Thanks, all, for the kind comments. Here's the update. I turned the heat pad off this morning, and thought I'd leave Garty - my daughter's name for the snake - at room temp (around 68-70F) for another day, then move him/her to the warmer portion of our basement (~64F)for two days, and then move to the unheated back room (closer to 56F after more careful measurement).

Questions:

Is 56F too warm? I'm assuming that it will get colder in there as our outside temps (currently highs around 50F) drop, so it'll probably get below 55F fairly soon.

How often should I check on Garty and what am I looking for?

Any other advice to lessen the stress of the process? And what about the snake too?

Scott

PS - Drache, my girl is 4 1/2, and she's really watching me on this one, so I hope we get it right!