Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Everything I read and everyone I talk to says something different about the right temps for a Cal king. I've heard 70s, 80s, and 90s. Currently, my gradient is about 80 - 85. I'm interested in hearing people's opinions and experiences with Cal king temp gradients so that I can make a more informed decision about it.
--Kim

low 80's is just fine and the house temp is fine for the cool end of a cage. 90 deg. is kinda high and at that temp works well with boids (boas&pythons). hope this helps.

very nice king by the way!

"very nice king by the way!"

Thank you! And yes, that does help.

You guys have been reading to many care sheets! Instead of thinking "so I can make a more informed decision about it."
How's about letting the snake make the decisions that it needs.
So all a Cal King, or any Lampropeltis for that matter, needs is low 80's? What Petco employee told you that? So what is going on when you see a Kingsnake under a board, in an area that has a surface temp on the ground, taken with an infrared thermometer, of 92? In the best case scenario, you want to give your snake the most options possible, and let it use those options. I know that some people on this forum use a heat gradient from high 90's
to the mid 70's. Now I know that your snake will hardly use the high 90's side, but if it needed it at least it could, when needed. I also know that a gradient that wide can be tough to achieve with most enclosures, but you want to try and give you snake a wide a gradient as possible, within reason. This is despite what pet store flunkies tell you. You will notice an increased growth rate, activity, and general health of you snake.
Good luck!
-Phil
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I'll Google your YouTube
If you Yahoo! Myspace!

lol! no petco did not tell me this and i don't go by some pet stores idiots. i set my racks with herpstast about 84ish and it's works just fine.

That's great! Good to hear!
Good luck with that!
-Phil
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I'll Google your YouTube
If you Yahoo! Myspace!

I just got back from central america. Hot and wet I tell ya.

You hit the nail squarely on the head. As a rule of thumb, most colubrids readily use temps from 55F to 100F. As you mentioned, the extremes are for extreme reasons. hot temps are used for digesting large food bolus, injuries, cooking eggs/embryos or the shedding of their skin. Cool temps are to conserve energy when gaining energy is not available.

If you can offer that type of temperature range, your snake will prosper from it and you will learn for it. Or you can keep it at a very neutral temps of say 82F and gain very neutral results, and learn very little. Its really up the to keeper and what they want or their particular approach. Some ask the animals what they are and what they do, others tell the animals what they are and what to do.

As you and I know, in nature, their entire life if finding and using suitable temps to achieve maximum results for their tasks at hand. Cheers

So, don't hold any secrets. What did you see in C. America?
Any pics?
-Phil
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I'll Google your YouTube
If you Yahoo! Myspace!

Colubrids like all seasons...

Thanks for the information. I have been paying attention to what my snake likes and trying to learn from that and give her a range of options. She seems happy and healthy with a range of about mid-70s to high 80s and plenty of light and shade options. The enclosure's not big enough to provide more options than that. I've been getting my info from books and other snake owners, but I'll try letting the snake have more of a say in it.