Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i had a quick question... hopefully mr. jeff clark will answer me or someone else who is very knowledgable.

my tank temperature is for the most part 80. when i handle my snake, i notice that her belly, and body is cold. not frezing cold but it doesnt feel like she's kept in a 80 degree tank?

is this normal? i was told by my cuz who has 2 snakes ( both corn snakes ) that it is normal because they are cold blooded.

is this true.

steve

I have also oberved that the sankes are cooler than I would think they would feel. Being that humans have a higher normal body temperature this would be normal.Just because the environment is a specific temp, doesn't mean the occupant would be the same temp. My snakes are warmer to the touch at times, but this is not the usual circumstance for me. Almost always they feel too cold to me. I think you have to observe the patterns of where the snake naturally comfortable and adjust if needed. Since they have the abilility to thermoregulate in the enclosure, I think that I have to trust them to know what's right for them. I also believe that if handled frequently you will become aware of differences in temps that are minute. If you can notice this detail, my guess would be that you are paying close attention and will be able to correct the situation if it needed to be adjusted.
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"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance- that principle is contempt prior to investigation." Herbert Spencer

I'm sure this has been stated, but the human body's normal temp. is 98.7F...so it would be natural to assume that something that was only 80F would feel cool to the touch, relative to our body temp. That doesn't even mean the snake is neccesarily 80 either, but either way, your snake is not going to feel warm to the touch, and if it does, that might (especially for BRB's) mean that it's too hot.

The temperature the snakes FEELS is relative to your hand temperature. My wife's hand temp right now is 93F. My hand temps are about 90F. So, a snake at a snuggly 85F will feel 5F cool to me, and 8F cool to my wife.

Of course, the only thing that matters is the temp of the snake, not our hands. If the ambient temp is near what it should be Rainbows, then all is well.