Too hot or too cold?

[antsterr]

What is more likely to cause a corn snake to throw up, a too hot of hot end of the cage (90 or so) or too cold of a cold end (65 or so)?
I do feel like a bit of a noob asking this question. I have been breeding corn snakes on a small scale four over six years and have only recently ran into this problem. But I really don't know the answer and I know many of you will.
For years my record was squeaky clean, not a single regurg from any of my snakes. Now in the last two months I've had eight of them from six different snakes. The problem is only occurring in my juvenile rack.
This is a 15 cell rack with plastic shoe box tubs. The temperature is controlled by a dimmer switch and strips of flexwatt under the back 4 inches of cage.
I adjust it from time to time but for the last two months the weather has been up and down, cold and warm and trying to keep up with that is getting really hard.
Anyway, on a daily basis the indoor temps can fluctuate between 60 and 85 degrees. As a result I've measured the hot spots as high as 90 and the cold spots as low as 65. Now, assuming temperatures are the likely cause of the regurgitating going on, is it more likely the heat or the cold?
I can take measures to fix this but I need to know which extreme end of the temperature variance is more likely the problem.

 

[bitsy]

I'm afraid either extreme will interfere with digestion. From what I've seen in mine, Corns seem more susceptible generally to temps which are too high and are more reslient at the lower end of the range. However, I'm not sure whether this holds true for digestion as my only regurges have been due to food size increases or general poor condition, and digestion is a process which needs heat.

If you swap from a dimmer switch to a thermostat, that should resolve the issue of temp fluctuations. Bear in mind that once you have the temps sorted, you might find that there's another factor at the root of the problem.

 

[antsterr]

Oh I hope it's nothing else. I've been using the munson plan for feeding, but everyone throwing up has been right after moving up to fuzzes, each of which are being weighed against the corn they are being fed to to ensure good size ratios.
Well, I'll be on watch for any other symptoms. If this problem persists on these guys next feeding (wait ten days, I know) I'll be running off to the vet, no waisting time. I lost one guy this year to sickness (regurges were not part of that) in part because I delayed on getting to the vet.

 

[bitsy]

but everyone throwing up has been right after moving up to fuzzes

If they don't throw up on the old food, but they do on the new size - there's your answer. I'd say that's a cue that they're not ready to move up and that it's not a heat problem at all. I'd go back to the previous food size for a few months.

The Munson Plan is pretty aggressive - I tend to feed much less and increase food size slower. Not all Corns are ready to move up at the point stated on the Plan.

 

[antsterr]

Well, that's good news and bad news. On one hand, yay, it's less likely a health issue. On the other hand, I'm out of pinkies and have a hundred fuzzies.