Diamond moody when heat is on

[falnyet]

Hi,

Just looking to see if anyone has ever experienced or knows why my diamond gets angry when his heat is on.. He is around 2 and a half year old, and has always been an extremely placid snake, that is until the heat goes on.
Everytime i turn his heat on he becomes very angry, he stays curled up until i walk past the tank then he hisses and goes at me. He also seems a lot more active in cold weather or when his heat is off than he does when his heat is on (as i turned the heat off so he could hibernate) but no he just kept exploring his tank.

If you have any suggestions as to why this could be happening. Please let me know it would be greatly appreciated as i want to make sure im doing what i can to keep this boy happy and healthy.

Thank you

 

[thebraddles]

what are your temps at when your heat is on?

 

[Sterlo]

He may be exploring his tank to find warmth (just an assumption) and maybe when heat is on he is more alert and just wants to play a friendly game of tag

 

[falnyet]

its at 28-30 degrees

 

[falnyet]

he sleeps more when his heat is on then when its off so im not sure

 

[thebraddles]

28-30, maybe abit hot. mines on 25max there cold weather snakes mate, you dont need to smash that much heat into them. should just have a basking spot bout 2 hrs on a day, then the tank should sit round 22-25. just a thought.

 

[falnyet]

the breeder i got him off told me to put it at that heat and its not directly on him as there is foam above the mat, plus the top of my tank is mesh along with a strip on the side between the glass so the air flow wouldnt keep it at 28-30 degrees it would be a bit less then that. and he doesnt get it 24/7 ive had the heat on a few hours out of around 5 days this year because of how cold it has been other wise its kept off and he is happy

 

[sarah_m]

Could the heat be making him hungry?

 

[falnyet]

hmm i might give that a go and feed him..he eats well every 10 days but hey you never know thank you =)

 

[singlestriker]

I have my day time temp set at 25max and the night time at its lowest 20 (at this time of year until the end of Aug. roughly) and I have their heat lamps at the top of the enclosure so they can bask at their own will (which is usually first thing in the morning) then they go off exploring or resting the other times. At this time of the year my 3 older diamonds don't get fed much until August, only the 3 younger ones are getting fed regular at this time of the year.

You shouldn't feed your Diamond in high temps as the food could decay in the gut. And Diamonds don't handle high temps for extended period of times. You may want to look at your heat source and move it more to the top of the enclosure so your snake is able to source cooler temps when it desires.

 

[falnyet]

how ofter do you feed your 3 yrs old diamonds? when i tried getting him into hibernation i cut down his feeding but then after a few weeks (to what i assumed) looked as though he was looking for food as he wouldnt stop moving around the tank and sitting right up to the glass door where i always feed him..
I know that they are cooler weather pythons hence why i dont have his heat on for long periods. i just never understood why he got angry when the heat was on..
Thank you very much for your help, it gets confusing sometimes when everyone has a diff opinion to the heating, but i will definately look at getting him a heat source at the top of his enclosure
thank you again

 

[singlestriker]

My 6yr old girl gets fed roughly every 18 days and has a large rat (255g-320g), my 4yr old boy gets fed roughly every 14-18days on rats (99g-108g), my 3 yr old girl is about the same as the 4yr old boy. And their daylight is cut down so it only turns on from 7am to 11am.

I just keep handling mine so they don't always just expect to be fed when the enclosure is opened. Mine are always curious and get let out for a cuddle.