Reptile & Amphibian Forums

When I purchased my hondo the breeder said to set the heating tape to 85 and have the cool side as cold as you can. Well I get home ready several articles which say hondos need a heated are of 80-83. I initially had some thermostat issues and had the temp at upper 80s and the snake didn't use that area at all. Once I got that taken care of (set to 80 some stops getting 82-83) it seems like within 2 days he started using the heating area now he goes back an forth randomly yet recently the thermostat probe got moved slightly the temps went up again and at that time he didn't use the heated area. Maybe this is by chance maybe not I've read books and articles on king/milk snakes in general they all seem to say upper 80s with one person saying as high at 90. So I'm curious how warm can hondo be heated to? Oh my cooler side seems to stay about 78.

Thanks

Xavier

I keep the warm side at 84-85 and the cool side at about 75 for my hondurans. I've kept them in that range for years and they do great. I have had my heat tape accidentally moved up to about 90 degrees before and figured it out because all the hondurans in that rack constantly were trying to get out of the cool side for days straight. I kept wondering why and when I finally checked the temp on the warm side I realized that I had accidentally bumped up the temp.
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Randy Whittington

Thanks I'll raise it a couple more degrees and see how he does.