Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I figured I'd start a new thread since the last one is getting pretty wide.

Last night I made a slight adjustment to the main heat lamp. Doug said to up the temp to 83-86 degrees, and Kathy Love's book says 89-92. The temp had just started to hit 90, to I mounted the lamp about 1/2 inch above the tank instead of setting it on the tank. This morning, the temp was at 87.

This morning I added water to the vial of medication and for the first time ever, I gave a snake a shot. The vet showed me how to do it yesterday, and he sure made it look easy! Annika didn't even flinch when he did it. I had a more difficult time, but I got it done. Only 13 more shots to go!

jorj

Leave it in the 87 degree range that it's in now for the time being until the RI subsides.

I seriously doubt that Kathy Love meant that you keep the snake isolated in confined quarters at temps reaching upwards of 92 degrees. I think that would work for a gradient that the snake could get in and out of, but sustained temps that high can easily become lethal to a cornsnake.

Let me ask you a VERY important question here, as this is key to being on the same "page" with understanding each other here. Is the snake able to move away from the ultra high temps we're talking about here, or are you keeping it extremely confined, as in shoebox, or other such confined quarters?......this is crutial to what this whole thing is about.

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

The snake is currently in her 20 gal long tank (I am planning on upgrading her to a 40 gal in the next month or two). I have a new heat lamp (75W) on what is normally the 'warm' side of the tank. This is at 86-88 F. The normal 'cool' side has the normal heat lamp, which isn't as hot as the new one. Once she recovers, the new lamp will get put away and the old one will resume its job on the 'warm' side.

I do have newspapers as a substrate now, as I figured that if she is going to be receiving shots, aspen would be more likely to cause infection.

jorj

Okay, I get a better picture now of what the setup is. As long as the snake can get out of the REALLY warm temps now being implicated, and still be able to have a hide in each side, that should be okay.

It's like this,.....it's okay for temps to be upwards of 92 ONLY if it is able to move to a slightly cooler are in the cage as well, otherwise, if it is FORCED(isolated) in a very small container as I mentioned before, then it would be crucial to drop those temps somewhat to the ones I mentioned earlier(83-87 or so). Snakes usually move around to thermoregulate themselves anyway if their environment allows, and in this situation to warmer optimum temps to help their body battle infection, but of course there is a limit to the temps they can safely take.

Also, depending on if, or what kind of hide boxes you have, it can also be substancially warmer inside them, so keep that in mind too.

In any case, as long as the temps aren't too high, the snake will naturally move around and find it's most comfortable warm area to help battle the RI.

good luck!, ~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"