Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hEllo snake keepers i have another question,
Zebra seems to b healty and is a real sweety , but lately shes taken up to going under her dish and hiding there for most of the day, at first i thought she just wanted privacy but i got worried because it has now become a daily habit, if i want to pick her up i know where to find her, under her water dish, is something wrong? -Zebra and Gabriela

What are the temps of your snake's cage? I ask cause hiding under the water dish may be a sign of the snake feeling too hot. I personally keep my snakes at 78-82 at the most.

Very nice snake!

Billy
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Genesis 1:1

Well, my kid's cage is alawys in between 70's- like 85 is the highest except for today was an exception, the highest i saw was like 92 but even when its baout 70's my kid will go under her tray, is somethign wrong? What is the correct temp, i have just a light bulb and then the other side is a lot cooler, so i let zebra decide where she wants to go. ZEBRA AND GABRIELA

Im sorry, correction the highest its been always is about 86 or 84, except today that got into the 90's. Well i hope i havent done something to put my kid in danger, some help would be appreciated, thank you so much billy. -Zebra and Gabriela

Do you have a hide box in your cage? If not, then your snake may be using that as a hide box if he has no other way to hide.

Also......86 to me is too hot and so is the temp you mentioned today, which was 90. If your room that the snake cage is in is already in the 80's or late 70's, you may not need another source of heat.

Turn off your light bulb that you use to heat for a few days and measure the temps. See if that works. Also....if your snake doesn't have a hide box, make one or buy one.

Hope this helps a little!!!

Take care!

Billy
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Genesis 1:1

Yes billy, i do have a hide but is not too good, but i do have a wonderful piece of dry cactus tree that is pitted and has tunnels in it for zebra to go in and hide, i find her there a lot i thougt that would have been enough but im afraid she might be growing to big to get in, because she hasn't been getting in so much so perhaps thats why shes choosing to get under the water dish but that is my theory i'm not sure if its right. Or maybe i should move the pitted tunnel side to the area thats not under the blub, what do you guys think? Anyway at room tep my cage will be about 75 to 80 , well thats what it is now anyway, i shouldnt leave the bulb on then?
Thanks for your help -Zebra and Gabriela

I would go you your local petstore and invest in 2 quality hide boxes. One should be on the cool side and one on the warm side. If you are gonna use a basking bulb on the tank I suggest also get a lower watt or dont use it all especially as we move into warmer days. I think if you do this your King wont head for the water dish so much or it still may if it simply likes to hide there.

Keith

>>Yes billy, i do have a hide but is not too good, but i do have a wonderful piece of dry cactus tree that is pitted and has tunnels in it for zebra to go in and hide, i find her there a lot i thougt that would have been enough but im afraid she might be growing to big to get in, because she hasn't been getting in so much so perhaps thats why shes choosing to get under the water dish but that is my theory i'm not sure if its right. Or maybe i should move the pitted tunnel side to the area thats not under the blub, what do you guys think? Anyway at room tep my cage will be about 75 to 80 , well thats what it is now anyway, i shouldnt leave the bulb on then?
>>Thanks for your help -Zebra and Gabriela
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Not to worry...kingsnakes (and most snakes, for that matter) love to hide. Hiding is an instinctual survival mechanism; they hide under objects so birds of pray don't swoop down on them, so animals don't tread on them, and so on. Also, hiding from the sun on hot days also figures in to the formula (your snake may be trying to cool down, or for that matter, heat up). I've noticed that juvenile snakes tend to be more nervous and hide more. My yearling blotched king is seldom seen out and about, while my black king (Nigra) is huge and stays in the open 95% of the time.

Thank you shaky, i appreciate your help, i was curious if my tmeps are ok, billy says they are too hot, my room is already at 75, but i thougt that was too cold so when i leave the bulb on while im gone the room will heat up to 86 and it wont get higher but latley its been a little hot so yeasterday it got to about 90 something wich felt a little hot to me, am i doing ok? -Zebra and GABRIELA

If your room temps get that high when the bulb is on, imagine how hot it must be under the bulb. Ideally, a snake needs a thermal gradient; one end of the terrerium needs to be in the mid eighties while the cool end needs to be in the mid to low seventies. As the others said, hiding spots on each end of the terrerium are important. I'm thinking you could probably turn off the heat lamp and use an under tank heating pad...you can get them from the local pet shop. You'll want to elevate your terrerium a little, and leave about 1/4 inch of space between the pad and the terrium (I also have a grate under my pad so air can circulate between the pad and the furniture, I'm paranoid about fires...although heating pads are supposedly not hot enough to cause fire). Whatever the case, snakes like belly heat and should do fine with under terrerium heating pads. Also, do yourself a favor and don't buy adhesive heating pads...they don't come off.

thank for all your advice guys but i was told to stay away from heating pads for summer time because it gets pretty hot here and at night a keep a blanket under the tank and i keep the warm half covered with a thick blanket, and after all it seems that my kid was going to shed because shes out and trying to get out of her cage now. thanks a lot. ZEBRA AND GABRIELA.