Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I purchased a little one at the Saturday pre hurricane Show locally.I asked the seller "Any difference in care from my baby Northerns?" He said the only difference was he recommends slightly smaller food items.

Then I pull up a care sheet(only one I could find on deppei)and it states as follows:

"Northern Mexican pine snakes prefer relatively low temperatures. They seem to become stressed at temperatures over 80 F. 72-78 F with a drop of 5-15 F at night is ideal. For this reason I keep these snakes in the basement. During the cooler times of the year I provide a hot spot in the form of an undertank heat pad. The snakes rarely, if ever, use the hot spot; although it should be available. In the summer when ambient temperatures can approach 80, I provide no supplemental heat for my Northern Mexican pine snakes."

Ugh, my a/c is set at 77 and I usually use a spot beam for the hot side. On a normal Florida day the gradient is about 78-92 but when it gets toasty outside it can run 82-94 in most my tanks. Nightime when all lights go out it usually goes down to 77-8 for the whole tank. The northerns seem to be doing fine but I'm now concerned about the deppei.

First of all do you guys agree with the above info on temps,and if so,I'm wondering how to set up my new little one. Should I pass on the hot spotlight for a pad I can set lower, or skip the heating completely?? Should I put her in the coolest room of the house,if I can, which might avoid the 84 low end on hot days?

Should I move out of Florida(tempting lately) ??

Thanks for any info......
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Lloyd Heilbrunn

Palm Beach Gardens, Fl.

Hey Lloyd!!

How are you doing sir? How are the northerns doing?

From my limited experience with deppei, I would say that keeping the temps low would be ideal..but also with all your pits as well, in my opinion. Your temps get into the 90's? I would just try to keep all your pits at around 78-80 or so. All my northerns, and my new jani ( which are similar to deppei ) are doing great at 78-80. If your temp is set at 77, then with providing no other heat, the temps very well may escaltate a few degrees to 80 or so anyways. I do know though that jani and deppei are a little touchy when it comes to temps. Also..that breeder was true in saying to keep the food items slighty smaller, as that was the same thing told to me from those I got deppei and jani from.

My deppei that I have owned before did great on those temps.

Take care! Keep us posted!
Billy
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Genesis 1:1

Your temps get into the 90's? >>>

Only because I use a spot lamp for the "hot side" of the tank.

I would just try to keep all your pits at around 78-80 or so.>>>

So I should do without a temp gradient at all??

The Northerns seem to be doing great.
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Lloyd Heilbrunn

Palm Beach Gardens, Fl.

Your temps get into the 90's? >>>

Only because I use a spot lamp for the "hot side" of the tank.

I would just try to keep all your pits at around 78-80 or so.>>>

So I should do without a temp gradient at all??

The Northerns seem to be doing great.
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Lloyd Heilbrunn

Hey Lloyd,

I would just give it a try with maybe witholding use of that lamp to check what the temps are without it, and see how they do with eating, etc. If your house itself gets warm enough to being at the temps I have suggested, then maybe you could do without any additional heat source. Heck..in the summer sometimes I have noticed my snake room reach the temps I like and then I just shut the heater off all together.

I personally use a long rectangular convection heater that is set on very, very low. With doing that, my temps are about 78-80-to sometimes 82, but I try to keep it at 80 at the most.

I have been an advocate of lower temps ever since I lost my first two pits I ever owned years ago. They did not do well at temps at appr. 84 on up like I had been doing with my kings and milks. After that...I tried the temps being at a lower setting and have had excellent results. My graybands as well have done great.

Think about northerns as well. They come from up there in New Jersey, and other northern states. They are built, so to speak, for cooler temps.

Perhaps give this a try for a week or so and see what happens.

Take care!
Billy
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Genesis 1:1

Thanks,Billy.
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Lloyd Heilbrunn

Palm Beach Gardens, Fl.

I live in FL too and mine do great closest to the floor. My snake room stays between 83-78 and my deppi jani show no signs of dislike and eat every four days.

Shouldn't be a problem Lloyd, just don't treat them like kings or corns and you'll be fine.

Russ

Thanks,Russ. Do you also not bother with a gradient or spotlight and just keep them at the uniform room temp of 78-84?

I use tanks, not a rack, so I can try the cooler room than where other snakes are, as opposed to closer to the floor.

BTW, where in Fla. are you at, if you don't mind me asking?
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Lloyd Heilbrunn

Palm Beach Gardens, Fl.

Lloyd,
If I were you, I would move my tanks to the floor of the room and forget the lamps and lights as they are not needed. These snakes will tell you if you've got them too cold and they'll also tell you when conditions are just right....they'll eat and not regurge.

I'm in Jacksonville.

Thanks again, I set her up tonite in the cooler room, temp at 74-5 now, cool fluorescent light for viewing only...I'll retest it during the day tommorrow to see how much the sun heats up the room.

I will let you know how she eats,as soon as we get some feeders available,my local store delivery day was hurricane postponed!
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Lloyd Heilbrunn

Palm Beach Gardens, Fl.

Lloyd.............I've been working with the deppei(mostly jani) complex for 5 years now, and here is what works for me:

Max temps about 82.......That said, having my power knocked out by two hurricanes in the last couple of weeks, the temps in the house have hit 85-86 degrees without bothering them. I will not feed them at those temps, however, especially my hatchlings.

My snake room is located in one bedroom of an air conditioned home. The jani are on the bottom racks, and during most of the year, the room temps are mid 70's. I have never provided them with any type of heat source, either pad or basking lamp. They have thrived in this rather narrow temperature range. My hatchlings attain 42-45" in their first year. I have two male holdbacks from '02 that are now 65 and 66 inches.

I do believe that you are asking for trouble if you feed them more than every 7-9 days. They simply do not have the same metabolism as North American pituophis. My experience is that once you get these guys going, they are as "bulletproof" as any corn snake. Good luck with yours. They are awesome animals!

Thanks Steve. I guess you're in Fla also. Where are you at, if you don't mind me asking?

So far,I try to feed all my snakes about only once a week, but do to the hurricanes it has been intermittent lately.
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Lloyd Heilbrunn

Palm Beach Gardens, Fl.