Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My female northern pacific is gravid and i normally keep her at room temp which is about 72. I was wondering if the babies would be born sooner rather than later if i was to give her a heat lamp during the day.

most any gravid snake needs a place to attain higher temps, for an oreganus I would say a hot spot of 85-90 but very localized and make sure she has a place to cool down. Ive bred them a few times and always have a hotspot available, without it you risk slugs and nonviable young.
Good luck
lat

Did you give a hot spot night and day or just during the day..i was thinking of just giving her a hot spot during the day.

I provided a flexwatt under a corner of the cage next to the daytime hotspot, when the light went off the heat pad went on at night and maintained a toasty 88 degrees until morning. She would often sit on it during the night and then by morning she was back in her hide for a few hours. They need to regulate until they drop the babies, warmer temps accelerate gestation but too hot and you will cook them. I used to go up to a densite and watch the NP's there, gravid ones, mating pairs, juvies, it was far more educational then reading a book because I was observing them in the wild, what they did, when, how, and I even tried to guess why on occassion. Good luck, they are really cool buzzers, but HOT!! watch yourself, you DO NOT WANT to take a hit from one of these guys.
Good luck and post pics of the little nippers when they arrive!
Cheers
Lat

Providing a thermal gradient is necessary whether breeding or not