Too Hot!!

SerpentLust · 06-26-03, 08:42 AM

Holy Crap, in my three years so far in snake keeping, this has NEVER happened to me...

I went out and when I came back, Montey was on the cool side of her cage, and she's NEVER out of her warm side hide. Chaos, who is always at least HALF in her hide was curled up under her waterdish...that's when I looked at the temperature both outside and in the cages.

It was 45 Degrees Celcius (113 F for the Americans

) outside and in their cages it was a good 95 approx. It was sweltering! And we're in NORTHERN ONTARIO!!!! I was like oh gawd. So I unplugged all heat sources and turned on fans in my room. Now, without the heat sources, it's back at usual temps. But now there's no gradient in the cage. Is that ok? They seem to be better now...but I just wanted to know if it's healthy to have an aquarium all the same temp.

Jenn

SCReptiles · 06-26-03, 09:08 AM

I lost 2 burms in 2000 when the temp shot up much higher then forecasted. I am also a professional wrestler. I was out of town that weekend wrestling in FL and the outside spike drove the cage temp too high. Was a shame, they were beautiful snakes. One normal and one albino. Both were about 10 feet.

Samba · 06-26-03, 09:16 AM

I'm sorry to hear about your Burms, SCReptiles. I own one myself and I couldn't bare to think of losing him.

SerpentLust- Your snakes should be ok. I have this same problem every year because I live in the desert (New Mexico). I always do exactly what you do... (Not utilizing the heat sources)AND I am sure to include a moist, cool place for my creatures to go. You should consider doing the same for your snakes. It's easy, all you have to do is get a butter bowl (which is meticulously cleaned, of course), put some 'frog moss' or any kind of moss inside (if you don't have moss, paper towels will do the trick) and be sure to mist it a couple of times a day. This will make your animals a lot more comfortable!

Lisa · 06-26-03, 09:21 AM

We had this problem last year. this year we have AC

SerpentLust · 06-26-03, 09:34 AM

Thanks Samba, I'll surely try that out. And haha Lisa, so do we, but for some reason, it likes to ignore my room! lol

Jenn

Linds · 06-26-03, 09:48 AM

My place has A/C as well, the rest of the house stays around 72 or so, but my room still rockets to 88+ if I keep the heat sources on, partially because the vent is being blocked by my bed. Every year they spend a good portion of the summer without supplemental heat. SO right now everyone is without heat, and the room is sitting in the mid 80's... shouldn't take long though, the sun is shining through the window heating everything up

Crappy not being able to open a window to cool things down, just ends up maing things hotter and thicker

Invictus · 06-26-03, 11:07 AM

I'm glad I live in an area where the temperatures are pretty mild. Glad your snakes are ok despite the heat wave, SerpentLust.

Alicewave · 06-26-03, 12:25 PM

Yup I had a couple of those "no heat source" days until we finally kicked the a/c on. As for my room being hot, I get used to it. I look rediculous but you'll see me with long sleeves on days like this because the room I sleep is so hot that I feel like I'm freezing everywhere else. Anyone else have this prob?

Linds · 06-26-03, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Alicewave
As for my room being hot, I get used to it. I look rediculous but you'll see me with long sleeves on days like this because the room I sleep is so hot that I feel like I'm freezing everywhere else. Anyone else have this prob?

LOL for sure! I drive everyone crazy. Nobody likes to go in my room 'cause of the heat. Anything under 80 gives me goosebumps now

Big Mike · 06-26-03, 03:48 PM

This is exactly why a good thermostat can save your little critters. A thermostat would have turned off the heat when the room temps went up.

Of course they are a lot more expensive than rheostats. That's why I only have rheostats...but My herps and I live in a basement so it stays cool.

I have seen the "how to" for making a rheostat and I even made one...but does anyone know how to make a cheap thermostat? I have looked at household furnace thermostats and I figured that they could be wired to to a plug and then could be used to shut the heaters off when the ambient temps reached the set temp.

Because they don't have a probe like "herp" thermostats, I would just like to use one as a safety shut off. If the temp in the general area of the herps becomes too hot then the thermostat shuts off the whole works.

I think I'll ask an electrician friend of mine.

Lisa · 06-26-03, 04:05 PM

my work has this crazy idea that 70 is a good temp. brrrrrr

Lisa · 06-26-03, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Big Mike
This is exactly why a good thermostat can save your little critters. A thermostat would have turned off the heat when the room temps went up.

{snip}

I have seen the "how to" for making a rheostat and I even made one...but does anyone know how to make a cheap thermostat? I have looked at household furnace thermostats and I figured that they could be wired to to a plug and then could be used to shut the heaters off when the ambient temps reached the set temp.

Because they don't have a probe like "herp" thermostats, I would just like to use one as a safety shut off. If the temp in the general area of the herps becomes too hot then the thermostat shuts off the whole works.

I think I'll ask an electrician friend of mine.

the problem with regular house thermostats is they run on 24 volts, not 120. you could use a step down transformer to get the voltage required to run the thermostat. but then you would want a relay connected to your 120 power with the thermostat to activate the relay to turn it on and off as the 24 volts won't be enough to power the heat tape.

BoidKeeper · 06-27-03, 08:42 AM

My snake room yesterday made it up to 92! I 'm thinking A/C but I don't want it to get too cool in there. I'm aiming for 85 day 80 night in summer and 80 day 75 night in winter. For those of you with A/C in their rooms do you find it hard to control?
Thanks,
Trevor

Linds · 06-27-03, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BoidKeeper
My snake room yesterday made it up to 92! I 'm thinking A/C but I don't want it to get too cool in there. I'm aiming for 85 day 80 night in summer and 80 day 75 night in winter. For those of you with A/C in their rooms do you find it hard to control?

I have A/C, and my room, with all the animals heat shut off except for one lamp, was at 88 degrees when I went to bed. You shouldn't have a problem with it being too cool since it is on a thermostat, you can set it to whatever temp you wish. I have a space heater in my room that I leave on 365 days a year pretty much. I set it to 78 so when I leave the window open at night if it falls below that, the thermostat kicks in to get it back up again. A/C shouldn't present any troubles for temperature control since it isn't just a free-running cold source, it is controlled

daver676 · 06-27-03, 09:05 AM

Actually I find it easier to control the temp in my ball's enclosure with the AC on. The temp in the room stays stable, so I don't have to worry about adjusting the rheostat to often. I've just started making a habit of when I adjust the ac up or down, I adjust the rheo accordingly.

Dave