Stimson Python won't use heat rock!!!

[SmudgeDaz]

Hi,
My stimmie that ive had for over a month now doesn't seem to want to use her heat rock.
I've only recently purchased it as a precaution for the coming colder winter months.
She does have a heat lamp but it just recently broke so i've got to replace it.
I put in the heat rock and was hoping that she would use it especially now that her heat lamp is temperarily out of commission.
But She doesn't go anywhere near it!
She lies on her log right where the heat lamp used to radiate down and she just sits there as if waiting for the lamp to come on!!

I don't know if she just really likes that spot or whether she's just isn't cold enough to go on her heat rock...

WA at the moment is going through a heat wave so its is hot around here during the day but I only turn on the rock a night for some warmth when the temperature drops at night.
I thought she might just not be cold enough to seek the warmth but when I pick her up, she's really cold!

If anyone has any advice that would be much appreciated.

Oh and just to let you know the heat rock is thermostatically controlled and it's not overheating (I can comfortably place my hand on it for long periods of time)

 

[Leeloofluff]

All I can say is get it out of there!! Heat rocks are bad news for snakes, as they get very hot and snakes are slower to react and get burnt. Fix your heat light instead, and see if you can get a refund on the rock. I have seen so many cases of snakes being fatally burnt by those things!

 

[grannieannie]

I've also heard rocks are bad...I have a stimmie and have a heat coil for him, I have a ceramic tile over it and in the 3 yrs I've had him have never had any trouble....

 

[abnrmal91]

Heat rocks are bad for all reptiles (especially snakes) turn it off either throw it out or get a refund. Your better using a heat cord, globe or ceramic heater or a heat panel. These heat sources can all be controlled accurately with a thermostat & are much safer to use.

How old is your stimme? As it may not require heat 24-7. What do the temps get down to over night?

 

[Tobe404]

Yep. Pretty much what everyone else said. All I have ever heard is bad things about heat rocks. No way to control the temp and will most likely end up burning the Stimmie...

 

[Snowman]

Sounds like a smart stimi.

 

[user 30368]

My stimi wanted me to pass a message on to you....

"DON'T DO TO YOUR STIMI WHAT MY OWNER DID TO ME!!! My poor tummy was so burnt and sore!".

 

[SmudgeDaz]

Damn it! I was recommended a heat rock
I was told that a heat lamp wasn't enough heat during the winter months and that it was best if I also get something extra like a heat rock.
I was going to do the ceremic tile thing that grannieannie has but a few people persuaded me to go with a heat rock

I do believe that my stimmie (named Sky) is quite smart, she probably realised the danger of the heat rock before I did!!!
I'm definitely getting my lamp replaced like today!!

And to answer abnrmal91 's question: my stimmie is under 2yrs, the place I got her from didn't know her age.
and I normally only run heat for about 10 hrs a day but the nights over here in WA have been quite chill dropping I think to about 19 degrees even though the daytime over here is like 34 degrees!!!

 

[mikey_mike]

Are you using a thermostat?

 

[JAS101]

id just get another heat lamp and even then use it in winter as basking .

 

[Skelhorn]

Heat rocks are bad unless you have the temperature regulated and controlled with a thermostat. I have seen many snakes lying on an outback road during the middle of the day and I can guarantee that the road would get a hell of a lot hotter than a heat rock. On that note at the moment you are able to buy heat mats (from an australian company) on ebay for 1/2 the price of instore. Worth checking out! They are Reptile one branded also.

 

[Gruni]

Have you taken a reading with an IR Thermometer? Your heat rock is probably working fine esp if you have it on a thermostat. What is your tank temp during the day and what does it drop to overnight, your snake may just feel comfortable if it is hot weather at the moment even if she 'feels' cold to the touch. Is she still active or does she just lay in the one spot and huddle?

A lot of the problems with heat rocks date back to the early ones. I know someone who has been using them for 15 years without issue and the only failure he had was them not working at all, he won't use Exoterra ones anymore but all of his snakes spend plenty of time on theirs.

I was curious about all this a while back and posted about it and despite a large number of views very few people said that they 'personally' had ever had a bad experience with them. If they were that bad they wouldn't be so readily available. Nobody was willing to post pics either of the snakes they had seen with heat rock burns. I am quite happy to put on my flame suit and wait for the backlash on this, I am quite happy to change my mind about heat rocks when I get shown some proof of their faultiness otherwise I think they are like any product like cars or appliances, a few people have a problem with one and therefore the lot of them are lemons.

 

[SmudgeDaz]

My heat rock is thermostatically controlled, which means that when it gets to a certain temperature it turns off and I know when it turns off and on because the red light comes off and on. Also I do check it after I turn the rock on to see if it's functioning properly. Everytime I place my hand on it, it's warm and not hot, I could leave my hand on it for hours and it wouldn't burn me so I presumed it would be fine for my snake....

At the moment in Perth WA the temperature during the day is about 32 degrees and slowly decreasing but at night my tank temperature bottomed out at about 20 degrees, i think it's quite low because of our air con. but not totally sure why...

I also don't stay up all night and watch to see if she does use the heat rock at like 1 in the morning but I do know that she avoids it completely during the nightly hours I am awake to watch her.

Oh and in terms of how active she is. She's behaving normally, exploring the tank, moving up and down her log. Though I do find her stretched out under the place where her lamp is supposed to beam down (on her log) just lying there for like half an hour. I was wondering if she is cold. But until I get the lamp fixed (which it hopefully will be by tomorrow) she won't get any heat unless she uses her rock...

 

[Gruni]

I mentioned this to a mate and he said she may not have realised the rock is warm as she is so used to the heat lamp is and has possibly gotten conditioned to expecting the warmth to come there eventually, although if she is exploring the tank I would expect her to have noticed the heat source. This may or may not be the case but if she is active etc I wouldn't be overly worried. Maybe check on her if you wake up to go to the loo in the middle of the night?

 

[SmudgeDaz]

I have checked on her in the middle of the night if I wake up but everytime I've done that i've caught her in the act of "stimmie escape". She'll be climbing up the glass wall and running her nose along the mesh top looking for a way out which she hopefully won't find. But she does give me this kind of "oops she caught me" look. Anyways, even when I've woken up in the middle of the night, which doesn't happen heaps, I still don't see her near the rock.

And I thought about that too Gruni, about how she probably isn't used to the rock because of the heat lamps always been used but I have placed her on the rock numerous times to show her its warm and she just slivers off like she's not interested.
I'm starting to think I just have a weird snake, or more like she has a very unique personality

 

[Gruni]

My Mac does the whole wall climb mesh sniff all the time too. :lol: