moist hideout or nesting? Help

[Urban_M86]

:headbang: I just bought the Exo Terra Snake Cave that supously adds humidity to the tank but i dunno if its ok to have it in the hot part of the tank thx (there is humid moss inside of the cave)

 

[Urban_M86]

http://www.exo-terra.com/en/products/snake_cave.php

product info,
i bought the large cave

 

[Nanci]

I want one of those so much!!! Well, actually one for everyone! I want 25 of those so much!!! I'd put it on the cool side.

 

[Urban_M86]

so it will be better in the cold side? wodent it get to cold?

 

[Urban_M86]

will the moisture in the moss will evaporize cuz of the heat?

 

[bitsy]

It's better for the snake to spend longer periods of time at the cool end - most of mine choose to, anyway. It's actually overheating that's more dangerous. I'd go with putting it on the cool side as well.

Yess, the moisture will slowly evaporate. You'll need to keep it moist by re-wetting the moss now and again.

Just make sure that your snake doesn't spend all its time in there, as being damp all the time can lead to problems like fungal growth and scale rot. It might be worth rationing it to the week or two before its due to shed (the time when they're most likely to need raised humidity).

 

[sweet~nichole~marie]

It's better for the snake to spend longer periods of time at the cool end - most of mine choose to, anyway. It's actually overheating that's more dangerous. I'd go with putting it on the cool side as well.

Yess, the moisture will slowly evaporate. You'll need to keep it moist by re-wetting the moss now and again.

Just make sure that your snake doesn't spend all its time in there, as being damp all the time can lead to problems like fungal growth and scale rot. It might be worth rationing it to the week or two before its due to shed (the time when they're most likely to need raised humidity).

This is a bit off-topic, but wouldn't it sort of be a mal-adaptive trait for a snake not to recognize it was growing fungus on it and developing scale rot? You would think that like the whole heating/cooling mechanism that lets them know when to adjust body temp, there would be a similar instict to say "too much moisture, need to go dry out" . . . .

The only thing about being on the cool side I would worry about is since it is wet inside, it could chill the snake too much. Is it big enough to put half on the warm side and half on the cool side?

 

[Rich in KY]

I use a homemade moist hide all the time. During the time between sheds, I put dry paper towels in the hide. My snakes all seem to love the hides and spend most of their time inside them.

I keep the hides on the warm side. But they sit on top of the aspen and the heat from the mat doesn't really reach the hide.

 

[bitsy]

wouldn't it sort of be a mal-adaptive trait for a snake not to recognize it was growing fungus on it and developing scale rot? You would think that like the whole heating/cooling mechanism that lets them know when to adjust body temp, there would be a similar instict to say "too much moisture, need to go dry out" . . . .

Well it happened to one of mine, so I'd have to say from personal experience that they don't notice when they're developing scale rot and they don't take the necessary corrective action i.e. staying out of the moist hide. Perhaps it's just one of those situations peculiar to captivity that they haven't yet developed an instinct for?

I guess it's the same sort of problem that means they can sit on an over-heated surface until they sustain burns, rather than moving off of it as soon as they reach their optimum temperature or begin to experience physical damage.

 

[sweet~nichole~marie]

Well it happened to one of mine, so I'd have to say from personal experience that they don't notice when they're developing scale rot and they don't take the necessary corrective action i.e. staying out of the moist hide. Perhaps it's just one of those situations peculiar to captivity that they haven't yet developed an instinct for?

I guess it's the same sort of problem that means they can sit on an over-heated surface until they sustain burns, rather than moving off of it as soon as they reach their optimum temperature or begin to experience physical damage.

Good point . . . they have a lot more territory and variability in the wild so it is unlikely that they spend as much time in one "hide" as they do in captivity, so there has been no need to weed out that trait, or lack thereof.