heating cage.....really neccary?

[louis]

Corns need a good 75-80 degree margain for heat. You don't really need a bulb for that. I mean as long as you don't keep it out side shouldn't everyone's houses be about the same temputare? It doen't really matter if you live in Canada or Florida shouldn't your houses be heated?

[Iris]

Well I don't know about you but during the winter, the temperature in my house doesn't reach anywhere near 85ºF. We keep our thermostat at about 68º which is NOT the optimal temp for snake digestion. And just b/c our themostat is at 68º doesn't mean that the house and everything in it IS actually 68º. It's usually colder. That's why I keep that heat pad plugged in, to provide that extra "hot spot" so that my snake will be able to digest properly.
Also, what if the heating breaks? Recently, for 3 days our heating wasn't working and the temps reached the 50's. Lucky for my snake, he had his handy dandy heat pad so that he could keep warm and digest his meal. (My mom and I both got sick:(..)
So I think that in New York, at LEAST during the fall, winter, and spring, an extra heat source IS necessary. Unless of course you do the whole brumation thing during the winter.

[monna62]

Hi, everyone, I have just read the new post here. I have my thermostate at 72 deg most of the year, here in WV (except summer of course). What do I do if the power goes off in the winter? I don't have a genertor for electricty. All I have is a kersone heater. Will the fumes hurt my snake if I put him/her close enough to stay warm? Or do I take a chance and put him in the sleeping bag with me? I would be afraid I would roll on him in my sleep! I am terrible about rolling, just ask my husband:) Any way just a thought, I want to be as prepared as possible.
Thanks,

[jim]

their whole room is heated. the temperature in their room fluctuates from about 72 degrees to a high of about 85 degrees. i have a propane tent heater to use if the power goes out but have used a propane lantern before. (don't know about kerosene but propane burns pretty cleanly) have fun!!! ---jim

[monna62]

I have a propane lantern that should work. I could always go to my neighbors house, they have wood heat, and might not mind my friend :) I will have to ask. The other neighbors little girl, was over the other day, and I told her I liked snakes, I thought she was going to die. Her mother it turns out is deathly afraid of snakes. I told her my mother was too, but when you learn about something it would make you less afraid. She took the info, but I still don't know if she will visit me when my friend (snake) gets here.

[abell82]

If they are big enough, you could just brumate them through winter and then you would not need worry about power outages.

[Darin Chappell]

I brumate all of my snakes in the winter (young ones too, after all--they're outside in the wild when they're young, right?). I do this to get them all good and cycled, cut down on the feeding bill, and cut down on my heating bill. If I actually had a power outage, the good propane heater would come out of the shed and do the trick for all of us (people and snakes)!


I'm not a newbie anymore! Actually, I've been on the boards for what seems like forever, and I was getting pretty tired of some of you real newbies posting so much and making me look like a slacker. Well, I'm still a slacker, but I'm not a newbie slacker anymore!

Darin

[fsqwert]

What's wrong with you, Iris??? I thought that everybody kept their house at 85 degrees...LOL :laugh:

[MegF.]

You're hardly a slacker Darin! I wish I had a snake room that I could keep at 85, but alas, my snake room is my guest room, so it stays at the same temps that everyone else gets.....which is exactly too cool for digestion. UTH works great.

[hemolymph]

When It's cold, I do. However.. now that it's summer.. my house is a roast pot. It's always hotter in here than it is out side !
It gets way too hot when I use heat pads in the summer under my snakes cage, but when it's cooler in the summer I use a small heat pad on one side of the cage for digestion.

[swingswing2007]

Just wanted to ask (since we are on the subject)... What do you do to cool off your snake room during brumation?

Thanx.