Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a few young kingsnakes, some Californians and some Arizona Mt.kings.
It has been very hot where I live in the Sierra Foothills about 3000 foot elevation with indoor temperatures in the low 90's fahrenheit. The snakes are in glass tanks in the shade, with aspen substrate, big bowls of fresh water, and the usual UTH with thermostat control, which is employed at night as the temperatures drop into the low 60's, so I aim for about 70 at night. I am concerned that the daytime temps may be too hot even though my snakes seem fine, eating and doing other normal snake things. I have no air conditioning. The tanks are screened with plenty of ventilation and are 10 gallon, soon to be upgraded to 20 gallon.
I'd appreciate any good tips on cooling them down if they are too hot. All I've read seems to have to do with too cold, not a problem now!

I had the same problem. I tried putting ice cubes in the water,,,worked okay. But the best thing I did was buy those freezer gel packs. The best ones are the ones that are like a foil or plastic bag, but the others work. I freeze them, then put them in a sock (you pick the color,,lol) And put it on top of one of the hides. I found some of my kings actually laying on them. And the temp in the hide was about 20 degrees cooler.

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Ball Python
Jungle Carpet Python
Eastern King
Mexican Black King
Sonoran Gopher
Aberrent Cal King
Anduran Milk
Hypo Brooks
Amel Motley Corn
White Sided Bull
Striped Pacific Gopher

I love the smell of aspen shavings in the morning...lol

"To serve man..it's...it's a cookbook!"

Thanks! I have a bunch of those things from vaccine shipments. I have put them in the freezer for tomorrow, and so on. The temps here are supposed to climb into the triple digits next week, but now at least my snakes wont suffer.

Ambient temps can be tough to control. Bakeaway method will get you through a high temp crisis, I do same with a frozen plastic pop bottle wrapped in a towel, but they have to be changed out constantly. Maybe take advantage of cooler night temps, open the windows and let it get as cool as reasonable (i.e. mid-60's?), and that will keep things a bit cooler even during the day. Also put your cool loving reptiles on the ground level. Losing an animal to temp stress is really dissapointing, I lost some by having enclosures pushed up next the hot wall, the enclosures not next to the wall, with a space during the heat wave survived. Maybe you should get an A.C. of some type...good luck, I hope someone has good ideas for us. I have used big ice chests/well insulated with frozen jugs wrapped in towels to get animals through heat waves. vic h.

I had not thought of putting the tanks on the floor. Good idea. They are on a long countertop with a big sliding glass window, but the window is heavily shaded by long roof eves and tarps extending out another 10 feet, to keep the house cool. So sunlight does not build up in the tanks. I think also what I will do, besides putting the tanks on the floor during the day and adding cold packs, is deploy a fan to move the air around better. This shouldn't bother the snakes, as they like to burrow into the aspen anyway. For the rest of the summer I will turn off the UTH unless it gets too chilly at night.
If I could afford an air conditioner, I'd be on it yesterday! I'm not on the grid and running an AC is beyond the capability of my power source, so non AC solutions are how I need to deal with heat.

Maybe consider that you aren’t equipped to properly care for them in your present situation if you can’t get the temperatures right. You should put the animals first, because it isn’t fair to keep them under anything less than ideal captive conditions. I had to make that decision twice, that giving them up was better for them than the struggle it was going to be for me to properly maintain them. It sucks, but it’s either that or make the changes necessary to properly keep them. You should get that right before you get too far with the collection.

Those snakes can withstand those temps as long as they have a cooling off period. Using the ice-pack method described by the others in the morning and at night is a good idea.

What you relly want to avoid is 90 deg all the time..

Putting the tanks on the floor helps alot, even a few degrees difference is better than not.

Also, a metal water bowl is great - especially those stainless steel dog bowls with the hollow underside. Metal seems to draw heat away from the animal better than plastic. Ceramic is good too. Plastic bowls are the worst for 2 reasons. (I once read a reptile caresheet written by a vet, and I noticed he said not to use plastic bowls.. now I know why.) Recycleable plastic bowls with the 1,3 or 5 label are OK. Anything else is not as good for people or snakes. But I digress.
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Mark

I'm using corningware bowls. They are heavy so the snakes can't tip them over. They sit on the bottom of the tank, not on any substrate as I don't want the snake to go under the bowl and get squished. They do like their bowls. They like to sit in them in the early evening, and even late at night I will see a snake enjoying a dip.
I don't use any plastic bowls as they are tippy and hard to clean, and there is some sort of chemical that leeches out.
Today I put a cold pack in each tank with the thermometer sensor under it to see what I'd get and got 70 degrees in the substrate under the pack, with the outside ambient being 90. I use about 3 inches of aspen as they really like to burrow. Now they have the option of going to a cool spot should need arise.
I think I can manage this temperature challenge; it basically means paying close attention and taking precautions. I've already got the snakes, so I feel committed to keeping them and giving them a good life.