death adders

[Bombie]

just wanted to know peoples opinions on heating for death adders.

i have lost a couple of death adders recently, and was wondering if enclosure set-up could have contributed.
one was a hatchling, which i have heard can be tricky to get going initially. but the other one was an adult!

i had him (adult one) set up in a wooden viv, glass fronted and top opening, on red sand with plenty of bits of wood to hide in and leaf litter etc. i was using a ceramic heat globe overhead at one end of the tank, and was getting a good temp range from 31/32 to about 26/28 at the cool end.

my reason for asking is this, the guy i got it from said he has always used heatcord or tape underneath his adder enclosures rather than over head heat and i wanted to know if anyone has any strong opinions one way or another on this subject?


any help appreciated,
bombie

[Gecko_ProCs]

im not sure if it makes a difference but maybe ground heating was better for it then over head heating as they would spend most of their time low on the ground

[OzRocks]

the way your heatin shouldnt matter really, I heat mine pretty much the same way (both about 5 months old),
Although one problem might be impaction. If your feeding him on the sand they might take in some of the sand with the food. I also keep mmine on sand but when i feed em i put them in a plastic tub with paper towel on the bottom untill theyve eaten.

hope this helps,
cheers, matt

[Bombie]

thanks for that guys,
will try the feeding container idea next time!
bombie

[Sdaji]

Sounds strange. How long had you had them? Neonates can be slightly tricky, but as long as they're feeding, have access to water and don't have sloughing issues you shouldn't have them drop dead. (Incidentally, there is no such thing as a hatchling Death Adder ).

What type(s) of Adder were you keeping? The pyrrhus group (including wellsi etc) is most sensitive and prone to dropping dead.

Overhead heating isn't going to kill them and the temperatures you've measured aren't going to be lethal. The sand might be a bit of a problem, but if you've had two Death Adders die at around the same time I'd be looking for another cause. Were they both feeding well? Death Adders are fairly sensitive to toxins, is there a chance they've been exposed to an insecticide or other toxic chemical residue?

[pugsly]

Did you get an autoposy?