Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My hypomelanistic brooks kingsnake has been in shed since close to after last feeding and i was wondering if perhaps snakes perfer to keep cool when in shed ? when not active he is in his cool hide, ( a hide thats just a bit smaller then him)is there any reason for worry here? is it poss my heat pads are too hot? how can i remedy the situation with min labor, my desert king has close to the same behavior only that he does warm up occasionally more,in need of guidence.Mike S.

I think snakes prefer cooler temps most of the time. The only time I notice them hanging out above the heat is for a day or so after a meal. I know they go there periodically at other times, but not for long periods of time. I almost always see them chillin' on the cool side.
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Tim

You're asking good questions, mike, and being observant. You need some more data, i think, since your email doesn't mention temperatures--"cool" and "warm" don't mean much. If your cool spot is around 80, then your wamr spot is probably too warm, for example. So you need to get a thermometer. The best choice is one with a remote sensor, like the indoor/outdoor thermos you can get at radio shack, so you can snake the sensor thru an opening in the cage, and run its wire down to and under the hide box; let it sit for a day or two, and write down the temps at diff times of day. Then move the sensor to directly over the heat pad, and do the same thing. Then post to the forum again, with that information, and i think people here will be able to give you much more specific answers.

peace
terry