# Colubrids > General Colubrids >  Temps with no air conditioning

## snakemother

Hello!  I'm concerned about the temps this summer for my colubrids (2 cornsnakes, 3 graybanded kings and a hondo milk).
I don't have air conditioning, so have been alternating between no heat on the tanks or low watt heat.  But when I have the heat on they stay on the cold side.  Is it okay to leave heat off if room temp is 79F?  That's the lowest it's been in their room during the day, usually 81-82F.  
 Of course they'll have heat on when fed for digesting.
Thanks for reading, and any advice. :Smile:

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## 303_enfield

If you run a thermostat the heat only comes on when needed. Point a fan at your cages to keep the heat down. Too much heat is a bad thing.

Good luck!

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## Bogertophis

> Hello!  I'm concerned about the temps this summer for my colubrids (2 cornsnakes, 3 graybanded kings and a hondo milk).
> I don't have air conditioning, so have been alternating between no heat on the tanks or low watt heat.  But when I have the heat on they stay on the cold side.  Is it okay to leave heat off if room temp is 79F?  That's the lowest it's been in their room during the day, usually 81-82F.  
>  Of course they'll have heat on when fed for digesting.
> Thanks for reading, and any advice.


Yes, I'd just turn their heat off while the house stays so warm.  At some point in the summer, I do the same thing with most of mine, as I set my home t-stat to 80-82*, & I have 19 snakes currently- of which 5 are corn snakes & many others are rat snakes.  I also have a TX longnose snake (very similar to a king snake), a desert rosy boa & an Aussie spotted python (I leave her heat on-she's the one that needs the most warmth).  When you feed them, it might be best to bump their heat on for a couple days, but it's not really needed either if it's 80*. Good question- not to worry.  (But do make sure they don't get overheated, as noted in previous post.)

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## snakemother

Thank you so much for your replies!  I'll just keep their heat off in the summer temps.    Luckily I have them set up in a finished basement room, so the room temp stays fairly consistently between 78 - 82F. 
If it gets more than that I can bring a fan down. :Smile:

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## Bogertophis

I can't speak for your Honduran or gray-bandeds (I've never kept those specifically) but my corns prefer about 75* anyway- most of the time.  They like it cooler than many other snakes do, & I only heat (UTH) one corner of their tanks, which they avoid most of the time.  (the coolest my house gets is 70* in winter, & I don't over-use A/C in summer)

Your basement sounds pretty stable (safe).  A fan will not cool them at all though- that only works for animals that sweat- like us.  Air movement across liquid is what lowers the temperature, just so you know.  So if it really got dangerously hot, you could run a fan behind a hanging wet towel or blowing on a block of ice to lower the temperature...see?  Snakes don't sweat.   :Wink:

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## snakemother

Gotcha.  So if it gets too hot I can use the cold wet towel over the fan, or maybe some ice cubes in the waterbowls.
Thank you! :Smile:

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