Heating Your Snake Cages
One of the most difficult, and important, aspects of setting up a snake cage is temperature. Snakes are cold blooded which means their body temperature is the same as the surrounding area. For this reason, it’s very important that you provide options for the snake so it can choose how warm it needs to be.
First and foremost: DO NOT USE HEAT ROCKS! I don’t know why they even sell those things anymore. They are well known for cooking snakes. Don’t use them!
The best way to provide heat in your snake cages is with Under Tank Heaters (UTH). These are heat pads that stick to the bottom of snake cages and warm the floor of the tank from underneath. This is great because it provides belly heat, which snakes really dig. They can be plugged into a dimmer switch so you can precisely control the exact temperature. Make sure you only cover about a third of the floor surface so the snake can get away if it wants to cool down.
Snake cages can also be heated with light fixtures. These can be regular incandescent bulbs or special UV bulbs. You can even get ceramic heat emitters which give off heat but no light. Light fixtures are good for raising the temperature of the entire snake cage and don’t provide a good temperature gradient, so they usually aren’t used by themselves. Some snakes are happy at the same temperature you keep your home at, others like it a little warmer, which is where light fixtures are useful. Just make sure they get turned off at night. Use timers. They rock! And please make sure your snake can’t touch the bulb. As if I need to say it.
A must have for maintaining the proper temperatures in your snake cages is a thermometer. You can use the digital infrared thermometers, which are great, or a digital thermometer with probe to measure the hot spot and ambient temperature at the same time. I use both.
Every snake species is different so please find out exactly what temperatures your snake needs. I hope this post gives you a better understanding of how to provide the proper heating for your snake cages. Happy herping!
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