Staying on the cool side... is it okay?

[LittleTreeGuy]

So some of you know, I'm a total newbie when it comes to snakes and my bp. I've had her about three weeks now, and I feel she is starting to settle in. She's eaten three times for me, very well each time. I handle her from a couple of minutes to maybe 20 minutes a day, with the exception of the day or two after she eats. She has been passing stool seemingly fine as well. When I have her out, she normally sits in my hands for a minute or so, then starts moving around. Usually returning to my hands and will just hang out there, head up, looking around.

The past week or so, I have noticed that she is staying in the hide on the cooler side of the tank almost all the time (that I'm able to observe her). Now, I know that she is out and about through the night because the thermometers are usually knocked over in the mornings. Below is a picture of my setup. It is a roughly 2'x2'x13" thin pvc enclosure. I have a UTH under the left side that is on a thermostat and a CHE on top of the tank to help with ambient temps. I have a probe for the UTH that is inside the tank, under the paper towels. I measure temps and humidity with two in the tank accurate digital gauges, one on each side. My warm side ambient temps are around 85 and the cool side is around 79-81. I also have a temp gun. I can tell that inside the warm hide, the floor (paper towels) shows about 88. outside the hide, it's a tad lower. On the cool side, it's usually right around 80. I have a large water dish under the CHE thinking that would help with humidity, but that has been fluctuating between 40-60%. I've been trying to mist once a day. Today I put a small pot with some damp sphagnum moss in it inside on the warm side to help with humidity as well... maybe.

Should I be concerned that she wants to stay on the cool side? You can see her poking her head out a little in the picture below.

[Timelugia]

If the cool side is 80 then its fine. Its still pretty warm, so your snake shouldn't have any problems. If he's too cold he'll move

[bproffer]

I am experiencing the same issue. Both BP's are staying in their cold hides. I am only running RHP's and no belly heat. When I shoot the floor of the cage on the hot side, it reads 88-91° and the top of the hide reads 92-94°. Cool side floor ranges between 79-80° and the top of the hide reads 81-83°. So I think my temps are spot on. They may be a little high, so I may try lowering the thermostat by 1 degree. I am also going to try switching the hides around tonight to see if that makes a difference. Perhaps they both have a preference for a certain hide, but the hides are identical on both sides of the tank.

[Reinz]

Right now, for Texas this is early winter. Thus, the ambient temperature is lower in all my enclosures. All six of my snakes are on the cool side as usual.

Last winter my BP's enclosure dropped to 67 on the cool side. My adult BP stayed there without budging fo 2-3 weeks straight. I know this because I don't sleep more than 1.5 - 2 hours at a time and I check on my snakes very frequently.

I wouldn't worry, snakes know where the heat is.

Mack the Knife, 2 year old Coastal Carpet

[LittleTreeGuy]

Awesome, thank you all for the replies. I kinda figured the same... that she knows it's warmer over there if she wants it... I just wanted to make sure.

[JoshSloane]

Snakes can have odd and unpredictable behaviors that we don't really understand. Despite our best efforts to provide immaculate caging, they will still do whatever they want. Frequently my largest boa will stay on the cold side for a week after eating a large meal. I check all my temps daily, and it used to drive me nuts that she didn't want to be on the hot spot right after eating. Yet she eats, digests, sheds and defecates perfectly fine. These animals know they conditions they need. Don't worry.

[distaff]

One of my kings does the same thing. I pick her up, and she is cold. She digested her last meal on the cold side too. Temp low/mid 80's on the hot side floor under the hide. Other king has identical set up, and likes the hot spot.

No clue.
We do what we can.
The snakes don't read the care sheets.

[JoshSloane]

One of my kings does the same thing. I pick her up, and she is cold. She digested her last meal on the cold side too. Temp low/mid 80's on the hot side floor under the hide. Other king has identical set up, and likes the hot spot.

No clue.
We do what we can.
The snakes don't read the care sheets.

Agreed. Apparently though my burm has read the care sheets. He will move back and forth between the cold and hot side 3-4 times a day.

[ShaggyRS6]

I am experiencing the same issue. Both BP's are staying in their cold hides. I am only running RHP's and no belly heat. When I shoot the floor of the cage on the hot side, it reads 88-91° and the top of the hide reads 92-94°. Cool side floor ranges between 79-80° and the top of the hide reads 81-83°. So I think my temps are spot on. They may be a little high, so I may try lowering the thermostat by 1 degree. I am also going to try switching the hides around tonight to see if that makes a difference. Perhaps they both have a preference for a certain hide, but the hides are identical on both sides of the tank.

Exactly my setup and temps - By little guy pretty much stays in the middle hide which is at 80-81F very has a wonder around the cool side every now and again which is at 78f and when he feels like it will bask on a log close to the RHP which reads 94f and in the warm side hide that read 90f inside. His fav spot is that middle hide.