Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am a new proud owner of a san diego gopher snake. He has not eaten yet but should be feeding on f/t pinkies. He is small, I have him in a 10 gallon with aspen bedding 1hide adding more very soon, a water dish on the cool side, a light on during day, and a heat mat under the tank the temp is 95 on warm side during day. what else should I do? Thanks in advance josh.

If the ambient air temp is 95 on the hot side that is too warm. Look for mid 80's max on hot side of tank. Perhapns a surface temp of 95 just directly above the heat pad isn't so bad though.
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Matt from Minnesota
Cornsnake, Eastern Kingsnake, IL Bullsnake - all girls.
0.1 Crested Gecko "Camey"; 1.0 Crested Gecko "Spots" RIP

That's right: 95 is too hot especially in a 10 gal tank where the cool side isn't very far away. My SD avoids the warm side even at 85. I shoot for low 80's warm side, and he still spends way more time on the cool side, room temp at 70. Nighttime drops don't bother him. These guys really don't want to be warm all the time. They love dark hiding places, in the wild they spend most of their time cruising the rodent tunnels. I sometimes see them while hiking in the Malibu hills. Mine is a CB '99 male that's now 5'4" and weighs 1350g (3 lbs).

For my baby bull (4 months, 22" - I have her in a 20 gallon with two small cardboard boxes for hides. One is over a UTH. I don't have a heat gun but the aspen feels warm to my touch, but probably not more than 90. The ambient air temp, on the other hand, is never more than 73 in the room and often drops to 65-70 at nights when I turn my heater off. My bull is really flourishing and she usually only hangs out on the warm part for the first two days after eating. Gives her some nice belly heat.
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Matt from Minnesota
Cornsnake, Eastern Kingsnake, IL Bullsnake - all girls.
0.1 Crested Gecko "Camey"; 1.0 Crested Gecko "Spots" RIP

so if you can feel the aspen and it's warm to the touch then you can safely assume your UTH is pumping out more than 90. The guy did say this is a san diego gopher if I remember correctly. The foothills of San Diego get very hot in the summer...over 100 and I've captured gophers laying on the sides of hills just basking in that heat.

If you offer a place to move off the heat and a hot spot of 95 your snake will be fine. Just make sure there is some water around so it won't dehydrate....but I really doubt that is going to happen anyways.

My 2 cents,
Russ Bates