Temperture control

[gbskda]

Here is question for the members who live in warmer parts of Aust.
I am having trouble keeping the temperture down in my cage and I am looking for advice.
I currently use ice packs wrapped up in towels.
My cage is a hand built corner unit (1200mm high x 800mm sides) there is vent at the top ( size 15cm x 10 cm ) cover in fly screen.
Any suggestions would be grateful :?:

 

[grahamh]

Hi gbskda

welcome to the site.

I live in the Hunter valley and the temps of late have been a bit crazy. On Sunday we had 49.2 outside the back door. Inside the house it has been up to 30 deg on several days lately. My enclosure has a fan in the hood that pulls air in at the top and a fan at the bottom on the side diagonally opposite that pushes air out. I've found that in terms of air flow its great but in terms of temperature it is of little use. On normal days if I switch them on, all that happens is that the temperature gradient dissappears and the whole enclosure ends up with a similar temperature. I've tried the plastic Ice brick next to the fan inlet and I've tried ice cubes in the water bowl (which is in the airflow of the fans) none of these actions seems to reduce the temperature below the ambient room temperature. I've basically given up on trying to control the inside environment.

So far I haven't seen any indication that my little diamond (Sensative New Age Python) or Snap as she's normally called, has any problems with this. I've never seen her in the water bowl on these occasions.

I guess if the environment where you are is regularly hot then as far as I can see you either need to install some cooling system (eg aircon) in the room where the enclosures are - or keep snakes that are happy with the temps.

Do your snakes seem distressed by the heat?

 

[gbskda]

Hi grahamh, thanks for your input I have thought about using computer fans to do the same thing as you.
Can you tell me what sort of fans you use as that my help my cause as for installing aircon I don't think that would help as I live in an old Queenslander and these things end up like a sauna when the temperture gets up.
I shall email you a picture of the cage so you can get an idea of the cage.

 

[grahamh]

Hi gbskda (that's hard to spell)

The fans I used are 12volt computer fans running from a 12volt regulated power supply available from Jaycar Electronics. Fans about $12 each and power supply $20.

As I said though unless you can pull in some cold air they don't help with temperature. My main use for them was to clear out any CO2 buildup - I run them from a separate timer that recycles the air for 2 minutes every 4 hours.

 

[grahamh]

Hey Grant

that PM you sent didn't include the picture - I think there's a problem still with attachments.