Heat Question

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ThePup

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OK, Time for a question regarding 'Snakey', our 6 - 7 month old Children's python. If there's any Territorians here I'd especially appreciate your advice.

I'm in the Territory, and I know a lot of folks with pythons who, up here, just don't bother with heat lamps. After all, it is their natural climate. During the day, we're talking 28 - 32 degrees in the house where the enclosure sits. Night times at the moment are down to 20 degrees, no biggie, but in the middle of the dry we'll be looking at down to about 8 degrees. Of course, this IS their natural climate, but they'd be going into hiding during the cooler periods, and / or spending the night under some rocks that have collected some warmth during the day to re-radiate at night.

So, is it in the best interests of the snake to give it a little heat? Just a low wattage globe on a timer from perhaps midnight or 2am until 8 or 9 when the temp really starts to drop during the cooler months? Or is a few hours of sub 18 degrees not really going to bother him? Again, I'm especially interested in Territorian opinions, but I'll take any ;)
 
Its a hatchling so I would provide some heat. If you have a small heat cord on a thermostat it would only come on at night when the temp drops. I wouldn't use a globe as it would turn night into day.
 
Its a hatchling so I would provide some heat. If you have a small heat cord on a thermostat it would only come on at night when the temp drops. I wouldn't use a globe as it would turn night into day.

Snakes can't see the UV spectrum, so a red UV globe would be fine.
A heat mat or heat cord however would suit the purpose much better and be much cheaper to run...
 
Snakes can't see the UV spectrum, so a red UV globe would be fine.
A heat mat or heat cord however would suit the purpose much better and be much cheaper to run...
Do you mean IR? If so the red globes are emitting red light which snakes can see. No animal eyes or ours can see true IR as it is not in the visible spectrum.
 
As Andy said, its a common misconception that reptiles can't see red or blue etc. IR is different to using a colored globe. Any light would disturb the day/ night cycle.
 
Do you mean IR? If so the red globes are emitting red light which snakes can see. No animal eyes or ours can see true IR as it is not in the visible spectrum.

Sorry yes I did mean IR not UV.
 
Thanks for the replies, I guess the reason I was looking at a lamp was due to the enclosure having 20mm of sand as substrate (to be replaced by cocopeat when I get to a bunnings). How much penetration will a small 10 - 15w heat lamp have through sand like that? (Tank base is 30x30, so really looking at small mats)
 
You can always place the heat mat in the tank between two tiles, with a thermostat probe and thermometer on the top tile...
 
A snake of that age I have always kept on 24 hour heat in a plastic tub. A children's python is very small and can escape small gaps. I always keep snakes in tubs up until 12 months old and fed them all year round to get some size on them. After that I do not provide night time heat and also brumate them over winter. I know there is not just one right way and a lot of other ways work but I found this the best way for me. If you choose to stick with the enclosure then maybe use the idea suggested by Badsville.
 
Thanks for the replies, I guess the reason I was looking at a lamp was due to the enclosure having 20mm of sand as substrate (to be replaced by cocopeat when I get to a bunnings). How much penetration will a small 10 - 15w heat lamp have through sand like that? (Tank base is 30x30, so really looking at small mats)
Listen to what Senator and badsville has stated and get rid of the sand and don't even go down the cocopeat line...keep it simple , if u want it to look nice try ozpet cat litter (easy to spot clean)....Heat cord under tile all the way 24/7 but that's JMO
Regards
Pete
 
Thanks all. If I change the bedding to some pellet based as has been suggested, then a small heat mat under the tank should work well. Pellet based substrate should allow the heat through much better than the sand will. The Oz-pet stuff looks good, but will need to wait until next Darwin trip. For now picked up some paper based cat litter as I've also seen suggested around. I suspect the poor guys enclosure hasn't been changed since Christmas.
 
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