I am grief-stricken. My daughter just called me to tell me that her sweet Ball Python, Jake, had passed away. He was burned when the electrical heating pad in his aquarium SHORTED OUT due to moisture accumulation (condensation from humidity). The burn never completely healed, despite diligent medical care by my daughter and the attending vets. Jake finally died of kidney failure. PLEASE, PLEASE don't place an electrical heating pad inside your snake's habitat. The vet told my daughter his office sees this type of injury ALL THE TIME due to new owners not understanding the risks posed by these dam* cheap heating pads. I decided to pay tribute to Jake by posting this warning/reminder to all snake owners. May you and your precious pet enjoy abundant health and well-being.
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Electrical heating pad can cause burn
Replies (2)
Postscript to my previous post: Moisture accumulated in Jake's aquarium through condensation from humid air, not as a result of poor housekeeping!
Thanks for posting this. It is a great point.
Snakes should only be kept on heating products designed for use with reptiles and those products should be controlled by some sort of rheostat at least if not a thermostat. This does happen more than we talk about. And many herp specific heating products can kill/burn herps even if they don't short. They simply get too hot.
(I have a friend who lost most of a very valuable collection of irreplaceable snakes due to a failure of the thermostat in an oil filled heater. It heated up his snake room to well over 100°, killing most of his collection.)
Heating pads/tapes are like hard drives. It generally isn't a matter of "if" they will fail, but more likely "when" and how you intend to protect your animals when they do.
A good thermostat is an important backup. Another good failsafe is to have two hideboxes, one at the warm end and one at the cool end. Some species of snakes will choose security over temperature comfort. This is particularly common in Ball Pythons which are extremely shy snakes.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas
