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I had a male anery brooks that was going into shed,so it didn't eat the last time.Well it had been about a week and a half and I had two other snakes shed.I checked on him last night when I put his water bowl back in his cage.I had to keep it out because he kept dumping it in his cage.Well I went to put his bowl in and he was laying on top of the bedding.He did not move when I opened his top which was weird.I picked him up and he was limp and I noticed his tail was hard.At first I thought his skin was stuck on him so I put him in the sink with warm water.I started looking at him and seen a hard spot about 2 1/2 inches long that looked like poop under his skin.Looked closer and it was too far from his vent.I think it was a burn from his uth.I checked the temps and on top of substrate was 87 but on the glass it was 130 or so.From now on I will be checking on them if they are shedding just to make sure.Sorry so long of a post.
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1.0 aberrant cal. king
0.1 reverse spotted cal. king
1.2 mbk's
1.1 florida kings
1.1 anery brooks
1.0 hypo brooks
0.1 albino brooks
1.1 normal corns

Hey man,

im so sorry to hear about this. But this is exactly why i argue when these looong debates ensue about providing "ranges" in small micro-habitats. There was a running joke a while back about keeping one end of a tank in the oven and the other end in the fridge. UTH, in my opinion, should be discontinued unless they have a thermostat on them. I was never a fan of them at all. Flexwatt with a thermostat is much more versatile, or a top light that emits heat is also more reliable if you use a tank system. What I'm hearing is a form of dehydration, and removing the water for such a duration of time in addition to such an extreme temperature is a bad combination. Regardless, hope we can help you avoid that kind of disaster again.
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Jerry Kruse

And God said, "Let there be zonata subspecies for all to ponder..."

I would only keep the water out for a couple days at a time.They are in 10 gallon tanks right now but will be in a rack system come spring time.I will be going to flex-watt with a ranco stat hooked up.He was a nice 44" long.He was het for albino/snow and would have been paired with the female which is het for hypo/ghost.Now I have to find another male for her.I have a hypo brooks that is het for anery/ghost that I will put with her this year.
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1.0 aberrant cal. king
0.1 reverse spotted cal. king
1.2 mbk's
1.1 florida kings
1.1 anery brooks
1.0 hypo brooks
0.1 albino brooks
1.1 normal corns

Yes, that is too bad, and it is very unfortunate. Jerry brought up some good points about this. A big temp gradients in itself is a great idea, and in fairly large systems, this can safely be done. But in a very tiny micro-habitat, this can be a very touchy situation many times, and has to be thought out with every possible pit-fall in mind to keep disasters like this from happening.

best regards, ~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

The temps were 85 or so on the hot side,cool side about 72/73.I don't know if the uth malfunctioned or what.You think it would have gone to the cool side.
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1.0 aberrant cal. king
0.1 reverse spotted cal. king
1.2 mbk's
1.1 florida kings
1.1 anery brooks
1.0 hypo brooks
0.1 albino brooks
1.1 normal corns

It's very possible that it did go to the cool side, but when the tiny environment became 130 or so as you said, it could have easily been overcome by heat no matter where it was. It might have just ended up over there on the hot side after being overwhelmed.

Anyway, it is very sad that this happened regardless though for sure.

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

I have some small UTH I use for temporary situations and can tell you that I have had at least one malfunction. I use them on showoff sterilite tubs when I am cleaning cages or for temp. housing while making room. I had one tub read 146 on the hot and the plastic was soft it was so hot. Believe it or not the cool side was still 72 because the plastic did not transfer the heat like glass accross the whole bottom of the tub. I was lucky. These UTH need to be checked often or put on a thermostat.

WoW!, man!,.....boy did you get lucky there, or rather the SNAKE was actually the luckier one..LOL!

Glad that little ordeal didn't have a much sadder ending.

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

I caught a UTH about 11 years ago while in the Philippines on holiday......wait, we're talking about heat, right.....? *gasp*
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Jerry Kruse

And God said, "Let there be zonata subspecies for all to ponder..."

Jerry,Jerry, Jerry. That would be a burn from a hide that is too hot!

...that was awesome......
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Jerry Kruse

And God said, "Let there be zonata subspecies for all to ponder..."

