Warm hide

[Spirit]

Well now that my snake is getting the proper nutrition he needs (was underfed before in my care), he's starting to settle down a bit (cruising less).

My concern though, is he's now spending ALL his time in the warm hide, which varies from 90 - 95 degrees. I do see him occasionally half out of the hide (to cool down, I assume), but is it not bad that he's staying in the hottest spot in the viv ALL the time? He does have other hides (which I've seen him use), and the ambient temps (cool side) are roughly at 82 degrees, so I know the cool side isn't too low.

I know they need a hot spot, BUT... Is that normal for them to always be on the hot spot?

Thanks in advance. :)

[Jeff_Favelle]

No, its not bad. They know where they have to stay and where they don't have to stay. You are over-worrying. As long as there's a similar hide on the cool end to choose from, your snake is being a snake.

95F is nothing. I've temp-gunned garters at 104F in the summer in CANADA.

[Spirit]

I'm not worried, just making sure there's no danger is the "not cooling down" thing, is all. Thanks for the reply. :)

Garters are EVERYWHERE here. You're on the island, right Jeff?

And since you mentioned 104F, how hot is too hot for a ball anyway? His warm hide reached 102F the other night (and I immediately remedied it). It was just a really warm night and that affected the viv temps.

[Jeff_Favelle]

I wouldn't let it go past 95F just to be safe. Remember, they are hard-wired behaviourally to avoid temp extremes in Africa, but in your cage, the mechanisms might not exist until its too late and they are cooked.

But 95F seems to work ok.

Yep, on the Island! Cheers! :)

[Spirit]

Very good then! It tends to stay around the 92-93 mark.

Thanks again, J! BTW, I'm in the lower mainland. ;)