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How to keep the viv cool?

ARiley144

ARiley144

New member
My house doesn't have a/c and last week the tank got really hot like 90F and I had the heat source off. So my question is how do you keep the viv at the right temps if the rest of the house is hot and you don't have much control over the temp? Should I put a fan in front of the viv? I didn't cuz I thought it might dry the snake out....
 
If you have a glass tank i would say put a fan on the half the tank (where the glass is) i dont think that would dry it out because the wind isnt touching the snake at all. If worried about it being dry get a spray bottle (old windex bottle, throughly cleaned) and fill with luke warm water and mist a few times on half the tank, or get a moist hide.

Fans only thing i can think of, also try to give fresh water everyday just a little colder then lukewarm, so it could soak if its to hot.
 
I give fresh water everyday...spoiled critter has a water fountain and two water dishes ;-) I was just worried about the fan part...he doesn't much like to be misted...but if that's really all I can do then I guess I'll just have to give it a whirl and hope for the best. Oh and yes he has a 20gal glass tank.
 
Can you move the viv to a cooler location. A room with less sun, cools side of house. Lowering it could help too (heat rises).

I have turn off my heat for the summer and I use a window air conditioner. But not all the time.

You could try the fan but!!!!! I don't like the idea of a fan running with no one home.
 
ya fans your best bet, anything else would be way to expensive/unrealistic. I would suggest getting a hygrometer, it measures humidity, im not sure the optimal % is for corns but a little research and you'll know, also getting a moist hide helps a lot because then he can decide when he wants it to be more humid. My moist hide is superrr simple, just a plastic box from smarties ice cream with moss in it ( i got it from a guy he said to make sure its reptile safe moss, which u can get at most stores for reptiles) and i just spray the moss, i also put that on the hot part so that the water is warmer/evaporates creating humidity in the box!

Hope everything goes well! :D
 
Ahhh Humid is not always cool, just so you know.

I (me, myself) think that humid hide should be use when a snake has a shedding issue. Which I believe is more often a hatching problem.
 
I cannot move the viv...it is in the living room which is one of the darker rooms in the house...it's about 2ft off the ground. I have 1200sf home and there really isn't a better place for it. Also I'm a stay at home mom so I'm pretty much always home unless I'm running errands. His humidity level stays about 40% which I believe is right where it belongs. That is why I keep 3 water dishes in there...to keep the humidity right. And he gets a bath once a week when we clean the viv. I have pics posted on my profile so you can see Kaa and his mansion....I use lights instead of a UTH...makes the water evaporate to keep the humidity, and also have a full description of it posted in this section so I can get feedback...the thread is titled Kaa's mansion. So if a fan while I'm home is the best way to keep him cool when it's uber hot I guess that's the route I'll go...since I'm home and in anycase I try not to leave appliances running when I'm gone even for errands...my biggest fear is an electrical short creating a house fire...I love all my critters and pictures and would be devasted to loose it all. Thanks for the suggestions :)
 
There is a thermometer that sits on the glass on the hot side of the viv surrounded by substrate along with a humidity guage so that I know what the temp reads at his level (since I use lights). And my house's thermostat said it was 90F so just basing the fact that my house was 90 inevitably his tank was 90. I don't keep at thermometer on the cool side of his tank because I assume that it cannot be any cooler than my house and I do my best to maintain my house at 70F. Those particular hot days I had his lights off (so no heat source) since I figured if my house is 90F he needs no supplemental heat. It was a hot day!
 
Cool packs could help so could a window air-conditioner.

And if you are referring to a stick-on thermometer. They are not so accurate.
Just so ya know. Not much more can be added, you're kinda stuck with what you got.
 
Yes it's a stick on thermometer but it's accurate with my house thermostat...I checked cause I heard that they weren't accurate at all. But with the heat lights off it matches what my house thermostat says. I have no interest in cooked snake so I wanted to be sure. Again thank you so much for the advise I greatly appreciate it...I'm kinda stuck as you said...cannot afford a window unit currently....preparing for a baby.
 
I would get a couple large gel or cold packs and keep them in the refrigerator. Then if your house temp gets warmer than 84, I'd put one in his viv for the afternoon. That way he can seek out a cooler temp if he needs to.

I don't believe a fan will help. The fan doesn't cool the air, it makes a person _feel_ cooler because of the windchill effect. A snake buried under aspen or in a hide isn't going to be enjoying a cool breeze, and in fact, isn't really going to be cooler at all.
 
very good point thank you. I was thinking the same thing...the fan won't be blowing cool air at all...it'll be blowing hot air that feels cool to a human cause of the speed. Should I maybe put a cold pack under the tank so that it radiates the cold up into the viv without the viv getting too cold?
 
I wouldn't. I'd just put a refrigerator cool pack in say at noon or 1:00 and see how long it lasts. You might have to go to frozen if it's heating up to room temp in just a couple hours. Wrapping the pack in newspaper will help it stay cold longer. I would watch the temps carefully and provide a big bowl of water your snake can get into. Temps above 90 will kill a snake fairly quickly.
 
Thanks much! No worries bout the water spoiled child has 3 dishes....one is a water fountain to keep the water 'fresh' :)
 
I had this problem last year. I blocked the tanks from any stray sunlight (gave them some nice pictures my son drew) and kept the heat pads turned off. My digital probes recorded the temperature cooler then the rest of the house. I gave them refrigerator water around noon and they had vines to hang from. I also fed according to the forecast so they wouldn't be digesting on a scorching day.
 
The thermometers I use are Acurite outdoor, all weather. I think. They run on batteries and were about 12 dollars at Walmart.

I don't use heat lights at all. Red eyed snakes have very sensitive eyes so the lights would irritate them.
 
I lived in Oregon last year during a time when it was 105 and disgustingly humid almost every day and we had no A/C. I wound up clearing out a walk-in closet, moving the snakes in there, and getting a swamp cooler to keep the closet coolish.

I was also SO glad to move back to a milder climate, LoL! Good luck with cooling yours off!
 
I have 3 diff lights I use for heat depending on how much and when it is during the day. 1 daylight bulb to simulate being outside in the sun, 1 red light (that they supposedly cannot see) that just provides heat, and 1 moon light that's just a very dim glow that provides VERY limited heat. And Kaa has black eyes :) Anyways I use all 3 very meticulously to keep the temps where they need to be...and with all the water in there the light helps evaporate the water and keep the humidity perfect (he hates being misted). Yes I know that it would be easier to get a UTH but this provides me with something to do....silly I know but hey it's not always nice out in WA one has to have an indoor hobby too :)
And I live in a cooler part of WA....so the highest its gotten was 110F and that was 4-5 summers ago. Normally it stays between 70-90 with high humidity during the summer with Aug being our hottest month. This house has EXCELLANT insulation so it absorbs the heat and keeps it in the house...the walk-in closests are just as hot as every other place :-( and my hubby would have a fit if I cleared his clothes out for a snake tank. HAHAHA that would almost be worth the look on his face ;-)
 
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