Temperature Gradient

[Plissken]

Got a question on maintaining an ideal temperature gradiant. My house currently has no AC and it's been in the mid to high 80's for the last few days, yesterday hit triple digets with heat index, and I expect most of the summer will be similar here. Does anyone have a good way to keep one side of the tank cooler than the other when the whole house is so warm? Thanks.

[Sonya610]

I am sure others may have better ideas but I would consider getting a marble tile for the "cool end". Marble stays cool and pulls heat away from the body (note tile floors will warm up, but marble always seems to be cool even in 80-90 degree temps).

I do run AC (but not central) and I worry about the same thing. May head on down to Lowe's or Home Depot and pick up a couple, then stack them.

If you are tight on cash (Can't recall what marble tile costs) and you live in an area that has granite countertop or marble bathroom counter fabricators (usually small shops that cut/polish granite/marble for custom jobs) you might swing by one and ask if they have any small broken pieces that you can buy cheap (or they will probably just give you some scraps). Do a search for "Granite Kitchen Counters" in your area and you can probably find local fabricators unless you live in a small town.

[snakeman]

Unless the temps inside your house are in the 90s I wouldnt worry about it.

[Plissken]

Sounds good, thanks for the idea Sonya, and thanks for the advice snakeman.

[kibakiba]

I, too, have no ac. When it gets hot, I keep the basking lamps on (no heat) and put ice cubes in their water. Our house is always hotter than it is outside, so the ice cubes work wonders.

Once, it was 110 degrees in the house, I put an ice cube in Snakeys dish and he was actually coiled around it within a couple minutes. I feel bad not being able to give them anything but ice cubes to cool down.

[Millinex]

North American Snakes tend to do fine in these "heat waves" most of them survive just fine with no ill effects, I've kept plenty outside as a kid in triple digits and they still thrive and reproduce successfully. You're best bet is to simply keep a nice sized pan of water inside, as it helps with both humidity, and thermoregulation.

-Mike

[ConcinusMan]

And in captivity, constantly keeping them too warm, and failing to drop the temp a bit at night is often the cause of respiratory infections and lowered immunity. So is keeping their enclosure uniformly warm and not allowing them to seek warmer or cooler areas as they see fit.

[Plissken]

Thanks concinnus, thats what I'm concerned about. Do you have any suggestions?

[RdubSnider]

Do you have a basement you can use? If so you can still control your temperature desires for the snake. If not then keep them on the first floor in a room that maybe has a fan in the window. Also like the person theater suggested the marble tile. That marble will cool back down during the night if a window is left open. In the heat though like Tom said the most important thing is never letting Your snake(s) run out of water.

[ConcinusMan]

Thanks concinnus, thats what I'm concerned about. Do you have any suggestions?

Sure. Normally I would suggest light without heat such as that from a florescent tube so that it shines in the tank. Also I would suggest doing whatever it takes to get low 70's on one end, upper 80's on the other end.

If your house is getting hot during the summer, just keep the the enclosure away from heat sources, keep them in the coolest place you can find. The coldest part of the enclosure shoudn't exceed 78 F. Ideally. However, the snakes will probably be just fine if the coolest part doesn't exceed 92 F. They can survive higher of course, but it would be stressful for them. A nice large water basin is a good idea and you could also add ice cubes to it a few times a day.:cool:

Just keep in mind a general guideline of 86 degrees. To them, that feels like 72 does to us. They should have access to cooler, but they can tolerate higher especially if it's only temporary or seasonal. If the coolest place they can go exceeds 94 degrees F, I would get very concerned. During weather like that, garter snakes would normally seek shelter underground where it can be as much as 20 degrees cooler.

[Didymus20X6]

I noticed in your pics in the other thread that you have a swimming pool for your snaky. Trust me, if he gets too warm, he'll take advantage of it. You could put a brick in the middle of the pool, and if he wants to just have a nice cool place to rest, that would be perfect.

[Sonya610]

You could also use cold packs (the plastic freezable packs they use to keep items cold during shipping, they are reusable just keep freezing them). Since they are flat (if you freeze them that way) they could be laid under a tile or a water dish and they would probably last all day. You could even put a few under the tank on the "cool side", hopefully you do have a thermometer to monitor temps.

It is easier than ice, lasts longer and doesn't melt into a soggy mess. If you have a piece of foam insulation you could cut it to the size of the tank, put the packs under the glass and the insulation below, that would probably last for quite some time.

[ConcinusMan]

Even the gel packs will "sweat" (condensation) if your humidity is correct so I suggest putting them into the water or at least set it in dish to catch the water that comes off of them.