BP always on the "cold" saide

[ashelto5]

My Super Russo 205 grams seems to me always to be on the cold side. which is 79 degree F. His hot side was 89 but I dropped it to 87.5 to see if it was too hot but he's not over there much when i open his rack. Sometimes he seems cool and not wanting to move around much. I used the IR temp gun and he is about 80 on his body. Is he ok? Should the hot side be warmer or cooler? What should his body temp be? His humidity is 50-60% he shed about a week ago and is due to eat again tomorrow, he's eating every 7 days adult mice, frozen thaw from the big cheese rodent factory. This is my first snake and he seems very chill always eats. any advice?

[Pyrate81]

He might like the cool side better. Are your hides similar/identical? You can bump your hot side back to 89 if you like. He may also go to his hot side when you aren't around, i.e., when you're sleeping or at work/school during the day.

[ashelto5]

He might like the cool side better. Are your hides similar/identical? You can bump your hot side back to 89 if you like. He may also go to his hot side when you aren't around, i.e., when you're sleeping or at work/school during the day.

yes both hides are the same the reptile basics Medium box hide

[NH93]

Nothing to worry about, in my opinion.
Mine does the same thing. I have not seen him (SEEN him myself) on his hot spot for a couple of months, and my temps are almost identical to yours (79F and 90F).
But he's active at night, hides during the day, eats like a beast, and drinks like he should.
On a side note, my corn snake also doesn't use her hot spot, so I don't think it's anything concerning either. Some might not require it all the time or very often - I'm thinking if your home temperature is steady, as mine is at about 74 or 75F, they might not be all that chilly in their warm tanks. But still important to give them that option of a gradient!

[ashelto5]

Nothing to worry about, in my opinion.
Mine does the same thing. I have not seen him (SEEN him myself) on his hot spot for a couple of months, and my temps are almost identical to yours (79F and 90F).
But he's active at night, hides during the day, eats like a beast, and drinks like he should.
On a side note, my corn snake also doesn't use her hot spot, so I don't think it's anything concerning either. Some might not require it all the time or very often - I'm thinking if your home temperature is steady, as mine is at about 74 or 75F, they might not be all that chilly in their warm tanks. But still important to give them that option of a gradient!

How can you tell he's drinking like he should?

[SlitherinSisters]

If you want you can drop the cool side a little bit if you really wanted too, but I wouldn't worry about it. My big racks are 75 on the cool side and my little racks are usually right about 80 on the cool side. 80 is fairly warm so they do spend a lot of time on the cool side in that rack.

[NH93]

How can you tell he's drinking like he should?

Because he's passing urates regularly
I also see him drink every other evening, sometimes daily. However that is not a good indicator for everyone, because often times you won't see your snake drink. I rarely see my other one drink.