How cold is too cold

I'd have to pretty much agree with everyone else here. If you live in Indiana and your house/apartment doesn't have heat because you can't afford to heat your house...well...I think you need to look after your own health and get that taken care of before taking on a pet. I lived in Indiana for 22 years; it's going to be a long winter, indeed, if your place of residence does not have heat.

If you can't afford to take care of yourself then you don't need to add pets to the mix! Cut out your internet access and use the money for heat!

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Originally Posted by rjk890

Build a 5 sided plywood box, with an open front.
Insulate it with a few layers of cardboard(about 3/4",) and then drywall the inside of it.
The finished inside dimensions should be about 6' wider, and 6" longer than the tank itself, and should be about 12" taller.
Build a frame for the front out of 1"x2"'s and put plexiglass on both sides of the frame, like a storm window.
Use a soldering needle to burn about 25 holes in the top of one side of plexiglass, and 25 holes in the bottom of the other side of plexiglass.

You could use a hope chest, cabinet, closet, or whatever you can think of, instead of building the box.

Basically, put the tank in a ventilated "incubator" that can be climate contolled with a lightbulb.

If you can not do something like this, then you really should consider trying to rehome your pet. It is only the first week of October and it is going to get a lot colder over the next 4 1/2 months.

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Thank you for your post. I was looking for suggestions and not to be rubbed into the ground because I don't have heat.

I purchased my snake last June not thinking about my house in the winter. I would really like to try and make it work before letting my sister take my snake.

@seeya205, yes I would much rather pay for my internet then to pay for heat but that is just me. I can keep warm no problem I have been doing it for many years.

what size habitat does your snake have? what type of heating are you using for it all together? maybe try some ceramic heaters. or some way to cover the openings to lock in more heat. im not going to bash your for not having heat cuz i dont really turn mine on til its super cold yet at the same time your pet is dependant on you for survival right now. so if money is tight, which it often is for lots of people... id find alternative housing during the winter for your snake.

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Originally Posted by stealthk7gsxr

what size habitat does your snake have? what type of heating are you using for it all together? maybe try some ceramic heaters. or some way to cover the openings to lock in more heat. im not going to bash your for not having heat cuz i dont really turn mine on til its super cold yet at the same time your pet is dependant on you for survival right now. so if money is tight, which it often is for lots of people... id find alternative housing during the winter for your snake.

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I have a 10 gallan tank. I have a rather large UTH as it cover a little over half the bottom and a heat lamp on the warm side. I put in a higher wattage bulb. I'm now using a 75 watt bulb and was using a 40 watt bulb. I have the top covered completely except for a small place where the heat lamp is to allow fresh air. I have half the top covered using a wet towel to help with humidity and the rest is covered with aluminum foil.

Right now the temp inside the hide is 93 deg. Ambient warm side is 84 and ambient cold side is 73. Humidity is 49%. I use an acurite to measure temps.

It has been raining most of today so the humidity is higher than normal plus it is 60 outside right now and 64 inside my house.

I'm looking into getting some insulation board. If that don't work when it is really cold in here then my sister is going to take my snake for the winter.

I agree with tthe other special when it colder and money tighter feeding the snake will be an issue
a work around for the heat ispossible I know my desktop stays on almost 24/7 the power supply flow air out at about 99 degrees. get some dryer ducting and use this ro move the warm air into the insulated box for the snake it won't fix al lte problem like humidity but the heated air could buy you some time.


I rather give u the 23 snakes I got ( and clost ot 2-3 grand in supplies) than risk their health during the winter.

You will save yourself a lot of money and trouble in the long run. If you just buy a small space heater and stick it in a closet along with your snake. Space heaters really don't suck that much energy you could probably heat your entire bedroom.

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Originally Posted by casper

Thank you for your post. I was looking for suggestions and not to be rubbed into the ground because I don't have heat.

I purchased my snake last June not thinking about my house in the winter. I would really like to try and make it work before letting my sister take my snake.

@seeya205, yes I would much rather pay for my internet then to pay for heat but that is just me. I can keep warm no problem I have been doing it for many years.

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You prefer to pay for internet solely for your enjoyment rather than putting the heat on when it will get 20F or less in your home mid-winter? Your animal will NOT survive those temperatures, you may, but it will not.
I'm sorry, but if your not willing to make price cuts for your animal, then you don't deserve to have one at all.
Please re-consider re-homing your animal.. if anything just give it to your sister for the winter months.

We are rubbing you into the ground because what your doing is on the edge of negligence abuse, and your animal may die if it's not already ill.

BPs are fairly hardy. I told a story on this forum about a guy that stands outside the local supermarket with his 2 BPs in 40 degs. and he houses them in a 60 deg basement with just a heat lamp.
Minimum, providing heat the old school way with your heat lamp will do. Its not ideal and it drys up your humidity. I do not recommend this though .
I know old schoolers that Heat lamp, water bowl and throw a mouse in every 10 days and they'll be fine philosophy. And theyre bps are 20 yrs old.

That being said i'm on the other end where i actually measure the snakes body temp in addition to they're hot spot with a temp gun on a regular basis.

What an interesting puzzle--I think the only way to get away with something like this is to do what one poster suggested--build a larger insulated box to put the cage inside, and then heat the inside of the box. It's still a huge risk, and temperatures will go up and down in extremes, and it will be difficult to keep the temp inside stable. I just can't recommend it.

It would be much safer to re-home the animal, temporarily. If you were to lose power even momentarily, the snake could quickly be killed. They tend to start dying when temps drop below 60F. I lost a ball some time ago when it escaped from its cage, and tragically decided to hide in a closet that was poorly insulated--the low temperatures in the closet killed it, even though the rest of the house was over 70F, and the closet interior must have been well above freezing.

These guys are equatorial animals and while they're widely considered to be hardy, they're definitely not COLD-hardy. I got a few RIs in the spring last year just from lowering the heat tape to 80F at night for a month for the breeding season. You can't play around with the heat on ball pythons--folks aren't being overcautious, here--they really cannot take cold at all.

If you aren't willing to pay for even a small, efficient space heater, then this snake cannot live with you over the winter. There's no way you can keep it safely warm.