Mr. Bowhunter,

We're talking about a 44 inch Florida kingsnake in a 10 gallon tank.....WHAT COOL SIDE...????? LMAO. C'mon man. It's like Hulk Hogan driving a Mini-Cooper...... (I'm sure Doug Mong will follow-up with an interesting photo.....I wouldve done the same had I not had to run off to have dinner....)
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Jerry Kruse

And God said, "Let there be zonata subspecies for all to ponder..."

Jerry, I didn't catch all that initially, and I'm glad you brought that to my attention.

Anyway, Hulk Hogan and I will swing by to pick you up in my new wheels. The three of us can go cruisin' for babes on the Ft. Lauderdale strip. This thing has all the room in the world!

~Doug

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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

aaahaaaahahahahahaaaaaaaaa............ooooohhhhhhhh.......ohhhhhhh.....breeeeeeathe Jerry...............
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Jerry Kruse

And God said, "Let there be zonata subspecies for all to ponder..."

you know it's impossible doug could find so many perfect, on-topic pictures. so he goes out in the street and poses for them himself. I saw him parking that rig when he arrived at expo last august.

Which is why I only had five snakes there for sale,...that's all I could cram in this thing. Even as it was, I had three plastic containers in my lap, and the other two were strapped to the roof..LOL!

Parking was a breeze though!

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

Doug, do you think you could swing by and pick up me and Phil. That is if you have any extra room. Thanks. (Oh, I like to lay down and nap during the trip also so I hope that's cool).LOL. Great photo.

LOL!!,..sure!, the more the merrier!. Laying down might be a bit of a problem though, for that I might have to hook-up my trailer. We can throw a sofa or sleeping bags in and be on our way!..LOL!

I need to get this trailer custom painted soon too with some flames to match the car, then it will be good to go!..LOL!

~Doug

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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

Id strip that damn thing and use it as AC......just my .02......

G'head, post some photos of "other" things you could strip.....LMAO......I triple dog dare ya.......
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Jerry Kruse

And God said, "Let there be zonata subspecies for all to ponder..."

LOL!!!

I'm sure you were expecting something a little different hey?.

Sorry to disappoint though..HAHAHA!

~Doug

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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

If it's any consolation, perhaps you've helped another keeper and saved a snake's life as well.
:Mark
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Surrender Dorothy!

crimsonking.piczo.com/

I agree Mark, the more people that read these type of threads, the more it might be able to get people to take measures to ensure it doesn't happen to them as well.

Hey, I'll call you after 7:00 pm tonight, okay?

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

Yes it sucks,hopefully it might save someone else the bad luck and maybe a snake as well.
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1.0 aberrant cal. king
0.1 reverse spotted cal. king
1.2 mbk's
1.1 florida kings
1.1 anery brooks
1.0 hypo brooks
0.1 albino brooks
1.1 normal corns

I would never not provide water for the snake. If it dumps the bowl you will just need to change the type of bowl you're using. Heavy glazed crock style bowls are the best.
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Steve W.

I would only leave it out for a couple days.Then I would put the water back in for a few days.Thanks for all the replies.
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1.0 aberrant cal. king
0.1 reverse spotted cal. king
1.2 mbk's
1.1 florida kings
1.1 anery brooks
1.0 hypo brooks
0.1 albino brooks
1.1 normal corns

So if gigangtor was in this small tank, what was the size of the water bowl.....(please don't say a shot glass.....please don't say a shot glass.....please don't say........)
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Jerry Kruse

And God said, "Let there be zonata subspecies for all to ponder..."

No,It was not a shot glass,but a bottle cap!
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1.0 aberrant cal. king
0.1 reverse spotted cal. king
1.2 mbk's
1.1 florida kings
0.1 anery brooks
1.0 hypo brooks
0.1 albino brooks
1.1 normal corns

I guess a bottle cap with water is better than no water.
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Steve W.

Sorry to hear about that.
I personally think heat tape or under the tank heaters are fine but they should ALWAYS have a reostat if you keep the ambient temps stable or a thermostat if the ambient temps are not stable. A thermostat is safest in case you have an unexpected drop or rise in the room temp. I test the temp at the bottom of what ever the bedding is, right on top of the heat source and have that set at the warmest temp you want them to have access to. You just adjust the reostat or thermostat until the temp directly on top of the heat source is the warmest temp you want the snake has access to. A snake will always burrow right down to the bottom if it's looking warmer temps.

