To Cool or Not to Cool????

[OdessaStud]

There have been alot of contriversy of late as to if we should cool our snakes over winter or not.Im in SE Qld and the night temps can get quite cold but the days are usually above 27 degrees.As I have coastals,jungles,and water pythons are they all dealt with the same or should they all have different temps for this time of year.I used to leave the heat up to them at night in Vic and did so last year up here but now Im confused as to if I should heat them at night or not.Any advise would be great and Im sure a few people have been asking themselves the same question lately.I read that they dont need to be cooled unless for breeding is this correct??
Cheers Odie

[The Devil]

When someone can show me a snake wearing a jacket,sox, gloves or carrying a electric blanket, I'll start to think about night heating.
Until then why bother. The coolest BODY temp I've seen is 9.5C

[dave8208]

do snakes heat themselves out in the wild overnight ...................?

[cris]

In the wild snakes can heat themselves all year round and hide in insulated areas to conserve heat. In captivity it is generally best to provide heat all the time and simply allow them to cool themselves.

[zobo]

I live in SE Qld and do not heat at night at all. The temps inside the insulated snake room stays pretty warm all year, especially in summer. Even in winter it does not get real cold inside. Male snakes do need some cooling to produce viable sperm, so I always cool for a few months. BUT this is just my way that works well for me......I get good clutches of 100% fertile eggs each year, so I'm happy with that.
jas

[herpsrule]

if there is a temprature gradient in the enclosure, the snake can choose whether it needs to cool or not, so IMO keep it on so long as the snake can choose

[dee4]

That's interesting Zobo, you only cool your male so to speak and not your female. Is that right?

[zobo]

Nah I cool all adults, but it has been proven in some studies (I am told??) that males NEED some form of cooling to produce a high percentage of viable sperm. I think that insufficient cooling might be part of the problem when people talk about re-absobing eggs.
All I do is look at nature and try and replicate it as close as possible indoors and obviously this will vary species to species.
jas