Cold?!?

Ever since we set up our cooler for the summer (we have an evaporative cooler) I have been having a terrible time keeping Athena's viv warm enough, and I really don't know what's going on because the viv isn't really very close to a vent or anything like that. However, hubby left the cooler on last night and when I got up this morning it was 65 in the house and in that viv it was 75 on the WARM side. My other viv and rack were 81/82 on the warm sides, but I figured that's okay for overnight. But I'm worried that 75 is dipping down too cold? It was 67 on the cool side. I don't think the UTH is dying on me, as when the cooler is not on it'll be about 85 on the warm side in there. I have an UTH stuck to a tile that I sometimes lean against the side of the tank but I have to be careful as if I don't watch it the temp will spike over 90 real quick. I tried unplugging the UTH on the tank and just using the one on the side, but then it wasn't heating it over 80. It's very strange, and this tank is the only one I'm having any real trouble with.

Anyway, my question is - is 75 to 80ish on the warm side consistently too chilly for my girl? I think it is but the only other thing I can think to try is just to move the viv and see if it's just getting some strange draft from the cooler. I'd rather not do that, but will if I need to.

Thanks!

P.S. Just for fun I attached a pic of Athena in her viv, performing for an "audience" - LOL she seems to really enjoy teasing my cat!

Colubrids will do just fine at temps in the upper 70s. Night time temp drops are normal and natural. I have intentionally keep several animal inside with no heat for the entire summer. The average temperature was 76-78 and never exceeded 80 during the hottest part of the afternoon. The animals thrived. ate better and were more tolerant of hadling. I also never experience a single case of regurge. The results I observed from keeping colubrids under these conditions led me to lower my temps so that they don't exceed 80 during the winter and run without heat during the warm months of the year.

UTHs are designed to raise the temp inside the enclosure by approximately 10 degrees above the surrounding room's temps. This is why you are seeing the fluctuation as the day/night cycle changes.

So your experience is that your snakes do fine at temps lower than 80? That is reassuring, to say the least. So far I haven't noticed her having any problem with it, no regurges or apparent stress, but I thought I should check before she has a problem rather than after. I'll just keep an eye on her. Thanks CAV!

During the summer I don't use any extra heat either, and rarely do any other time during the year. My thermometer keeps track of high and low temps, and those for the past 8 weeks have been 71.2 degrees and 83.4. Right now it's hovering around 79 degrees. I've never had a problem with digestion or regurges or any other health problems with temps being below 80.

i personally have kept my viv at 78 at the hot end for a year now and i havent had any problems with my corn. He eats, sheds, and does everything else normally. In fact hes doing better now that its 78 rather than the 84 which i used to keep it at.