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Winter

E

edwardswyco

New member
Hi,

It's about mid-November and I'm living in NJ.

I have the heat lamp on roughly the same length of time as the normal sunlight hours.

Should I assume there will be a 'hibernation' soon? I don't want to disrupt my snake's biological cycle by disturbing him to feed him if instead I should hold back.

What's typical?

Thanks a lot!
Jason
 
edwardswyco said:
Hi,

It's about mid-November and I'm living in NJ.

I have the heat lamp on roughly the same length of time as the normal sunlight hours.

Should I assume there will be a 'hibernation' soon? I don't want to disrupt my snake's biological cycle by disturbing him to feed him if instead I should hold back.

What's typical?

Thanks a lot!
Jason
Click to expand...

Leaving the heat on is disturb the brumation .
They need it cool and dark with a change of fresh water.
I haven't brumated mine yet so I suggest doing a search on the topic.
Also a UTH is a better heat source than a heat lamp.
 
They dont need to brumate; remember corns live down south where it doesnt get cold. The main reason people brumate their corns is to breed them, but corns dont even half to be brumated to breed. You can keep the snake the same all year round.
 
DaemoNox said:
They dont need to brumate; remember corns live down south where it doesnt get cold. The main reason people brumate their corns is to breed them, but corns dont even half to be brumated to breed. You can keep the snake the same all year round.
Click to expand...

Yes this is true but, will his snake "hibernate" by itself in the winter months, and I'm assuming leaving the heat on.
 
Hi,

I have heard the opinion that the heat lamp is not as good as the other, but I didn't like that I couldn't set it to an exact temperature. All the thermostats I saw just involved a dopey dial that went from warm to hot. So until I find something reasonable with an actual temperature gauge, I want to stick with the lamp. Plus, the tank is on a dresser and there is a towel spread on top of the dresser to protect it from scrapes. I would have to move the towel and then worry that the heating pad is on bare wood and blah blah blah. A lamp doesn't bother me.

Anyway, does anyone have an opinion on my question? Would my snake hibernate or just continue how it has been going? I have no plans on breeding him.

Thanks a lot,
Jason
 
ANY heat source you use should be on a thermostat, that includes heat lamps.

Unless you are actively trying to make your snake brumate (hibernate) you can just leave the heat on. Then no, the snake won't brumate.

edwardswyco said:
A lamp doesn't bother me.
Click to expand...

This quote jumped out at me... I'm not condoning the use of lamps by any means, but I just wanted to point out that the important thing is whether it bothers the snake, not you :)
 
Haha, I know.

What I meant was that I would worry about the heating pad, whereas the lamp does not make me worry as much (fires and stuff like that).

No, my snake's comfort is very important to me. And I have been very pleased! He had his first shed (since I've had him) on Thursday last week and I was happy to see it was all in one piece!

My question about hibernation goes back to the snake's comfort. If this particular snake naturally wants to hibernate, I wanted to let him be natural. Of course, I know some animals hibernate. But if it was no harm to the snake, then I would continue to treat it as if it were summer or spring. If he was trying to fall into his natural cycle, the last thing I wanted to do would be to keep disturbing him.

Thanks.
 
You don;t need a temperature guage on a thermostat, that's what a digital thermometer with a probe is for. You do have one of those I hope.
 
Plissken
This quote jumped out at me... I'm not condoning the use of lamps by any means, but I just wanted to point out that the important thing is whether it bothers the snake, not you
What do you mean when you say a heat lamp may bother a snake? and why is it important to use a thermostat with UTH's?

Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
So long as the UTH was on a thermostat, there is basically no risk of fire (at least from overheating. ALL electrical appliances can malfunction of course.) The flammability of wood, paper and so on is WAY above any temperatures you should be heating your snake at. They're quite safe.

You should not be turning your heat source off at night is the only thing to think about. If your temperatures remain constant, your snake will not be trying to brumate. :)
 
TWGarland said:
What do you mean when you say a heat lamp may bother a snake? and why is it important to use a thermostat with UTH's?

Cheers
Click to expand...

I didn't say heat lamps bother the snake ;-) They can however dry out the atmosphere in the tank which is one of the reasons UTHs are considered better,

Having a thermostat is essential as UTHs get WAY too hot without one. An unregulated UTH can reach well over 100F and your snake can be burned, or even overheat and die. If you don't have a thermostat on your UTH, I would very strongly recommend that you get one.
 
I let the lamp turn on and off with the sunrise and sunset - every few weeks I check weather.com for the times to get it close.

In my apartment complex, they control the heat (it's included in the rent). And in the wintertime they set the heat to about 5 billion degrees at night. Once I checked the temp at night and it was still nice and cozy - not too hot or too cold. So it's not like it feels like winter in there.

