Interested to hear about peoples' winter temperature for coastals

[dannydee]

Hi folks,

I have recently changed the heating in my coastal's enclosure from ceramics to spot lights. The thing that is worrying me is the ambient temperature of the room in which the snakes are kept during winter. At night the room does get cold, and although the snake in question does have access to a heat mat during the evenings, I'm still worried about the ambient temperatures.

So, I would like to hear from other coastal keepers and what temperatures are snakes are subjected to during winter.

Thanks

 

[mysnakesau]

I don't know what your weather is like in Scotland, but here in Australia I live on the borderline of temperate and sub-tropical region. In winter days were around 16+, nights below 10. 6 to 7c is a typical overnighter bt this winter we had a couple of weeks of -2, 0 and not much warmer than 4c.

With these temperatures in mind, I kept my coastal/diamond intergrades daytime temperatures at 30c for 8 hours, and off the rest of the day. But if want to keep your fella warm over winter so you can continue feeding him, I'd suggest keeping his heat on for 10hours a day. It shouldn't really matter what the ambient temperature is so long as he has a hotspot he can go to to keep warm, and some tight-fit hides that he can go to when he moves away from his heat. The tighter they can coil up, the better they can retain heat.

 

[jairusthevirus21]

I live in south australia and it gets real cold. Coastal are pretty hardy creatures. My ambient get as cold as 13 degrees but i have a hotspot with a hide on it and that sits at about 29 degrees. Im using a 25 watt heat cord wrapped under a piece of slate.

 

[dannydee]

I don't know what your weather is like in Scotland, but here in Australia I live on the borderline of temperate and sub-tropical region. In winter days were around 16+, nights below 10. 6 to 7c is a typical overnighter bt this winter we had a couple of weeks of -2, 0 and not much warmer than 4c.

With these temperatures in mind, I kept my coastal/diamond intergrades daytime temperatures at 30c for 8 hours, and off the rest of the day. But if want to keep your fella warm over winter so you can continue feeding him, I'd suggest keeping his heat on for 10hours a day. It shouldn't really matter what the ambient temperature is so long as he has a hotspot he can go to to keep warm, and some tight-fit hides that he can go to when he moves away from his heat. The tighter they can coil up, the better they can retain heat.

Brilliant, this is exactly the information I needed. Thank you.
The weather here in Scotland gets cold. My snakes are kept indoors all year round but my flat still gets pretty cold during winter. She had a day time basking spot of 33 degrees and the heat mat is set to the same but only comes on at night.
Thanks for giving me piece of mind.

- - - Updated - - -

I live in south australia and it gets real cold. Coastal are pretty hardy creatures. My ambient get as cold as 13 degrees but i have a hotspot with a hide on it and that sits at about 29 degrees. Im using a 25 watt heat cord wrapped under a piece of slate.

I think my ambient gets as low 8 degrees sometimes. The heating is on now again but not constantly.

 

[mysnakesau]

If your basking spot is 33c, there is no need to lower that just because I said I keep mine at 30. When someone offers a temperature, you can give or take a couple of degrees either side, but 33c is perfect - not too hot for coastal. She would be loving it.

I am a believer of the saying "Don't fix what isn't broken." If your snake is eating, pooping, shedding and generally looks healthy and content, then your enclosure is perfect.