Odd snake behavior. Am I keeping the reptile room too warm?

[Nafun]

I had an escapee today. My big adult male BP, Dodge. He's due to go to the vet tomorrow because he's gone off feed for over two months. Normally I wouldn't take a snake to the vet because of this, since snakes often fast, especially in the winter, but I had a snake die of pancreatic/intestinal infection earlier this year, and I want to make sure it's not the same thing so I don't risk losing another snake.

Anyway. I keep the reptile room thermostat at about 79 degrees. Each enclosure has supplemental heating to give them a warm side of about 85 degrees.

Today, Dodge escaped. After a frantic search I found him behind the curtains, strung across the window on the ledge formed by the lower pane. It's about 25 degrees outside, the window is very cold to the touch, even in a 79 degree room.

When I picked him up, he was cold to the touch, but active.

The last time he escaped, he made a B-line out of the reptile room too. I found him lazily slithering down the hallway as if he owned the place.


(Yes, I realize he's escaped twice, and that indicates a husbandry problem on my part. In fact, his enclosure has latches, but today I realized how he's getting out and have put a stop to it. He rattles the lid and vibrates a latch to the corner and then escapes out the opposite corner by flexing the lid)

[infernalis]

Not so much your temps, once they learn what it's like to bust out, they want more of the same.

My Pueblan milk used to break out constantly, when I boxed him down tight it took almost a year before he quit trying to get out anymore.

[Lankyrob]

I think most of my snakes at least once a day have a recce to see if there is a way out of their vivs - as far as i know all my husbandry is ok - they just like to try.

[Nafun]

It's not so much the escapes, it's the destination of the escapes. It was about about 20f outside and the windows were damned cold.

[dragunov.762]

i have noticed an increace in escapes andattemped escapes in the winter from my snakes. i think it is because there biological clocks tell them it is supposed to be cold but it isn't, hence they try and find a cold place. when my kingsnake got out last year she spend 3 months (presumably) rapped around the sink pipe in my bathroom to stay cold (my pipe is hidden by a porcelain stand and i never thought to look there). when the temp outside warmed up she came out and we found her laying on the bathroom floor.