snakes and heat

i have a question. we just got our snake yesterday. he's a 2 ft ball python, very pretty. i get that they like heat, but i live in florida and we have no air conditioning at the moment. ( new trailor needs work) do i still need a heating source for him during the day when the temps reach 90 degrees? i would think not, but i wanted to ask. i dont want to have his heat light on while im sitting on my couch sweating. lol. id feel bad if he got hotter than me.

Well heat lights are not ideal for snakes anyways, belly heat is better for them. If you are concerned you could always get an under tank heater connected to a thermostat and keep it on a low setting. The ambient temps you clearly won't have an issue with, but you really should get some sort of cooling because even 90+ degree ambient for them is a little hot.

Edit: I'm not 100% sure about all this, hoping someone with experience in keeping snakes without UTH chimes in...I do know that overheating can cause permanent neurological damage...

the single most important thing is that the temperatures for the ball python are within the acceptable temperature gradient. When I say gradient I don't mean that the entire cage can be somewhere in the middle of 75-90. It means that the cage should have one end around 75 and another end around 90. Your snake needs to have the ability to cool down or warm up by moving itself to either end. That being said, there are many ways to achieve this, and many people on here have particular opinions. If the whole trailer gets to 90, then the snake has no means of cooling itself as needed. When will your A/C be fixed? And no, do not use a heating element on a snake that is already at 90

I've always used a heat lamp for my ball python. Seems to be working

also, if you need to make a "quick fix" to the temps in your cage, get plastic water bottle. If you need to cool the cage down fill the bottle with cold water and place on the cool end. It will absorb the heat. Warm water on the warm end to heat up the tank. This is a VERY temporary solution

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Originally Posted by tbear6385

i have a question. we just got our snake yesterday. he's a 2 ft ball python, very pretty. i get that they like heat, but i live in florida and we have no air conditioning at the moment. ( new trailor needs work) do i still need a heating source for him during the day when the temps reach 90 degrees? i would think not, but i wanted to ask. i dont want to have his heat light on while im sitting on my couch sweating. lol. id feel bad if he got hotter than me.

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i too live in florida and my snakes are in my gerage.temps been 90+ outside and in the gerage/shade is mid 80's or upper 80's.i also have a fan circlating the air.heat pads have been off for over a month and the snake are eating fine,and looking perfect.as long as they have a big bowl of fresh water they will be fine.if you have a fan on you and just relaxing you'll be just about comfortable.

It also looks like you have him in an aquarium. Be careful with this as if the trailer is 90 degrees inside of the aquarium is probably much warmer. They act like a green house. Also make sure your aquarium is no where near a window. It will warm it up even more.

We started in an aquarium but it was just too hard to regulate. Good luck ! And keep your self cool ;).