How to keep the temperature up at night?

[bigjoediver]

I put a small blanket over the top and front of my enclosures, helps keep the heat in. If you are really keen you could make custom insulated covers.

 

[Tobe404]

Just keep the hide directly over the heat source. This usually does the trick for me.
Even with only a 7 watt heat mat. Just make sure the hide trapts the heat in well.
All of my Snakes are still eating and all the rest of it just fine..

 

[longqi]

The hides we usually provide are not good at retaining heat

Wild snakes survive 0C in places like the Blue Mountains
They do this by jamming themselves into the warmest, thickest cover they can find
Usually thick walled hollow logs etc
These retain heat from even winter sun quite well
They are by far the best option for wintering snakes outside

But by the same token
Darwins or Jungles would probably not survive a Melbourne winter outside without heating
Yet Diamonds probably would if the hides were good

 

[smileysnake]

ok just thought i would throw my two cents worth in..most snakes are nocturnal right...i dont know about you lot but i like to just sit there in front of my snakes enclosure and watch him move around of a night,dont get to see him much in the day time...so for this purpose i use an infrared lamp that is 75w so i can see him slithering around all night, this also adds a little bit of heat for him at night which most of you probably know about....i have it on a dimmer switch so during the day i just turn it right down rather than on/off every day which shortens the life of the lamp..other than that the temps still get down to about 20c of a night and my snake is still healthy and still eats like a pig......15 months old Bredli growing like a champ.....

 

[ronhalling]

Hi Ron I agree with the way you have been keeping your coastal. I know the breeder I picked my coastal up from never used night heat however as u have been doing she did crank it all day. I have a question though, do u still feed? during the colder months? the daytime heat would be enough for digestion wouldn't it. im going to heat my guy day and night however he has a tall enclosure so he can choose his preferred temp

Hi MRB Our girl has never wanted to Brumate and still sits in front of her enclosure in the Cobra stance (you know the one that makes us all smile) telling us it is time for food every 14-18 days regardless of season/temps, she gets her 200-300gm rat when she demands it. my daytime heat is set at 34deg from 0700hrs-2000hrs april to sept and 0700hrs-1700hrs sept-april. I would like it if she was to Brumate as i have deduced from reading and talking to the herp vet that their life expectancy in captivity is more if they Brumate every year, i love this girl so much that i would like as many years with her as i can, but i have decided that i would rather her be happy than try and force her into Brumation. And yes she has no probs with digestion at that temp, poops and sheds like clockwork...................................Ron

 

[Bananapeel]

My snake has a globe above a shelf and a heatcord under a tile below the shelf for heat. The globe stays on from about 8ish as I go to school then till about 4. The actual air temp stays at about 26-28 at the moment (Melbourne) and down the cool end it sits fairly low at 22-24 while the lit is on. At night the cord remains on but provides pretty much no heat for ambient temps so the air temp at mug gets as low as my room gets. Soo I guess lowest would be 10-12 and max at the moment 16. So yes my snake has a warm surface for night but not much else. I cover my enclosure with a blanket at the moment to keep in the heat that the globe provided. I am about to purchase a CHE though as I'm just a bit worried for when winter really hits. Tha wil hang on the bottom of the shelf so it won't make a basking spot as its too far b will keep a warm air temp and heat rises so I didn't want it at the top. Hopefully this will give me a perfect set of options and a great result I am always a not worried about cold nights but they an survive more than we give them credit for. I am also about to build a nice warm hide which will have a base so I can fill in with some wood shavings or something similar.

I also plan to lower the night temps and baski periods over winter, not for breeding but it's beneficial and good I guess. So that will start soon. I'll slowly reduce basking time and night temps will gradually drop until I will completely rid the enclosure of night heat or maybe keep the cord on a low temp. Assuming it doesn't get to freezing over night

 

[wokka]

How do you keep the temperature up?

Like most of the previous posts i dont think your winter nightime temperatures are a problem. Adding your location to your profile can be useful when asking for advice. If you want to "keep the temperatures up" you can eaither provide a higher wattage heat source or retain the heat you have by insulating the cage. Glass and plastic are poor insulators. Wood or even cardboard is not too bad. Reducing air movement by reducing vents can help.

 

[Pythonlovers]

Just wondering why don't any of you heat at night? I heat at night but I have night/day thermos so it drops down to 27 (gtps).

