New IR Thermometer: Readings a Concern

[markannab]

Hi all

I'd like some advice please. My new IR thermometer just arrived in the mail today so I did a reading of my snakes skin temperature. Previously, I'd relied purely on ambient temperature readouts from thermometers in the enclosures. The snakes body temperatures are a lot lower than I had thought. I was under the impression their temperatures were good since they both voluntarily leave their basking spots from time to time. Below are their body temperatures and a bit about their behaviour. I'd appreciate thoughts on whether I should increase the temperature - which I'm inclined to do.

Coastal Carpet/Diamond
Stays under the ceramic heater almost permanently. We never see her venture around the enclosure though she likely goes down for a drink during the night. But she does "shuffle" along her resting area so that sometimes she's directly under the heater; other times, slightly off to one side. Her body temperature is 27°-28°C. The thermostat will allow me to dial up the temperature quite a bit yet. I don't know if her "laziness" is just her breed or that she never really warms up enough to want to venture away from the basking spot.

Spotted
Highly active from mid afternoon on doing the standard search for an escape route. He spends some time on his heat mat which reads out at 32°C. Quite snappy but that may just be his temperament (breed + still quite young). His upper body temperature is about 28°C. I have the heat mat on a thermostat and it's under the glass of his enclosure. I think it will allow me to dial it up a bit. Strangely, he spends so much time not on his heat mat, yet when I touch him, he feels quite cold.

I look forward to some help on this,
Mark.

 

[Bart70]

Are you using the IR thermometer properly?

I have been using one for years for a number of applications and I know from experience that I can get different readings if it is not being used as intended - especially in terms of knowing exactly what area the 'beam' is actually covering (most will average an area proportional to the distance from the item....and others will not read well if placed too close). The type of surface you are reading can alos influence but from experience a snakes body/skin normally give me fairly accurate readings.

Are you sure the beam is not hitting surfaces around the snake when taking the reading? This will lower the overall average of the reading.

Unless your snake is constantly sitting under the heat and not regualting by moving to cooler areas I would not be too worried about raising temps.

 

[Bart70]

Just re-read that your Coastal/Diamond spends most of its time under the heater.....Have you been able to get a temp reading of the basking shelf without the snake on it (ie - get an indication of how much heat the shelf is absorbing?) I have 2 basking shelves...one higher than the other. The lower one gets to about 27c, the higher one gets a surface temp of around 33-34c.

 

[markannab]

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I'm using the IR correctly taking into consideration the beam width, etc. Readings were taken from the general body (she's coiled up so there's a nice large area to read from). The shelf temperature was about 28°C directly under the lamp. Since I originally posted, I increased the temperature and I'm now getting 32°C from the shelf directly under the lamp. She has shuffled partially to one side. Under the lamp, she's 32°C. The part of the body farthest from the lamp is 29°C. To me, that seems far healthier.

I also managed to increase the Spotted's thermostat by 2°C. I'm getting a varied reading as I "scan" over his body from 29°C-31°C.

Let me know if I'm wrong, but these temperatures seem far better.

 

[Bart70]

You sound like you are measuring correctly....many people get it wrong and end up measuring more of the area 'around' the snake than the snake (or object) itself and get incorrect readings.

Your temps are almost identical to my temps now.....The Coastal may have been a little on the cool side before. I just 'zapped' mine and both my Bredli and MD are basking and sitting at temps between 31 & 34c (depending on the end of the snake that is closest to the lamp).

You may find now that the Coastal will 'regulate' itself by moving around.....My MD only basks for about 2-3hrs then goes into her unheated hide for a lot of the time (she drops to about 21c in there and does not overly mind). My Bredli just loves heat and will stay at around 34c for as long as the heat is on......then when it turns down at night he will venture into his hide after it starts to cool.

My Spotty is not an adult but she gets around 32c from a heatmat but your readings of 29-31c seem ok....My Spotty give me readings of 30-31c when her floor heat temp is around 32c and she has been thriving so if it were me I would be happy with those readings.

 

[andynic07]

Firstly you need to remember that your body temperature is around 36 degrees so anything less than that will feel cool. Secondly the basking spot temperature needs to be warmer than what your snake will be happy with and your snake is not trying to get to those temperatures. They will try to thermoregulate to about 27-28 degrees, that means they should move around the thermal gradient to raise or lower their temperature to where they are happy. Usually a snake will not move around their enclosure if they are too cold and will not eat either (brumation), a good sign that they are getting enough heat is if they are eating properly. As for the one that stays still for most of the day under the heat source it must be either just the right temperature for him or too cold for him but if he is eating fine the temperature should be right. Both of your snakes are nocturnal and should not be to active during the day and hunt at night.