Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone

I've noticed my snake is constantly on the cool side of the enclosure. He's been like this for a while. Is this normal?

Is my enclosure too hot? Read below for my enclosures specs.
Should I move the hide box to the cool side if he's always there?
I also never see him explore...ever.

Snake:
Male (I think), over 2500 grams, almost 3 years old, good feeder most of the time. Very calm in my arms and likes to chill out on my desk.

Enclosure:
41qt tub (low), 1 hide box on the warm side, water dish in the middle, pvc half pipe for fun on cool side, paper towel as substrate. Cleaned regularly.

Temps:
Heat pad on the hot side with a red heat lamp above for ambient temps.

Warm side: 91-93 degrees 24/7
Cool side: 82-84 degrees
Humidity: 50-60%

Thanks for the advice everyone! And please let me know your opinions about my setup.

no need for any more heat that an under tank heat pad. temps may be too hot for the snake to be comfortable. id get rid of the light and see how the snake behaves. if it is staying in the pvc hide on the cold side give him an exact size pvc hide on the warm side.
adam jeffery
-----
" a.k.a. farfrumugen "
When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car.

The tub's cool side gets too cold without the heat lamp. The heat pad isnt nearly enough. It may be enough if the rest of the room is heated to 80 degrees but I don't have a collection and will not segregate a heated room just a 4 foot snake.
The heat lamp is an absolute must for me.

I did try turning the light off for an evening and the tub reached 76 (only get colder as temps drop outside) on the cool side and the python was still hanging out in the cooler side. I don't want to risk and R.I. with lowering the temps.

Some people on this forum also told me they keep their snakes at 86 degrees on the cool side when I made a previous post during the summer and was told via these same breeders that this was the optimum temp they strived for when not breeding. I'm not breeding so I have no need to lower temps at all.

Should i just move his hide box over to the cool side if hes always chilling out there?

What kind of heating pad are you using? Btw, I wasn't suggesting you heat an entire room for one snake, just saying that based on my experience it seems your temps may be on the high side...

Hi firestorm

I'm using a zoomed undertank heat pad. I have it connected to a dimmer switch. On that note I also have the red heat lamp on a dimmer switch aswell. The thermometer probes are in correct positions and I move the around regularly to get ideas for surrounding temps.

I live in a corner apartment on a 17th floor. The sun bakes us during the day and the cool soon-to-be-winter air freezes us at night so it can be a pain to get the temps correct.

I'm thinking of dropping the daytime temps to 82 and have it drop at night. The hot spot is always constant. Would this stress the snake?

Can you not just keep your same setup and use a lower wattage bulb?

I have the light on a dimmer switch, which I suppose is the same thing.

Maybe turn the dimmer down a little? The hotspot seems a little high to me. Also, dropping nighttime temps won't necissarily hurt the snake (its commonly done to get them to breed) but he may go off feed... some of my males go off feed for months during breeding.

IMO your warm side is a bit high (although I know people who keep them that warm). Other than that, your setup is really pretty good. Try lowering the warm side to something like 88-90. Personally, I heat my snake room to 85 and don't have heat in my racks. I used to heat my racks, but a friend was having really good success with room heat so I switched a year and a half ago. My snakes are actually feeding better now, so I'm beginning to think they don't need to be as warm as some people keep them. When I start dropping temps for breeding, I'll turn the heat on in my hatchling racks, but that's about it.

Hope this helps,
Shelly

Yup, this is pretty much how I do it as well. I heat my snake room with very little individual heat to go around. My racks/cages are anywhere from 78-88 but mostly in the low to mid 80's and they pound food like no other and breed very well. It's rare that my snakes see anything over 88 degrees.