| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| austin_89 |
Posted - 10/02/2012 : 00:41:10
How long can a royal go without a heat lamp on? I've just gone upstairs and noticed kanes bulb has blown and that he's somehow pushed himself into his light guard and wrapped around the blown bulb, so I've just gone to put him into the spare viv but the bulb I had for that is blown to. They're two different light fittings. His tank is already between. 20-22 in temp, I've put a hot water bottle in a towel and pillow case so he has heat for now but can't get any bulbs till the morning. What else. Can I do?? |
| 13 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Lotabob |
Posted - 11/02/2012 : 00:24:58
I dont think you could leave a snake for 2 weeks even with heat. They need water and in a hot environment it stagnates very quickly and also evaporates. The food point is a good one too, they would have to regurgitate anything in their stomach before it goes off.
I saw a case of neglect where a big Boa was kept at room temperature for over a year, it was in such a bad way. |
| anatess |
Posted - 10/02/2012 : 15:33:04
It can be very dangerous for a snake to have no heat if he is being fed. Low temps slows down a snake's metabolism and he may not have enough energy to digest his food completely before it goes rancid in his stomach and become toxic. |
| Snecklifter |
Posted - 10/02/2012 : 13:17:01
Understood, but how long would that take. The reason is that if I go away on holiday I always get my neighbour to look after the snake, but if something happened and she couldn't visit, the snake could be left alone for potentially 2 weeks without heat. I suspect that in the Summer, this would n't be a problem, but in winter, it could be ~19 degrees ambient in the house. |
| Lotabob |
Posted - 10/02/2012 : 13:11:07
They would slow right down, stop eating, become more susceptible to illness such as RI and eventually die. Not a pleasant way to go. |
| Snecklifter |
Posted - 10/02/2012 : 12:43:43
So what would happen if you just left the vivarium without heat? Would the snake go into a sort of hibernetic state and survive, or would it die fairly quickly? |
| austin_89 |
Posted - 10/02/2012 : 08:28:10
I got some sleep, was relieved to see him alert and bright eyed when I took the hot water bottle out tho :) |
| n/a |
Posted - 10/02/2012 : 03:51:46
Sorry to hear - I'm sure he'll be fine with his hot water bottle until you get a new bulb - hope you get some sleep too. |
| austin_89 |
Posted - 10/02/2012 : 01:17:57
Oh, that I did not know! Ok thanks I'll keep an eye out. I keep getting up and looking at him and he's casually going round his viv just fine but ill definitely keep an eye out for burns |
| Lotabob |
Posted - 10/02/2012 : 01:10:28
Not necessarily good on the burns front in my opinion, I would say been at the bulb has caused it to blow and not the other way round, a body wrapped round a bulb is probably enough to cause it to overheat inside and blow. Burns can take time to come to the surface, same way with sunburn etc it takes time to blister etc so you really need to monitor that situation over the next 24-48 hours for more serious burns and more minor burns will be apparent during shedding (a clue to an injury will be going into blue soon after this incident). I would run your heating overnight, it may be a bit warm for you but you dont want an injured snake going into shock and been cold as well. I'm doing the whole hope for the best, prepare for the worse bit, I hope everything is OK.
If you do have to deal with a burn, if its minor with no open wound then switch to a soft substrate like kitchen roll, and keeping it clean and dry is the key. If its open or blistered badly then its a trip to the vets to assess the wound etc. Again worse case scenario. |
| austin_89 |
Posted - 10/02/2012 : 00:57:47
Ok great, thank you :) I got really worried, firstly about burns but I've checked him over and were all good on that front. He's got a big hot water bottle, towels and a pillow case in his viv and a towel covering it. And the heating comes on at about 4 ish, windows are closed and my bedroom is like a sauna!!
I'm always up at this time :) |
| ajokocha |
Posted - 10/02/2012 : 00:51:09
And I thought I'd be the last one awake lol |
| ajokocha |
Posted - 10/02/2012 : 00:50:21
The water bottle in a pillow case sounds like a good bit of improvisation :). About 22 degrees should be ok as temperatures obviously go down at night. You'll be fine as you are until the morning :) |
| Kelfezond |
Posted - 10/02/2012 : 00:48:09
Don't worry he'll be fine till morning. Obviously keep windows closed so no cold wind is blowing in, you can pad his viv with towels or something but he'll be fine either way. |