Jason
 
Without a "real" thermometer, including probe (only $12 at a local Wal-Mart, KMart, Target type store), an owner has no idea how warm the tank is getting at the snake's level. And a snake should have two temperature options, even at night, esp. when a snake is digesting their latest meal.

But to answer your question... my guy is 5 yrs old and he's never offered to brumate. He does go off feed every spring or did when there was a female in the house. Not sure if he will since Lady G is gone or not.
 
edwardswyco said:
What I meant was that I would worry about the heating pad, whereas the lamp does not make me worry as much (fires and stuff like that).
Click to expand...

Gee, I think I'm the other way around.

I have a heat mat, but it's not cutting it now that the temperature has dropped. So I got a heat lamp to help warm things up.

Initially, I had nowhere to clip it onto, so I thought I could just set it down right on top of the viv (light side down). There's a sheet of pegboard there to cat-proof it, so I figured it wouldn't be all that bad. Anyway, I left it running to see how things went, and then I noticed a strange, sweet smell. Heh, it had scorched the pegboard.

So I don't think I want to leave it on when I'm not around, what with the cat and all. I know it's highly unlikely that it could actually set fire to anything, but still. The heat mat can't get knocked down; the lamp can.

I'm at home right now, waiting on the arrival of my new snake (taking Severus's place--RIP). I hope he managed OK with the weather last night. Anyway, his name is Blaise (Zabini), and he's a snow coral. Oh, and I'm open to any tips on how to tell people what he is without them thinking he's a coral snake..."He's a snow coral," I say, and they say, "Aren't they poisonous?" Ugh. I guess I should go with "coral corn" as the short form.
 
In the beginning I was worried about the lamp. It rests straight on the screen on top, away from the plastic sides or anything. I only have my snake, so I don't have anything to protect it from (animal-wise). The heat pad would be directly on the wood dresser (a dresser that's 30 years old). I don't know - there's probably nothing to worry about, but I just have to get through my worries about it.

I use a digital probe thermometer that's suction-cupped to the side of the tank, down near the bedding level. But that would tell me the temp of the glass bottom of the tank, right? That's what concerns me in case it's turned a little too much.

Jason
 
edwardswyco said:
In the beginning I was worried about the lamp. It rests straight on the screen on top, away from the plastic sides or anything. I only have my snake, so I don't have anything to protect it from (animal-wise). The heat pad would be directly on the wood dresser (a dresser that's 30 years old). I don't know - there's probably nothing to worry about, but I just have to get through my worries about it.

I use a digital probe thermometer that's suction-cupped to the side of the tank, down near the bedding level. But that would tell me the temp of the glass bottom of the tank, right? That's what concerns me in case it's turned a little too much.

Jason
Click to expand...

I'm not so sure, Jason. I had one of the gauges bought in a reptile store and posted it on the side just above the bedding level and it read 80 - 82 all the time (still does). But after reading numerous posts on here, I went out and got a indoor/outdoor digital. I lost the silly probe before I even got it in the tank... still haven't found the thing, but its here somewhere in the house....

Not wanting to go buy another one so soon, I simply set the second receiver just outside the hide on it's side and discovered that the bottom of my tank was reaching a 106 :(

I immediately set the tank up on a couple of paperback books to get it futher from the bottom of the tank and it's now staying at 82 - 87.
 
Plissken: An unregulated UTH can reach well over 100F and your snake can be burned, or even overheat and die
Click to expand...

Ok Plissken i understand that a corn could be burned by say a ceramic heater or a heat map gone ape s**t, but if the heat mat isnt hot enough to burn (even right under all the substrate) then wouldnt the snake by my understanding of thermoregulation, when it gets hot enough, just move to the cooler non heated side of the tank rather than overheating and dying?
Cheers
 
You would think that, but if a snake has to choose between "hot" and "cold" it will choose hot if it needs to digest (even if it's too hot).

You also need to measure the temps on the glass if you are using a UTH, because the snake may burrow down to the bottom.

As for the UTH being on a wooden dresser: My UTH us on a wooden shelf (well, stuck to the tank that is on the wooden shelf), and I have no problems at all. The UTH actually comes with rubber feet to place on the bottom of your tank to elevate it off of the table.

No worries about wooden shelves.
 
Hi,

What if I have a towel on the dresser to protect it from scrapes? It's probably best to remove the towel, right?

You have the same thought as I do - the temp of the glass is what I'm worrying about.

Now, doesn't the snake benefit from the UV rays of the light? The tank cannot be placed anywhere near a window.

Jason
 
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