Help! No A/C

[Coluber42]

I have no AC in my house at all and we had an unusually hot summer here this year. The house did not drop below the upper 80's for long periods of time and was in the lower 90's during the day a lot of the time. On the hottest days, my snake was clearly uncomfortable - he'd be awake during the day when he usually isn't, prowling around and looking for someplace to cool off until I figured out how to keep him more comfortable.

But two things really did help a lot. First, wrap an ice pack in a towel and set it on top of a hide. When the ice pack is fresh, it keeps the whole side of the cage a little cooler and the hide a bit too cold, but once it cools off a bit it leaves the hide a comfortable temperature. I know that because I checked with a temp gun, but also because my snake really did make use of it.

The other thing is a fan. It isn't quite as effective for an animal that doesn't sweat, but it still helps. I put a fan pointing in the vents of the cage and was slightly worried that the vibrations would disturb my snake, but actually he was curious at first and then I'd often find him essentially "basking" in the breeze - sprawled out with his body halfway up a platform, positioned for optimal exposure to the airflow, and sleep like that during the day for hours. I don't know how much cooler it made him, but he clearly liked it and sought it out.

In any case, a short stretch of ambient temps in the mid-to-high 80's isn't the end of the world and your snake will be fine.


In case you were wondering, the human occupants of the house were not any more comfortable.