Marnie's Snakes

[EasternGirl]

Thanks, Steve.....I guess I'll just be watching the poo...

[EasternGirl]

This crazy weather...the up and down temperature nonsense, is really starting to pose a problem with my snakes. This morning, I didn't turn their lamps on because it has been so hot, and it was supposed to get really warm again today, and then by mid-afternoon I checked on them and they were all cold because the stupid temperature had never gone up outside. Then, I turned their lamps on and went out for a while in the late afternoon, and it got really warm, and I came home and all of the enclosures were very warm and I had to quickly shut the lamps off again. I have to constantly check the temps in the tanks because I have no idea what the weather is doing...I'm afraid if I leave for a while with the lamps on or off, it could get too cold or too warm for them! I guess I'm just going to have to lower all of the thermostats and hope for the best.

[chris-uk]

Eh? If you have the lamps on thermostats doesn't that keep the temps constant for them even if the room temp varies?

[InsanePirateDragon]

Having that same problem out here in KS as well. It reached into the 80s and today its barely into the 70s.

[EasternGirl]

Chris, it does...I just think that they seem to like the temps higher in the winter and cooler in the summer...obviously...so now I'm just having trouble with this inbetween time in the seasons...it's a little too warm out for them to need the lamps on 86 degrees I think...but it's not warm enough for me to shut the lamps of completely and have the temps in the house keep the tanks warm enough...so I think I just need to turn the thermostats down to shut off at 80 or something...if I am making any sense. Am I making any sense?

Anyway...Possum did the cutest thing tonight...I sat him down in the feed tank to eat and he started eating while he was wrapped around my fingers....he is such a sweetie! Then he dodges at his food and attacks it like he is wrestling an alligator for a meal...he is so funny. He thinks he is a big tough cobra or something and he is really the sweetest snake in the world.

[EasternGirl]

It's official...I'm in love with Possum. He is without a doubt, the sweetest snake I have ever met. I hope he lives for a long time.

[guidofatherof5]

Isn't it wonderful when one of those special snakes come into your life.

[chris-uk]

Chris, it does...I just think that they seem to like the temps higher in the winter and cooler in the summer...obviously...so now I'm just having trouble with this inbetween time in the seasons...it's a little too warm out for them to need the lamps on 86 degrees I think...but it's not warm enough for me to shut the lamps of completely and have the temps in the house keep the tanks warm enough...so I think I just need to turn the thermostats down to shut off at 80 or something...if I am making any sense. Am I making any sense?

So... When the external temperature is higher, you need to turn down the temperature in the vivs? If the tanks are thermostated you just use the stat to maintain the same temps. I've read about seasonal variation to mimic the seasons, but that would be increased temps in the summer...

Anyway...Possum did the cutest thing tonight...I sat him down in the feed tank to eat and he started eating while he was wrapped around my fingers....he is such a sweetie! Then he dodges at his food and attacks it like he is wrestling an alligator for a meal...he is so funny. He thinks he is a big tough cobra or something and he is really the sweetest snake in the world.

Sounds like a great snakes every time you post.

[EasternGirl]

I think I am just not used to using thermostats...that may be the problem. I need to get used to the idea of them. I think I am just feeling the warm temps in the house and feeling hot myself and worrying that the snakes are getting hot...I have to remember that the thermostat is on to control the temps. I still lowered the setting on the thermostats...I set them to shut off at 83 instead of 86...I just don't think they need it so hot right now and I guess my worry is what is controlling the temps on the cool side? If the probe for the thermostat is on the warm side of the tank...then it senses if the warm side gets to 83 and shuts off...but what about the cool side of the tank? Won't that get warmer if the room is warmer? You can't really turn the cool side of the tank down. Also...say you have a lamp on the warm side and the warm side hits 84...the lamp is going to shut off...but then say the house gets so warm that the tank starts to get really warm just from the heat inside the house? Then it doesn't matter what the thermostat does...it can't control the heat in the house...do you know what I'm saying?

[EasternGirl]

The difference in the personalities of albinos...

Or could it have to do with Hermes being an albino and Possum being a snow? I don't know. What I have observed though is that Possum likes light...he likes to be out in the daytime and he likes it when I turn a light on. I have a lamp with a 40 watt bulb set up next to his enclosure, and when it is dim in the room, I turn the light on for him and he becomes very active. He is extremely active and is out a lot. Like Hermes, he likes to be up in hanging plants, and he likes to bask under the red light. I do have a red light on over the warm side of his enclosure. Now, as I have said before...Hermes is completely nocturnal. He does not come out during the day...he does not like any light. He only comes out during the night when it is very dark. He hides a lot. He is active for a while during the night...and he will go up into his hanging plant and bask for a while under his red light during the night, but he is rarely out and active during the day.