Reptile & Amphibian Forums

yippy...my male pyro finally ate....almost 6 months.thanks for all that helped... he shed two days ago.. saw him crusing around yesterday, so threw a f/t fuzzy in the tank, and it was gone 10 min later, i tried another one, but no go,,,, but thats ok...i feel sooo much better now, im sure he will resume more now...ok, next question is on temps for the az mt kings... i use a 20 gallon long glass tank, i use uth for heat.. on the warm end under the hide it ranges from 80-84, and on the cool end it ranges from 68-71(still winter here in upstate NY).. my question is, someone recommended once to completly turn off the uth at night and let the whole tank drop to the 68-71 degree mark without a warm spot at night.. is this ok to do? will this once again throw my snakes off eating? i dont mind doing this, but want to make sure that no heat at night is ok w/these, if so, i will just leave the temps as they are, as they do have hides on both sides of tanks........ i thank u for the help..

You can shut off heat at night, but no need at this time of year. Ambient air temps are still cool, so the snake can easily cool off if desired while the heat pad is still on.

In Summer, or when ambient air temps get into the mid 70s consistently, then shutting off heat at night for a montane snake is a good idea.
-----
Mark

I agree,....and also you don't want to be removing heat and have the snake with no warm gradient to properly digest the meal it just ate. High 60's low 70's are not acceptable digesting temps whatsoever.

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

my website -Serpentine Specialties

Glad to hear your stubborn little male finally is eating again! My little Zane is sort of like yours'; he just started eating again after I chummed his appetite with a lizard followed by fuzzies!

I leave the UTH on 24/7. If they want to be warm they can and if they want to cool down they have other spots in the cage they can move to. Under the moss pan containing the water bowl is a popular cool spot. They give me a clue as to when they want to eat by hanging out in the hot spot consistently; warming up to process expected food. In the summer I turn my heaters way down, but not completely off, as in the Sierra foothills it still can get a bit chilly at night even in mid summer. The only time I turn the heaters totally off is when I am brumating them.
-----
Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Yep.....I would provide the widest thermal gradient possible and never turn it off until Fall for brumation........
They know where they feel comfortable at....no need to not provide all the options when the sun goes down.....
-----
John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...