ambient temp advice

[Gpoop]

I live in NY and it's starting to heat up as I'm about to get my cage ready for my first ball. The issue that I'm having is that right now cause of the heat my ambient temps are 80 in the room I plan on keeping the snake. However during the fall/winter I keep my house at 65-68 which is going to drastically effect the ambient temps in the cage (cage by animal plastics) . Should I wait on the snake till the fall/winter so I'll know what the temps are going to be like or should I add AC to that room?

[Kaorte]

I try to keep my ambient temps around 75-80. During the winter this can be a little hard and sometimes the temps will drop to the low 70's. I have never had a problem with temps getting a little lower in the winter but 65-68 is a little chilly. Perhaps you could add a second heat source for your cool side, whether it be an extra heat mat/flexwatt or a radiant heat panel that keeps the cool side around 80*. This should at least keep the ambient temps in the cage in the low to mid 70's at the lowest.

[Gpoop]

So I should install a radiant heat panel and use it when I need it?

[Kaorte]

Yes no point adding extra heat when the room is already warm enough

[Gpoop]

awesome! Thanks!

[kitedemon]

I have done a lot of tests on radiant heat panels and found that it actually is a radiant heat source. Meaning like the sun it warms objects and not the air. This is backed by the reptile basics FAQ on them as well.

"This Infrared Heat tends to heat objects more than the air, much like the natural sunlight outdoors. This type of heat mimics real sunlight both in the direction it comes from and its penetration into the muscle tissue. IR heat has been shown to have a therapeutic effect on sick and injured animals as well. Your reptiles will spend less time basking and receive a much greater benefit from it."

They are a great product and when used with basking animals work super well. They do not however have great effect on ambient temps in my testing only about 2-5 degrees to AIR temps. The other problem is probe placement with them and terrestrial animals usually they are used to build vertical gradients. As a secondary heater if the probe is under the substrate it produces higher temps as you increase height. If placed on the panel it is not effecting the lower temps very much and changes in room temp do not translate to the probe and you still get unstable temps. One person placed the probe in a tube lifted up beyond the substrate a few inches. I have not tried this I don't like the tube idea too many mechanical attachments. I tried dangling the probe from the panel and that has been some use but again it did not effect the ambient temps much.

Do you have a fluorescent light in the enclosure? They often work super well at raising the ambient air temps. If the enclosure is reasonably well insulated the drop while it is off is slow and fairly natural. My PVCx enclosures all have FL tubes I get highs of 84-5º ambient and that drops about one degree an hour over night. I have deep blue LEDs also the transformer on the light stick helps hold a min temp of 75º My room is typically 67º or so.

[Gpoop]

I plan on putting in a fluorescent light fixture, so yes!

[LLLReptile]

Your room should be perfect for summertime - I would add AC if your room temps heat up above 80, but that is a good ambient temperature for now.

A minor drop in ambient temperature in winter is fine, and can even be useful in establishing a seasonal change with your snake(s). With a minor drop in ambient temperatures, you'll end up establishing a consistent time of year that your snake will likely go off feed as it gets older. I would consider using a heat light during the winter to heat up the air, although I would not put it on the cool side in addition to the hot side. If anything, just cover up any exposed ventilation holes in winter, and let the cage become a kind of heat bubble.

-Jen

[Uk2bx]

I'm in NYC and I'm pondering the same thing , mines a exo terra viv , it's in my sons room and has no a/c , ambient went up to 81 today , im using a ceramic heat bulb when it gets chilly and two uth's on seperate thermostats for the warm/cold gradient .