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Randy Whittington

Are you serious? About the bottle cap thing?

There are so many problems here I don't know where to start.

OK i actually do know where to start...

1) a 10 gal is WAY too small for that snake. He should not be kept in there for any length of time. Find something bigger.

2) Snakes need to stay hydrated. They can conserve water if you give them someplace humid to hide. Obviously your snake does not have this in a 10 gal tank full of sand. Short of that they need to drink water on a very regular basis. Keep water in the cage at all times.

3) A bottle cap is too small of a container to drink from. That would not even be a sip of water for a 44 inch snake. Go buy a bowl that he can't flip over.

4) Is your snake dead? You never said what happened?

5) That does not sound like a burn to me. A burn on a snake looks like...well...a burn. Not a dark hard spot. At least not right away, maybe after it scars over. Hard spots are usually necrotic tissue and if its dry and hard (like the tip of some iguana tails) its usually bacterial in origin.

Your problems are because your husbandry is terrible. Sorry to be blunt. Don't blame your heat pad. I have used dozens of those pads with hundreds of snakes and never had a single problem. Yes they are pretty hot right on the glass. No a snake will not burn itself if it can possibly thermoregulate any other way.

If your snake is still alive and you would like more help please post a picture of what you are talking about.

classic
,,,,,,,thomas
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Morphs... just like baseball cards BUT ALIVE, how cool is that???

my website www.barmollysplace.com

classic but accurate! 44" in a 10 gallon? ICK. Sand? Ick!

First off the bottle cap was a joke because of the reply of a shot glass.I do not use sand,I don't know where that came from.Yes the snake died.I dont know if it was caused by the heat or not.The skin looked like it was burned,could have been something else.I know the ten is small was just trying to get thru till I brumate them.Thanks for the replies.
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1.0 aberrant cal. king
0.1 reverse spotted cal. king
1.2 mbk's
1.1 florida kings
0.1 anery brooks
1.0 hypo brooks
0.1 albino brooks
1.1 normal corns

Wow Zach, that was rough. I know I poked at him a bit with a twist of humor, but things like that can make someone not want to come back to the forum. Ease up....the holidays are near....have a cold one.....in a shot glass........or a bottle cap.........sitting in a sand box......(and YEAH, where the f*** did you get sand from?!?!? LOL....)
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Jerry Kruse

And God said, "Let there be zonata subspecies for all to ponder..."

bowhunter, you got a lot of sound advice, some not so good, some over the top, and some humor thrown in. I'm sorry your snake perished. I would try to tweak your husbandry skills a bit. I know sometimes it is hard to disseminate what is good advice and what isn't. Reoccurring themes here are wide range of temp choice, hides on both sides, a large enough enclosure to accomplish the task, and fresh water. I bet you had most of this stuff down. How old was the snake, any idea? This $hip happens to all of us, even the ones who don't admit it. A pic of that spot would be helpful, and get a temp gun, they are a cheap investment for what we hold prized. Don't let over the top crap keep you from getting the answers you seek.

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Todd Hughes

Whether UTH burn or not I would like to share a possibly helpful solution.

As a naive new keeper I assumed UTHs would be designed to operate at perfectly safe temps. Then one day I noticed that the temp on the glass directly above the UTH was too hot to touch for more than a few seconds. This got me concerned about the possibility of burns so I decided to use outdoor carpet as a floor liner and insulator. This proved to be a stupid idea as the carpet of course holds dirt and stench which can never be thorougly eradicated. Also, some of my snakes would crawl under the carpet and possibly subject themselves to a sandwich effect. Interesting that while exposed to the possibility of burns, none ever showed any sign and they apparently avoided the hot spot.

So, new idea - I've replaced the reeking carpet with appropriately sized peg-board liners. This defuses the heat nicely and will hopefully prove maintainable. So far so good.

Not justifying the use of UTHs without thermostats but until I can get away from tanks and into racks, for most of my stuff anyway, they seem ok if care is taken.