My snake has no cool end - what to do?

[Renenet]

Hi,

I've just moved to Cairns, literally. I arrived yesterday afternoon, set up my stimmie in her click-clack soon after and have been monitoring temperatures closely ever since. Last night she had a cool end of about 27 and a warm end of 29. (Both temps might have dropped further overnight - I couldn't tell you, I slept like a log.) Today, however, as the temperature heats up, it's 32 at the hot end and 31.5 at the cool end. Is that something to worry about?

By the way, Zephyr is only a few days off being a year old, if that makes any difference.

Thanks,
Renenet

 

[Schnecke]

What is your set up like? What are you using as a heat source and what is your inside ambient air temp (inside the room where she is being kept)

Is there a way for you to reduce the siize of the heat source? (if you are using a heated tile, can you make it cover a smaller area than usual) or if hear cord, can you reduce the strands so the area you are heating is smaller in area.

I hope I make sense - I'd be asking the same questions as you and would like the cool end cooler.

Good luck

 

[HonestPirate]

Yeah you need more of a temp gradient- Just drill a bunch more holes in the cool end roof and side wall- but make sure they are not too big or you'll be hatchie hunting through the house. Also keep the clickclack in the coolest part of the house. Also, misting the cool end every now and then might help get the temp down a bit..or mesh the roof/lid at the cool end...

EDIT: just realised its not a hatchie, sorry; same rules apply.

 

[Renenet]

Thanks.

Schnecke, I think the ambient temperature is the same as in the click-clack, which is the source of the problem. I have a heat mat, but because surrounding temps are so high it's hardly working. Nevertheless, on your suggestion I've reduced the amount of floor space covered by the heat mat from a third to a quarter. I'll see how that goes.

Pirate, the click-clack already has a lot of holes, so many that I had to plug some with Blu-tack in Melbourne. Mesh might be the go, but since I'll be moving her into a large in enclosure as soon as I can, it's not worth the trouble. I think I'll have to move that enclosure to the top of my list. In the meantime, would directing a fan at the cool end of her enclosure help (or just annoy the stuffing out of her)? Just as there isn't a temperature gradient in Zephyr's enclosure, there's not much of one in the house either. I could also put her click-clack on the floor, where it would hopefully be cooler, however slightly.

 

[lgrattan80]

Hi Renenet,
Just out of curiosity, but where are you keeping your click clack ?

Temps at the aero club got up to 31.2 yesterday, and are expected around the 32 today, but temps around cairns generally vary about +- 4 deg C from that depending on location.

I'm still in the research phase of owning my first reptile, but this is something I'm curious about. People who don't understand the area keep saying we need heating, but if a temperature gradient is required, then I'd be more concerned about cooling.

Even in the depths of winter the temp is around 25/27 during the day, if it drops to 18 over night, you start to panic and try to remember where your tracky dacs are hidden.

 

[reaver]

On the couple of hot days I've had I placed a bottle filled with frozen water in it wrapped in some paper towel at the end I want cooler.

 

[SperO]

do you need heating at all? I know Darwin is a little hotter than Cairns but right now its the middle of the wet. I don't use heating. In the dry I only very occasionally turn on the heat cord.

My stimmie is 7 years old had him since a hatchling, amazing eater & never been ill.

 

[Colin]

what I do in my hatchie and yearling tubs is have air holes in the lid at the hot end. they sit about 1/4 on the tub on a heat mat. as hot air rises the warmer air seems to go up through the air holes and not circulate around the tub as they would if the lid had no holes. this seems to give more of a gradient. hope that helps

 

[Waterrat]

1/ Cairns is not in the middle of the wet. It hasn't started yet, we just has a few showers.

2/ You don't need any heating at all in Cairns.

3/ Stimmies are tropical snakes and can take those kind of temps with no problem.

Make sure the enclosure doesn't get any sun shining on it and provide good ventilation.
Observe the snake carefully over the next few days.

cheers
M

 

[RichardBing]

I live in Townsville and have never used heating for my guys and it's never been a problem

 

[SperO]

I was referring to Darwin not Cairns but I figured they were pretty similar give or take a few Celsius

 

[junglemac]

​Never used any heat source when we lived there​

 

[Renenet]

Hi Renenet,
Just out of curiosity, but where are you keeping your click clack?

Inside on the kitchen bench right now (well away from any heat-generating appliances). I've found a cool spot outside on the deck - I'm wondering if I should put her adult-sized enclosure here when I get it.

Thanks for all the responses.

2/ You don't need any heating at all in Cairns.

3/ Stimmies are tropical snakes and can take those kind of temps with no problem.

I was starting to wonder if I needed any heat at all. Since she's just about a yearling, she's probably ready to stop being heated at night in any case. That'll save on electricity. It's a shame for me that I'm renting a place with utilities included.

Stimmies are amazing snakes. They seem to cope with a lot of different environments - maybe why they're such a widespread species.

There's no sun directly on the click-clack, although the room did get very bright this morning. Zephyr seems to be okay with her new environment so far, although she is hiding under her paper a lot. That's probably not all that strange for a snake in a new place - and I confess that I really do need to find her a hide.

This might be a stupid question for some of the more experienced keepers, but what happens with digestion when they don't have heating overnight? I live in terror of my girl being unable to digest her meal properly.

 

[andy1990]

maybe use steal mess look at my enclosure it provides good ventilation.

 

[MR_IAN_DAVO]

Check out the other thread posted about "keeping my snakes cool" & you will get my opinion. I am not going to repeat it all again.

It all depends on the area that you live in Aussie as to what uyou do.

Cheers
Ian

 

[Renenet]

Check out the other thread posted about "keeping my snakes cool" & you will get my opinion. I am not going to repeat it all again.

Sorry, Ian, I can't seem to find that thread. Can you link to it, please?

 

[Tsubakai]

Might not be useful to you but I use the aircon to cool the room then use a tile on heat cord to give a warm spot and a temp gradient. Even though Townsville is a tiny bit cooler and drier than Cairns, my house just gets too hot during the day to not use the aircon although I worry more about my fishtanks in the heat than I do about my reptiles.

 

[Colin]

Can you link to it, please?

http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/...ion-42/whats-best-way-keep-enclosures-175321/

I think this is the one

 

[Renenet]

Thanks Colin.

I've managed to achieve a better temperature gradient by using an ice pack. My girl's click-clack is on tiles. I've placed the ice pack on the exposed tiles at the cool end and the chill seems to seep into the ceramic under the click-clack, providing somewhere cooler for her to sit if she wants. Only problem is, the ice pack doesn't stay icy for long. I'll take it as a good temporary solution until I get her a larger enclosure.

Interestingly, she's mostly staying up the hot end.