baby snake Husbandry

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Originally Posted by starmom

Woops, sorry, I meant to answer that: because they are to young for belly heat...umbilicus and all...wind up frying the little buggers :P

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May I ask exactly where you got this information from? Is it personal experience where you accidentally fried a hatchling? If it was from your research then I would expect a link to be provided.

I have 11 hatchlings on belly heat right now. 11 perfectly healthy "un-fried" hatchlings. I'll happy post some belly pics if need be.

My experience - personal hands on daily experience - is that belly heat is fine as long as it's controlled as all flexwatt must be anyways.

I think I can answer that: Since hatchlings live in such small tubs, belly heat would most likely upset the gradient and not allow for a cool side. Therefore, back heat is used to still give a warm side but not overheat the entire tub.

At least, that's my take on it from what I've heard.

EDIT: Geez you guys type fast!! An entire page while I was writing this! :)

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Originally Posted by Argentra

I think I can answer that: Since hatchlings live in such small tubs, belly heat would most likely upset the gradient and not allow for a cool side. Therefore, back heat is used to still give a warm side but not overheat the entire tub.

At least, that's my take on it from what I've heard.

EDIT: Geez you guys type fast!! An entire page while I was writing this! :)

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Let me address this if I can.

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1) You want to create a basking area for your reptile, not a hot plate to sit on. I like to have the tape cover no more than roughly 1/3 of the floor surface area when it is used for belly heat. This will provide your animals with a nice thermal gradient so they can decide how warm they need to be.

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In most small to medium shoe and sweater boxes the 3 inch or 4 inch tape will do the job. Unless your room temperature is unusually cool you should get good results. For larger sweater or blanket box applications you would probably go with the 11" wide tape.

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These are quotes directly from Rich at Reptile Basics. This is an acknowledged expert in the field of safely heating snake enclosures. The Flexwatt FAQ page can be found here:

http://www.reptilebasics.com/Flexwatt-FAQ-sp-4.html

Now let's do some math. I have in front of me a Sterlite #1851 6qt/5.7 L hatchling box. The measurement of the bottom of this particular tub is exactly 11 and 3/4 inches (that's actual interior measurement). Now using 3" flexwatt (the recommended one for belly heat for a hatchling box) you easily have what is recommended - that being approximately 1/3 of your snake's "floorspace" heated with at least 2/3 available off heat.

That flexwatt again must be controlled by a tstat or very carefully monitored rheostat but that's good common sense and the recommendation of Rich at Reptile Basics.

This is what I do, what I know - not what I've read or heard - take that for what it's worth. :)

I stand (or rather, sit) corrected. :) I suppose back heat is just cheaper and easier, since it would be one long strip rather than a daisy chain on a rack. I had heard good and bad for both back and belly heat in hatchling racks... but I trust Rich's words.

The information has been stored. Thanks Joanna. :D

Belly heat is what I prefer for all my animals. Heat travels vertically upward, not horizontally, so back heat is not what I personally would choose to use. I've used belly heat even for my youngest and smallest ball pythons (the smallest having been about 70 grams when I acquired her). I've never fried any babies.

I plan to put my hatchlings that are due this week on belly heat as well.

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Originally Posted by Argentra

I stand (or rather, sit) corrected. :) I suppose back heat is just cheaper and easier, since it would be one long strip rather than a daisy chain on a rack. I had heard good and bad for both back and belly heat in hatchling racks... but I trust Rich's words.

The information has been stored. Thanks Joanna. :D

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I think back or belly heat is fine if you're paying attention to your enclosures/racks. We have both employed in our racks and the snakes on back heat are doing just as well as the belly heat snakes. I think problems could occur if a person builds there own rack and doesn't employ the right size flexwatt for the tubs they are heating or runs flex without a controlling device on it or doesn't have a good idea of the actual temps in their tubs. Other than that flexwatt is a proven safe heating option for a wide variety of tub sizes in both belly and back configurations.

Hmm... I'm planning to build my hatchling racks myself - for BPs (before Jan.) and for corns (in a year or two). The BP rack is going to hold 12qt rubbermaid Clear Impressions tubs without lids and will use 5 melamine shelves and 7 2x4 legs for the frame - i.e. an open rack since it's all I can afford or lift. I had intended back heat, since it would be easier and cheaper... but with the open design and a cool apartment it sounds like belly heat 3" flexwatt strips would be better if pricey. Comments?

You can still do a closed rack system. Just use a piece of hardboard for the back. A large sheet of hardboard from Home Depot is well under $20.00 and it is safe to lay flexwatt on it. When we built our two new melamine racks recently we used hardboard for the back to lessen some of the weight and I made sure and phoned Rich at ReptileBasics to confirm that is was quite safe to lay flex on it. :)