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Hanging on cool-side post meal...OK?

jennixnay

jennixnay

New member
Hey, all :

So, Clementine just had her first meal with us (2 year old female we adopted last week).

She ate a f/t (& warmed by putting mouse in a ziploc bag & then steeping it in hot water for a few minutes) like a champ. Not only did she not mind us watching her eat, my kids were able to video-record it. Amazing.

After the lump had moved a ways down her body & she was starting to climb out of the cardboard feeding box, I gently picked her up & returned her to her viv, putting her on the warm side. She hung out there in her warm-side hide for a few minutes, but has already moved back over to her (apparently preferred) cool side. She's burrowed down under 2-3" of Aspen -- but is away from the UTH pad. Should I worry about her digestion?
 
First thing that you'll learn is that they'll go where ever they want to! lol If the snake likes the cool side better they'll stay on the cool side & vice versa. But just a question...

Do you have something to regulate the heating pad, and a digital thermometer with a probe to tell you what the temperature on the warm side is?

I know from experience that before I had the thermometer w/ the probe the heating pad was too warm for my snake. After eating he would lay on the warm side for an hour and then head over to the cool side for the rest of the digestion. He never regurged or anything like that, but now he's on the warm side 24/7 ever since I started regulating the heat pad. She may be ok digesting while on the cooler side, mine did it for a year but it's always better to be on the safe side.

What are your temperatures looking like on both sides?
 
I do have something to regulate the heating pad -- & I have a thermometer with probe but it's not digital (pet store didn't have one so I have one on order) -- maybe that's the problem? According to the non-digital probe thermometer, it's 84/85 on the warm side, 72 on the cool side...but maybe that's just not accurate & it's actually too warm?

Ever since I added more Aspen to give her a little more depth to make burrows, she's more interested in that than in either hide -- but does seem to prefer cool side, consistently.
 
a-ha?

Clementine's previous owner was using a heat lamp for her tank -- & had her co-habbing with another corn (a male he was thinking of breeding with her).

Based on what I've read here & elsewhere, that UTH was the way to go, NOT a heat lamp, that's the set-up we've provided -- but I wonder if she's just not used to it?
 
Heat pads are a lot better to use then a heat lamp. She probably likes to burrow in the aspen and may prefer the cool side over the warmer side. If the temps are ok on both sides she'll regulate her own body temp when & how she wants. I'm pretty sure she'll be ok.
 
There have been a couple of threads on this recently (including one I started because I was worried, too), so this must happen fairly regularly. One of my snakes, Sienna, usually hangs out on the cool side after eating. What I gathered from those threads was that if the temps are okay on both sides, the snake will probably be fine. Sienna has never had a problem even though she consistently hangs out on the cool side after eating.

It sounds like your temps are fine, but you'll feel better once you've got the other thermometer. Although, I don't see why a non-digital probe thermometer wouldn't be accurate.
 
You just can't make them change sides if they don't want to! I know this, and yet I have still tried to influence the snake's decision. I have a hypolavender stripe, who regurged twice last January, had a complete recovery, and then regurged once this November or December. I noticed he was always on the cool side. So I switched his hides, which are very different. He remained on the cool side. He hasn't regurged again, so he must be digesting just fine! I wish he'd just go curl up in his nice warm hide, though...
 
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