Ball spending too much time on the cool side?

[mudguy]

Is anyone’s Ball spending more time on the cool side than warm? Initially, I was using a warm side hide only, maintaining temps at about 90*-92* with a UTH. On the cool side, some vegetation and temps about 76*-78*. Maddie would alternate between the hide and laying out by the tree to cool down.

I added a coconut ½ dome on the cool side about a week ago and now she rarely leaves it. Temps are a fairly constant 78* when she is inhabiting the dome.

Thing is, when I pick her up, she feels cool to the touch. Obviously, I don’t want her developing a URI. It is my understanding that temps should not go below 75* on the cool side. I’m good with that. My concern is if she is now doing a good enough job of regulating her body temp, if she’s spending all of her time on the cool side?

BTW, after handling, she’ll usually go to the warm hide but twenty minutes later, I’ll find her back in the cool hide.

Sensing a security priority with the dome over thermo-regulation, I removed her warm side hide and replaced it with an identical dome hide today. She checked it out after handling and ten minutes later I found her back on the cool side, lol.

I’m considering removing the new hide and going back to her original set-up, unless any of you guru’s advise otherwise.

Thanks

[Myenia]

This isnt advice...but I've had my ball baby for a week and a half and she does the exact same thing. I switched hides, and she still hangs out exclusively on the cool side. I can't wait to see what people's answers are to this.

[Somed00d]

If you have tried identical hides on both warm and cool sides than I don't think you have to worry about her preferring one hide over the other.

Perhaps she just wants to be cool.

I would be a little more concerned if you had just fed her because they need the heat to digest.

Also try swapping the cool/warm hides perhaps there is a smell in there she recognises.

Richard

[starmom]

That's a little chilly for the cool side! Is there any way that you can bump those temps to about 82F?

My snakes typically hang out more on the cooler zones but always go to the warm zone after a meal

[Mike Cavanaugh]

76 is too cold.

All of my balls have a tendancy to stay on the cooler end probably 80% of the time. My cold side is 82 degrees and my hot side is 93 degrees.

[missi182]

I agree with Mike and Mckinsey, my cool side rarely drops below 80, and on average is about 83. My ball is lazy and whatever hide he sees first when I put him away, is the one he heads into until fed or taken out again. If you have proper temps and identical hides, your snake will do the rest.

[python.princess]

Yeah, like everyone else said, as long as you have two identical hides, it shouldn't be a problem.

As far as her feeling cool to the touch, she always should! The human body is 98.6. Ball pythons are cold blooded animals, which means they'll never get warmer than their environment. If you notice your snake is warmer than your hands, it's probably about 100 degrees... not good.

[missi182]

Yeah, like everyone else said, as long as you have two identical hides, it shouldn't be a problem.

As far as her feeling cool to the touch, she always should! The human body is 98.6. Ball pythons are cold blooded animals, which means they'll never get warmer than their environment. If you notice your snake is warmer than your hands, it's probably about 100 degrees... not good.

Excellent point.

[mudguy]

Thank you for everyone’s responses, appreciate it greatly.

I was under the impression cool side target range was 75*-80*, so, I’ll bump that side up a bit. With house temps about 78*, the only time the cool side gets lower than that, is after misting the enclosure.

P.Princess, thank you for the clarification. That is what I wanted to hear. Understanding that they are cold blooded, I didn’t know how cool to the touch they should feel if they are thermo-regulating properly. Maddie is noticeably cooler to the touch when slumbering in her cool side than her warm side. Just wanted to make sure that that is normal.

Great site, appreciate the participation

[python.princess]

That's what we're here for!

And you're right! This really is a great site when you have questions! Or just wanna show off! Haha!