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Heating vs. Hibernation Question

R

reptinut

New member
Hey yall,

I'm getting a year old male ghost corn snake pretty soon. I have everything set up fine, but there's a problem: the only place I can keep it is my basement. I live in upstate NY, it gets pretty cold (well below freezing in winter) and my basement doesn't have much insulation. I realize an ideal ambient temperature is somewhere in the low to mid 70s. Would it be detrimental to the snake's health if the ambient temperature was somewhere between 40-50 degrees (I'd still have a warm side around 85 degrees)? Should I just hibernate him, or is he too young? What are your views on hibernation in general?
 
Sorry to double post, but what do you thing would be a more secure enclosure: a shoebox with a snap on lid, or a terrarium with a regular screen top and clips?
 
I have not burmated my snakes yet but the temps I hear should be in the mid fiftys... That why I haven't. so the temps shouldn't go lower than that and the snake could be a tad young too.

Are you using a heat mat with a digital probe to read the temps??
 
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I do have a heat mat & digital probe. Temps on the cool end are in the mid 40s-low50s....damn. I think I'm going to go the plastic shoebox route and cover it with cloth. Though, doesn't glass hold heat better?
 
Your temps will be too low and the winters too long in upstate NY to leave a snake in the basement with no heat. If you provide just the hotspot it won't brumate, and will have to choose between being too warm or too cool

I would think about adding a bulb to your heat mat and use it to get the ambient temps up to around 68 to 70 degrees up on the cool side. You will have to experiment with wattage and disatance.

Ideally, you really want to try and talk everyone in the house into letting you keep the snake upstairs somewhere....
 
Glass is a very, very poor insulator. Just go stand next to your windows in the winter and you can feel the cold coming through. Plastic holds in heat and humidity far better IMO. But I think that you're going to have to use a heat pas and a ceramic bulb or red light since your temps there are so cold, so you may have to use a glass tank. Though, before I had my room kept to 82 degree and I still only had a few snakes, I'd keep them in my closet over winter with a heat lamp warming the entire closet.
 
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