This may have been discussed somewhere in some forum in the past but I was thinking today about heat. I posted pics of my racks before in the cages section and one question I get a lot is "where is the heat tape?" I'm a big proponent of ambient heat for my setup. Of course everyone's setup is different from bedrooms,garages,basements,facilities,etc, and ambient temps is just not an option for some. I kinda stumbled on the ambient heat thing when I lived in an apartment and only had a walk-in closet to regulate. For one year I had perfect sheds, digestion, breeding, OV's, laying.....the works. I then bought a house and currently keep my collection (40-50 snakes) in a spare bedroom. Again, no heat tape.......an oil-filled radiator connected to a Ranco to heat/cool the whole room. My snakes have never seen a hot spot The past two seasons I've had the same results. Eating,shedding,defecate,breeding.......ect.

This got me thinking about the whole "temps" discussion and I really think that we tend to complicate things as far as ball python husbandry is concerned. For instance, take respiratory infections. I've seen multiple posts over the years about resp. infections and it was just assumed by everyone that low temps were the cause. I'm sure a majority are caused by it (common sense would tell a person not to keep a snake in a 50 degree cold basement 24/7). Well what if the snake was kept too hot and conditioned to live its life with a 95 degree hotspot 24/7? Yes, it could thermoregulate if the setup was right but what if the temp actually dropped to 80 degrees? Would the snake be more susceptible to resp. infections because they were conditioned to the hotter temps??? And therefore keeping a snake too hot would cause it to be more susceptible if the temps happened to drop? Just a thought. I've also seen posts where users say that wont ever drop temps (even for breeding) below 80 because their snakes will get resp. infections. I tend to think of the conditions in the wild and I doubt this is the case. I've dropped temps way below 80 (on accident! and on purpose) and have never had a resp. problem (knock on melamine).

My whole rambling point being............that I think its just accepted fact that high temps are acceptable for snakes since they are cold-blooded but that this may actually cause more problems. Think about slugs for a minute?? I'm no expert by any means, but I doubt that pregnant females in the wild seek out a "hot spot" for long periods of time during their pregnancy. Ask a breeder who uses ambient temps how many slugs they get on average..........I bet the number is next to nothing.

Not really trying to stir the pot here! And I am not saying that I'm against heat tape or anything. Just sharing my experiences and thoughts on ambient temps. Who knows? Maybe one day I'll win the lottery and get some ARS's or Freedom breeders w/ heat panels. Also another thing...........with some sort of a hide area/hidespot provided somewhere, you'd be surprised at how snakes can thermoregulate without a hotspot.

Respiratory infections are generally caused by bacteria or virus not just temperature. Yes temps either too hot or too cold can stress and weaken the system to where the snake becomes more susceptible or any type of stress for that matter can cause it to become sick. Would it stress (to the point of illness) a snake out more to be moved from an average high temperature to a lower temperature than one that is kept at that lower temp - IDK -- these are fairly adaptive creatures - if you keep your cages really clean you'd probably reduce the chances of RI tremendously - it's not like your snakes are going out into the general population picking up this seasons flu.

I think this is a good post actually. I belive captive reptiles become conditioned to the situations they're set up in. I think ANY major, sudden changes in these conditions can set off something. My oldest pair of balls have lived in some extreme conditions, sometimes out of necessity. I remember keeping them in an unheated garage one winter, and in 18 years I haven't had a respritory problem with either of them.

I'm certainly not suggesting doing things like this deliberately but I believe they, like us or any other animal, build up resistances to things according to how they are kept. What's the saying? What doesn't kill us makes us strong? I have a small enough collection that the majority of them live in tanks. I prefer a hot spot simply to add to their choices for thermoregulation. Hide boxes are used by some and not by others.

Well, the ol' hippy in me just kicked in and I lost my train of thought. Some days I feel like Tommy Chong looks. I WILL get back to this though :D.

I think that ball pythons are really hardy snakes, and would do well in a variety of environments. I also agree with Quig, that they probably become acclimated to a certain environment. I really doubt that there's an association between too much heat and respiratory infections. Most of the time, it seems as though the association is with lack of heat. I've had ~25 snakes over the years, always set them up with a hot spot and a cool side, and have also never seen a respiratory infection. I think it just goes to show that there's more than one way to skin a cat. I think the snakes are more comfortable and able to respond to their physiological needs when given a 10 degree heat gradient, which is why I offer it.

I think this is a good post actually. I belive captive reptiles become conditioned to the situations they're set up in. I think ANY major, sudden changes in these conditions can set off something. My oldest pair of balls have lived in some extreme conditions, sometimes out of necessity. I remember keeping them in an unheated garage one winter, and in 18 years I haven't had a respritory problem with either of them.

I'm certainly not suggesting doing things like this deliberately but I believe they, like us or any other animal, build up resistances to things according to how they are kept. What's the saying? What doesn't kill us makes us strong? I have a small enough collection that the majority of them live in tanks. I prefer a hot spot simply to add to their choices for thermoregulation. Hide boxes are used by some and not by others.

Well, the ol' hippy in me just kicked in and I lost my train of thought. Some days I feel like Tommy Chong looks. I WILL get back to this though :D.


good piont i have a friend that had a boa that they never gave heat and kept it in a room with no heat for over 20 years and it never got sick i know its not a ball python