

Thanks again, I do feel pretty lucky.
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0.2 Rotts
1.0 Super Tiger
0.1 Green Burm
0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Red Tail
0.1 Blood Python
1.0 Green Ananconda
1.0 Emerald Tree Boa

If you have your heat panel at one end of your cage and good ventilation on the other end then there should be some form of a thermal gradient whether there is a thermostat or not.

Many say that a thermal gradient is essential. I personally don't feel this way. As for my rooms in my facilities I have night time lows and day time highs programmed at all times of the year. All of my snakes are comfortable and healthy and out of over 200 snakes I don't have any "nosers" or snakes that try to escape their cages. This to me implies content snakes and by definition this implies that my temps are good and proper.

I don't subscribe to any theory concerning the keeping of reptiles that implies there is only one correct way of doing it. I personally feel that there are many correct ways of keeping them within reasonable thermal perimeters. We must remember that all weather patterns and conditions in all regions of the world are erratic and inconsistant. There is no place in the world where a reptile lives that has a perfect thermal gradient 24/7/365. So I think there is a lot of leeway with temps for most boid species between 80 and 95 degrees. Some species may be equally tolerant of temps well below and well above this scale too. I think one can raise pythons of any species and breed with equal success whether they provide 85 degree days or 90 degree days.

The whole point is that there really isn't a "perfect formula" to adhere to. Just try to land your day time highs somewhere in the mid 80's to the low 90's and your night time lows no lower than 80 (for burmese) and you'll do fine. If your burm has 85 to 90 degree nights it will not hurt him or her one iota nor will he or she be uncomfortable. Just focus on keeping your set up safe.

Best of luck to you.
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David Beauchemin
High End Herps.Inc
http://HighEndHerps.com

David hit it on the head. Although I am one of those people who feel it is important to provide a thermal gradient to all herps; even boas/pythons, I also know of plenty of people who simply heat the entire room w/in an acceptable level that meets the needs of the animals. Several of my burms are in the 30 year old range and they have always been provided with the opportunity to choose their optimal temps (I typically aim for 80 on the low end to the mid to upper 80's on the warm end with a basking area that reaches 92 deg F....and my pythons will utilize every square inch of space....they spend a portion of the day moving around - not to escape but to just roam and inspect their environment, portion of the day basking in the warmest areas and portions of the day on the cool end...to me, that is my take on a content snake. I utilize full spectrum lighting, both bright and dark areas of the cage, etc. All heating devices are connected to thermostats (and I use pro product radiant heat panels for many of our exhibits). But, to say that one way is better than the other I don't necessarily agree with as we will never be able to re-creat these animals' natural environment; just mimic it.

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center
Lake Forest, IL

>>If you have your heat panel at one end of your cage and good ventilation on the other end then there should be some form of a thermal gradient whether there is a thermostat or not.
>>
>>Many say that a thermal gradient is essential. I personally don't feel this way. As for my rooms in my facilities I have night time lows and day time highs programmed at all times of the year. All of my snakes are comfortable and healthy and out of over 200 snakes I don't have any "nosers" or snakes that try to escape their cages. This to me implies content snakes and by definition this implies that my temps are good and proper.
>>
>>I don't subscribe to any theory concerning the keeping of reptiles that implies there is only one correct way of doing it. I personally feel that there are many correct ways of keeping them within reasonable thermal perimeters. We must remember that all weather patterns and conditions in all regions of the world are erratic and inconsistant. There is no place in the world where a reptile lives that has a perfect thermal gradient 24/7/365. So I think there is a lot of leeway with temps for most boid species between 80 and 95 degrees. Some species may be equally tolerant of temps well below and well above this scale too. I think one can raise pythons of any species and breed with equal success whether they provide 85 degree days or 90 degree days.
>>
>>The whole point is that there really isn't a "perfect formula" to adhere to. Just try to land your day time highs somewhere in the mid 80's to the low 90's and your night time lows no lower than 80 (for burmese) and you'll do fine. If your burm has 85 to 90 degree nights it will not hurt him or her one iota nor will he or she be uncomfortable. Just focus on keeping your set up safe.
>>
>>Best of luck to you.
>>-----
>>David Beauchemin
>>High End Herps.Inc
>>http://HighEndHerps.com
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL