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Cazador · 12-02-2006, 12:46 PM

Temperature:
As far as the entire tank being too cool, you can try moving your incandescent light more toward the center of the pen. You should be able to find a good temperature range by doing this.

If that doesn't do the trick, you can add a small heating mat to the cool side of the tank, and move the light back to one end. Then you'd have mat and light on one side of the tank and just the small mat on the other side. Unplug the second mat during the summer. Be sure to move a reliable thermometer around in the pen, so you know what temperature your snakes experience at both ends.

Mites:
Since they're in the same cage, you can make sure about the mites by wiping both of them down with a damp, white paper towel. If either have mites, you'll be able to see them crawling around on the paper towel. You can also temporarily replace the water bowl with a white kitchen bowl. That makes the mites easier to see when they're floating on the water or crawling on the sides.

Brumation & behavior:
Personally, I'd put the male into brumation and continue to let the young female grow and mature over the winter without brumation. She may simply be in the water bowl because your air is becoming less humid as the temperature drops. As the temperature drops, the air is capable of holding less total moisture (even at the same relative humidity). That's why it feels more muggy at 90F and 75% relative humidity than it does at 60F and 75% relative humidity. Smaller snakes are more prone to drying out (larger surface area to volume ratio and higher mass specific metabolic rate associated with growth), so that explains why she would prefer the water bowl while he doesn't. Finally, I wouldn't want to exclude the possibility of her soaking prior to an upcoming shed. Do her scales look dull?

12-02-2006, 12:46 PM	#5 (permalink)
Cazador Moderator Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Alaska, USA Posts: 1,609 Country:	Re: hibernating snakes Temperature: As far as the entire tank being too cool, you can try moving your incandescent light more toward the center of the pen. You should be able to find a good temperature range by doing this. If that doesn't do the trick, you can add a small heating mat to the cool side of the tank, and move the light back to one end. Then you'd have mat and light on one side of the tank and just the small mat on the other side. Unplug the second mat during the summer. Be sure to move a reliable thermometer around in the pen, so you know what temperature your snakes experience at both ends. Mites: Since they're in the same cage, you can make sure about the mites by wiping both of them down with a damp, white paper towel. If either have mites, you'll be able to see them crawling around on the paper towel. You can also temporarily replace the water bowl with a white kitchen bowl. That makes the mites easier to see when they're floating on the water or crawling on the sides. Brumation & behavior: Personally, I'd put the male into brumation and continue to let the young female grow and mature over the winter without brumation. She may simply be in the water bowl because your air is becoming less humid as the temperature drops. As the temperature drops, the air is capable of holding less total moisture (even at the same relative humidity). That's why it feels more muggy at 90F and 75% relative humidity than it does at 60F and 75% relative humidity. Smaller snakes are more prone to drying out (larger surface area to volume ratio and higher mass specific metabolic rate associated with growth), so that explains why she would prefer the water bowl while he doesn't. Finally, I wouldn't want to exclude the possibility of her soaking prior to an upcoming shed. Do her scales look dull?