Just a curiosity question about extreme temps

I got home last night and noticed one of the cages were up to 94.1, which by all means is not high, just a little higher than I like to keep it so I adjusted accordingly, but it got me thinking....Just how high is too high? and just how low is too low? And does anyone know if too low is more harmful than too high?

I honestly have no idea because I'm used to all the animals I keep being warm blooded, and I never thought of 60 degree temperatures as being low...but for a snake who is normally around 80-90, would that be detrimental to their well being? So that is 20 less than where it should be, what about 20 higher, at 110 degrees? Which is worse?

Or am I not making any sense because I just got my wisdom teeth pulled and I'm stoned on vicodin? :rolleye2:

And by the way, I'm not about to run any experiments on my snakes, and their temps are well kept, this was just totally out of curiosity

In my educated opinion... too high is 100+ and too low is anything under 72.

Realize, though, that these snakes can handle some fluctuation as long as it isn't ongoing. If the power goes out and the temp plummets, they just drop the metabolism lower. If the UTH spikes and the temps rise, they head for the other side of the tank to get away from the extreme heat. Yes, the tank still gets hot, but at least they aren't directly on the source (this is why a gradient is so important).
I believe they handle low better than high...since really high (110+) can kill them much easier and faster than really low (60).

The best ranges for them are 90-93 warm, 80-84 cool, and 75-80 ambient. That's my humble opinion. :)

Too high is definitely more dangerous than too low. A bp can overheat and die within a few hours; they can be exposed to lower temps for much longer period of time without affecting the health of the animal. In your scenario I'd rather have my snake exposed to 60 degree temps than 110, I'm pretty sure 110 would be fatal if they had no way to escape that temp.

As said...too high is worse than too low. Either way they aren't good because with too low they are susceptible to RI and other types of sickness. Too high can kill them a whole lot quicker though. And often times even if the heat doesn't kill them it can cause some serious neurological problems.

I guess that is what I would have figured...I don't plan on finding out any time soon though. ;)

Question though, what kind of neurological problems can occur due to too much heat? Are you talking about stress or something deeper?

Much deeper. You're talking about brain damage. Just like too much heat, and heatstroke, affects the brains of humans it affects snakes...possibly more.

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Originally Posted by Smith285

I guess that is what I would have figured...I don't plan on finding out any time soon though. ;)

Question though, what kind of neurological problems can occur due to too much heat? Are you talking about stress or something deeper?

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This. Im not sure of the exact temp, but humans end up with brain damage past 104 or 106 or something, and if left untreated in humans that can kill them. I'm sure its just as detrimental in snakes.

thanks guys, that's exactly what I was wondering.... learned something today

Yeah like they said it can cause some serious brain damage. I've seen some after being exposed to extreme heat that were all over the place squirming and waving their heads all over the place because they'd obviously incurred brain damage from the extreme heat. Hope not to see it happen to anyone else! Also certain snakes can obviously be exposed to higher temps than others....I know from experience boas get damaged at lower temps than ball pythons.

At high temps, proteins denature and you are done. Low temps (shy of freezing) simply slow down or shut off energetic processes. You can recover from too cold, you cannot recover from too hot.


~Kat

i wouldnt go much above 94 flexawatt shouldnt really be ran higher than 95 period!

personally mine are kept somewhat colder than alot of ppl do.
i used to do 92 period on the hot side.i turned it down to 90 since then my snakes never seemed to go on the hot side at all. now they move back and forth.your snakes might like it higher this isnt exactly a swiss watch.

i have had heattape melt tubs and while i was lucky and didnt hurt my snakes they get very mean the hotter you get. overheating these snakes will kill them faster than cold and thats a fact. the effects of overheating can resemble the symtoms of IBD. also they will dehydrate very fast!

i wouldnt go below 70 for very long its just too risky to get RI at that low.
70 durring a power outtage (maybe a day) probally wouldnt hurt it unless its not 100% healthy for the get go. also note that at temps that low and humidity at 50-60% your sure to have RI.

Our power was out for five and a half days and we initially used the heat packs but were unable to keep our snakes warm enough with them. Temp in my house got down to 41 degrees in the warm part of the house. We couldn't get the snakes tubs warm enough at all. They were very very cold. Couldn't get a generator until the fourth day. We came up with a heating solution at the end of day two. Lowest temps in the tubs was 52 degrees. Inside the hides was warmer. We kept them in our shirts to try to help them but it was very bad. Like I said, two of the days we had trouble keeping them warm enough. We were able to get temps up to 82 degrees the remainder of the time. I posted how in another thread. All of the snakes have come through fine. It's been two weeks. No illness. They have eaten again and seem fine. I wouldn't recommend it, but extreme cold was survivable for my snakes. And no resp infections either (knock on wood).

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Originally Posted by 3winds

This. Im not sure of the exact temp, but humans end up with brain damage past 104 or 106 or something, and if left untreated in humans that can kill them. I'm sure its just as detrimental in snakes.

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Humans can even handle 110, you forget the human body has a way to cool itself down the snakes don't. As far as brain damage no, but it's not comfortable thats for sure.