Lost 2 of my snakes, fearing for the rest.

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Snakewoman

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I fed half my snakes on Sunday, the other 3 on Monday. It was hot yesterday and today I found 2 of them dead. I don't know if it was a combination of feeding and too much heat or what's happened. My prossie regurgitated her rat but is alive. I put cold bottles wrapped in tea towels in the tanks of the surviving snakes, and it's meant to get to 40 degrees today. When putting the bottles in 2 of the snakes were very aggressive, my MD doesn't usually behave like that. I very worried about losing my other animals. There is no room inside for the snakes unfortunately. One of the ones I lost was my beautiful Samson that I helped nurse back to health, I'm very upset about that one :cry:
 
There would be room. Put them into a doona cover or pillow case into the bath tub or shower (without water running) and leve them in there to cool down, as bathroooms are generally cooler.
 
Oh i'm so sorry to hear that Tahlia, especially about Samson.. i had followed your threads on him with high hopes.
 
I have a friend coming around to give me an evaporative cooler for the garage, I've just been moving the remaining snakes inside. RIP to Samson and Lulu :cry:
 

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I'm very sorry to hear that Tahlia. It's a very timely reminder that snakes should NEVER be fed before an expected heatwave, or during it, especially if they are in a place that will get very hot, such as a garage. I've suggested several times this summer that snakes in vulnerable places need to be bagged up and placed in the coolest part of the house, on the floor, for the duration of the heat, even if it's a fortnight. It won't hurt them, and it may save their lives. Aircon and other devices are useful, but should not be relied upon as power company load-shedding may leave you without power at critical times.

Jamie
 
The others are ok, all active. I've got them inside in tubs with bottles of ice, teatowels wrapped around the bottles. Also people, learn from my mistake and turn off your tanks, DO NOT rely on your thermostat to do its job. The thermostat in Samson's tank was stuck on and that's what killed him. Thanks for your advice and understanding everyone. I'm pretty angry at myself for this!
 
It's a hard lesson to learn at any time, and I can say I've been there and done that myself in years gone by... In the days before thermostats we had to rely on memory to turn the heat off, but as you now know, there is no place for electrical devices of any sort (except maybe a fan in the room) on extreme days. All electrics MUST be turned off before the heat of the day, and you may not need them on again for a few days. It won't hurt the snakes.

Jamie
 
I have the remaining 4 snakes in big plastic tubs inside, we have a portable air conditioner so it's still hot in here but much better than it is in the garage. They have their water bowls in there and the bottles I had for them to cool down with. There's water in the bathtub, it's more warm than cold, I know freezing water would be bad, so maybe I could take them in one by one for a cool down in there?
 
If you check your temperature at floor level I doubt it will be over 30C
Especially on a tile floor
 
The others are ok, all active. I've got them inside in tubs with bottles of ice, teatowels wrapped around the bottles. Also people, learn from my mistake and turn off your tanks, DO NOT rely on your thermostat to do its job. The thermostat in Samson's tank was stuck on and that's what killed him. Thanks for your advice and understanding everyone. I'm pretty angry at myself for this!
I defiantly agree with the thermostat
http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/general-reptile-discussion-42/failed-heat-mat-209239/
 
Sorry to hear about your loss and hope your remaining snakes are ok. One other thing, can you tell me what brand your thermostat is?
 
sorry about your loss, its not easy losing a pet. and i know samson meant a lot to you.

R.I.P samson and lulu
 
tiled floors are the go, we get real hot here too. I found that bagging them during the day and putting them on tiles
cools them through the worst of it and then I put them back in their enclosures at night to stretch and get a drink.
 
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A good trick for cooling is to place the snakes in a small tub each, make the tubs very, very ventilated like swiss cheese with a soldering iron and then just place a wet towel or hessian over the tubs and direct a fan onto it, or put it under the house if there is air movement. It acts like a fridge and can drop temps by 7-10 degrees. Keep them wet with a spray from the hose etc
Sorry to hear you lost your snakes.
 
Oh Tahlia that's dreadful news. Sorry for your loss but thanks for posting. If this helps
one person avoid this happening again it's well worth it.
 
Sorry to hear about your loss and hope your remaining snakes are ok. One other thing, can you tell me what brand your thermostat is?

I'm not sure, it doesn't have a name on it. It was in there when I bought it and I hadn't had a problem with it before that, but it certainly picked the worst time to get stuck on. Never trust your electrics.

Thanks for your comments and advice everyone, I hope this can help other people so they don't have to learn the hard way like I did.
 
I was only asking so I have an idea on which ones are prone to failure, I have had two microclimate B1 dimming thermostats fail and have heard others have the same problem with them.

I am glad that you have got on top of the problem now and don't dwell too much about what has happened, it won't change what has happened.
 
I have a friend coming around to give me an evaporative cooler for the garage, I've just been moving the remaining snakes inside. RIP to Samson and Lulu :cry:


im sorry for your loss, dont be fooled into thinking evaporative coolers do a lot to cool air down they just humidifier the air.
 
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