Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So I'm trying my hand at breeding for the first time, and I'm getting all obsessive....I've been using an infrared to temp the cages several times a day and night, fine-tuning things and micromanaging more than is prolly of any benifit to anyone or anything

At any rate, spot-temping with the infrared has really clued me in on how much variation there is around the cage, and how different heat sources and substrates affect things. For instance, I've got one display cage with sand...UT heating roasts the surface temp for the sand, but has little affect on the ambient temp just above it. Since the sand is quite light colored, just the opposite effect happens with the basking lamp. Anyway, if anyone has the time or the interest, I'd love to hear how other's have setup/managed heating (or cooling), as I know this is something that people handle many different ways, and I'm only now realizing just how much more complex it is than sticking a thermomemter on each end of the cage.

You are not over obsessing at all. Micro managing the micro niches your snake uses in its micro habitat is what will make you a great keeper. Understanding how your snakes use a wide variety of temps is so important.

Its really tough, especially in racks, to get a basking spot that is really hot without heating up the whole cage too much. Using the biggest boxes possible helps more than anything. Playing with substrate depths (or color if you use lights) can help too. Something I have done recently is that I take a clay pot which I usually use as a hide box, and turn it right side up, placing it directly over the heat source with no bedding between. This gives a small but really hot basking spot right over the heater. (say 100F ) The rest of the warm side is covered in bedding so its slightly cooler and the cool side is still around 70 - 75. Obviously different for different species...

Cross ventilation is also helpful in getting a really big gradient.

I really learned a lot when I started taking my temp gun into the field and temping out everything I saw.