Signs of BP Overheating

[iambecomedeath]

Hi everyone! My area is currently experiencing a bit of a heat wave and temperatures in my BP's tank are getting into the mid-high 80s, including the cool side. The AC I have can't cool the room more than around 83 degrees. I've turned off his deep heat projector and I've been watching him carefully. I know this isn't exceptionally hot, but I am worried about him overheating. The other day I used my temperature gun to scan him and it was 88 degrees, which I'm worried is too hot. He is usually quite docile, but he hissed for the second time in the four years I've had him when I went to check on him earlier, so I'm worried the heat may be making him more irritable.

I know this isn't utterly boiling and I've heard the danger zone is more around 95F, but I wanted to ask what the signs were if he is or does start to overheat.

Thank you!

[Lord Sorril]

*Sustained* Ambient temps above 90F are going to be detrimental to a ball python.
Smaller ball pythons can take higher temperatures for longer periods of time than larger ones, but, this is not something you want to find out the hard way...

Signs of a ball python overheating:
-Active and searching for a way to escape
-Soaking in water bowl
-Laying on side/upside down with belly exposed
-Head tilted in odd position resting on floor

If your enclosure is large enough: You can fill up a gallon of water with cool (not cold) water, and leave it on one side.
If the ball python wants to cool down then it can press up against the gallon to transfer heat from its body to the water.
In this event the gallon will eventually reach ambient temperature and need to be refilled periodically.

[bcr229]

Do you have an open-top tank or a proper reptile enclosure? If the former, you can spread a cloth that has been soaked in cold water over the top to help lower the ambient air temperature in the tank. If the latter, you can use a bottle of cold water as described above.

You could also fill the water bowl with cool water, and use a larger than normal bowl.

How cool does it get overnight? Can you open the windows and drop down the house temperature between midnight and sunrise?

[Armiyana]

Turning the heat sources off is a great start. It seems like the obvious one, but not everyone remembers to.

I would make sure they have access to a larger water bowl than usual.
You can also take something like a frozen water bottle and wrap it in a hand towel. I would put that in a ziplock bag to make sure the snake can't unwrap the towel and contact the ice directly. But it should offer a cool enough spot for them to thermoregulate a bit to a cooler temp.

Sorril basically tackled all of the symptoms to watch out for. We just ended a nasty heatwave here. I hope yours lets up soon

[Homebody]

I put an ice block in my Children's python's enclosure when it gets really hot. He seems to appreciate it.