Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey, if my kingsnake buried herself under the substrate on the cold side, and stays there for hours, or all day, does that mean it's too hot in my enclosure? the thermometer reads a faitnt 75 degrees, it's one of those sticker thermometer things.

Wow, I was just wondering the same thing about burrowing yesterday cause it was the first time I had seen my kingsnake do it !! She doesn't seem to stay there for hours but is definately burrowing mostly on the cold side without the undertank heater. I use the same sticker thermometers and the cold side is about 72 and the hot side is about 80. She has even created a tunnel system under the cold side hide that she goes into as much as she goes into the hide itself. I've been using calcisand for about 3 weeks.......perhaps she just discovered that she can burrow under the stuff ???

I don't think the burrrowing itsself is an indication that she is looking for cooler temps though. I think your temps are OK for a kingsnake.

those thermometers are junk, IMHO.

Go look at a rack of them in your local petstore. Generally you will find as much as a 10° variation in their temperature readings on the same rack in the store. This tells you how accurate they are!

Get a better thermometer. The indoor/outdoor ones with a remote probe are generally good. Walmart usually sells them for $10 or less.

A snake burrowed on the cool end of the cage sounds like it is trying to get away from the heat. If you are using a heat lamp or incandescent light (which I don't recommend from most snakes, including kingsnakes), turn it off. See if that changes your snakes behavior.
-----
Chris Harrison

...he was beginning to realize he was the creature of a god that appreciated the discomfort of his worshippers - W. Somerset Maugham

How important is it to have a thermometer?
-----
~Banana~

Pretty important unless you've had a system dialed in and there is little variation in the ambient temp. I'd say for most its a necessity. Chris, thanks for the wake up call about those sticker therms......I never noticed or even looked for that before. I have a house that experiences wild swings in temp, so an accurate temp reading at both ends and the ambient temp is very important for me.

I totally agree with you, when i stick my hand in the tank it feels like around 50F while the thermometer is saying 74F

In my room where the california kingsnakes and western hognoses are I use a digital thermomentor. Its fairly accurate. I got it at Radio Shack for about $35.00. Another good tool is an infrared themomentor and they range from $50.00 and up.
hope this helps.

"The sky is crying can you see the tears roll down the street I've been looking for my baby and I wander where can she be"

john

Chris------ A stick on thermometer question/now whos asking/posting newbie questions? Oh,I see he wasn't a regular so we "experts" dont have time for you. I only come through here once in a while to see what really bad/rude responces are being given.Actually, these kingsnake forums/post are really quite amusing There used to be some true "experts" on cal kings post here but yes they no longer waste thier time posting here. Randy

Dont quite understand what that meant Randy.
Elaborate please??
Brian

>>Chris------ A stick on thermometer question/now whos asking/posting newbie questions? Oh,I see he wasn't a regular so we "experts" dont have time for you. I only come through here once in a while to see what really bad/rude responces are being given.Actually, these kingsnake forums/post are really quite amusing There used to be some true "experts" on cal kings post here but yes they no longer waste thier time posting here. Randy
-----

Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian

Scroll down to the post by tigergenesis on Dec.2. Who cares if she posted this question on all the forums!!! His answer was ok, but to tell her to go do your own research isnt right. What the heck did he think she was doing. If this question has been asked before,so be it. Do you know how many stinking times I've seen people post on stick-on thermometers pro and con---WHO CARES how many. I quite coming to most of these becouse they all got thier little qlicks- most forget that they dont own the forums. Just my rant and rave for the day. Have a good day R.W.