Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So here is the situation. I have two snakes, a king and corn. I've had the king for more than two years, but the corn for about 3 months now. I moved cross country with both of them from coastal, Northern Califronia to Northern Virginia. They both made the move fine.

The problem I am facing with both snakes, however, is that I can't seem to get the temperatures to what they prefer. Where I was previously I had to run heating pads & lamps constantly, because the basic temperature in my house was between 60-70 degrees year round and colder in the winter. Their cage tended to range between 65-85.

In Virgina, however, even with the air conditioning going the room they are in is on average 77-83 degrees over the course of they day. This is within both of their temperature ranges, but they are firmly staying on the cool sides of their cage. Even with that cool side, the king especially has been searching his cage a lot, which is usually a sign he is not finding what he wants as far as temperature or moisture.

Does anyone have any recommendations on how I can help these guys transition to a slightly higher base temperature? Or at least a possibly makeshift way I can create a cooler cool spot?

have you considered lower watt bulbs or maybe a smaller UTH? Or maybe moving the cages to a different area, like if you have them on outside walls, you may want to try an interior wall. Sometimes location can change enclosure temps, esoecially if the cage is on an exterior wall.

The room temperature, without any heating elements is the one I listed 77-83. They're in my own room as its the only room I can secure and I have to worry about pet cats that both like to harass the snakes in their cage. They are interior walls.
-----
South Florida King
Amel Motley Corn

the additional activity you see may not be searching for a lower temp, but searching for food. At a higher temp than they were previously accustomed to, they become more active, they therefore become more hungry. The temps you mentioned are certianly not too warm for the snakes you mentioned.
-----
Greg Jackson

It's been different than his usual feeding behavior, but I'm increasing his feeding size and frequency. I'd switched him to small rats just before the move, but two rats later he was getting fat so back to more mice/more often.

He does seem to be loving the piece of marble I gave him to curl on.
-----
~Lara

South Florida King
Amel Motley Corn

1. Look for a product called Chin-Chiller (or something like that) in pet stores. It is a slab of granite about 1/4 inch thick. Or have a piece of granite cut for this purpose. You place that in the cage under the substrate. The stone stays cooler than the air temp by a fairly significant amount. Put a hide over it too.

2. Keeping the cages on the floor, even in a very warm room, helps alot. Kingsnakes (don't know about cornsnakes) will burrow down to stay cool if they can. And that brings up a point. Although messy as heck, if you use a nice thick (like 4inches) of soil bedding (Bed-a-Beast works great) and dampen it slightly, the king will burrow down. With the granite under there, the temp will be less than the air. I successfully kept kings/milks in a room that got into the 90s every day for a month or more using the above strategy. They are alive and well. I had to feed them alot however.
-----
Mark