 

[Bananapeel]

Pretty much replicates their natural environment. Temps drop at night in most places. Also as winter comes in some done heat at night for breeding and some don't because it can be good for them and replicates what would happen in winter. Cold nights, shorter days therefore shorter basking periods. They can survive quite cold temps.
Not sure about gtp's though. Not sure if they need warmer nights?... Sorry

 

[Striker]

Aren't the heating requirements also going to vary depending on the species being kept in conjunction with the location? For example keeping something like an Olive versus a Diamond? I would have thought an Olive would need some sort of heating at night if it was being housed somewhere colder?

 

[Tobe404]

Just wondering why don't any of you heat at night? I heat at night but I have night/day thermos so it drops down to 27 (gtps).

I have the heat on 24/7 (32-34c) for all my Pythons.
Only time I would ever switch it off/drop the temp is down the track when I have a go at breeding.

 

[Bananapeel]

I reduce basking time in the day and reduce heat at night during winter. I'm not breeding but it replicates environment and is beneficial to them (not necessary but still) plus the bonus of less power over winter. I still have hours of 33 degree basking spots just fewer. I leave the cord on over night if its too cold in winter but unless it gets too cold I leave it off. You don't have to. It's more a personal choice. And I don't drop change it quite as drastically as if I were to breed. I've also got a CHE to boost temps if really needed or just to put on before I go to bed then turned off to keep air temp warmer over night. Just play around with somethings and whatever works best.

 

[wokka]

I have the heat on 24/7 (32-34c) for all my Pythons.
Only time I would ever switch it off/drop the temp is down the track when I have a go at breeding.

It probably depends who is paying for the power. It seems a waste to use power that is not needed

 

[Bananapeel]

Unless its young. Like younger than a yearling. I'd be keeping 24/7 heat. Otherwise as wokka said and as I mentioned in my earlier post, it's just not necessary heat. And waste of money. And it's good for the snakes anyway

 

[Pythonlovers]

Fair enough! I thought it would have to do with that, and yeah gtp need warmer nights seeing at there a lot further up that any others species.
i know that breeding you need too but I was just curious why people do it all year is all, plus mum pays for power and she hasn't complained yet haha

 

[Starter]

HELP! I worry, too, how to keep my brand-new python snakes at the right temperature

you could always up the wattage of your bulb/heat emitter OR just leave it, from what ive learnt on here a lot of people don't even heat at night! as long as it has warmth for digestion during the day.

... at the moment, our new snakes are lovingly treated just as any puppies or kittens would be in our home - as these are the types of animals that we have bred by now, as well as pet mice, pet rats and pet rabbits (who have now turned into "food") ... Sorry, we are really brandnew and totally unexperienced in snakes! This means that we took all the snakes indoors when it got cold at nights, and we cuddled and petted them a lot on the couch at Saturday night movie time and gave them as much body conact as possible - and they actually really seem to love contact to human skin and cuddled up underneath our clothes. I only wonder what we need to do if we don't want to have them under our pyjamas any more (especially, as I don't want any of our kittens or puppies to get eaten while I am thinking that I am still snuggling a snake in my bed ...)

I am very worried that three of the four new snakes still refuse to eat - I have offered them rats of different sizes and warmed them up in a plastic bag in a bowl of hot water, to make them smell fresh - but 3 of my 4 new snakes just won't accept them. That is my biggest worry right now - how to feed them!

The warmth comes next. I don't know much about wattages of bulbs etc. - Could someone please just tell me what to do next? Someone recently said, the UV light is not so urgent, so let's leave that aside. I have hung up heat emitting bulbs in each of my 4 new snake enclosures. However, those bulbs have different "wattages" and some emit light - infrared or purple or white - and some don't, they only emit heat.

Some of them - like the ones classified as 25W - seem to emit very little heat only, certainly not worth the $20 I paid for one of them. (My human skin certainly does better than that compared to those bulbs.) But the much more expensive 150W bulb, which I attached to the cable in my outdoor enclosure, immediately blew up and was destroyed as soon as I turned the power on. I have no electrician at hand and no knowledge in that field, so could you please just tell me what it takes to provide a snake with the right heat at winter time? Especially fo my 2 new girls, I would really prefer to get an enclosure perfectly set up for their winter sleep (brumation) rather than carrying them around under my clothes all day, every day.

 

[Striker]

Get yourself a infrared temp gun to measure temps at various points around the enclosure. Make a basking spot directly below globe(s). These should be the warmest spot. Don't get hung up on wattages. As long as the temperature is reaching your desired temp buy the lowest wattage globe that will give you that temp. And you shouldn't be paying 20 bucks a globe. Reflector globes from a hardware store or supermarket will do.

Actually starter, if your snakes aren't eating you might need to get a bit more detailed advice on the setup of your enclosures. 9 times out of 10 it will be temp, heating issues. Its good your getting some advice here.maybe some pics would help.