Hello and new rat snake.

[Jakk]

Hello all.

I am new to the forum I posted a little while ago in the welcome section in preparation for getting another snake.

Now my wife and I have purchased our first Leucistic Texas Rat Snake.

I have kept Royal Pythons and Boa Constrictors in the past along with a host of other reps and and amphibians, but after a long break we decided to get a new little critter.

He is a 2015 male and about a foot long. He took his first meal with us on Friday and since then has spent most of his time right at the top of the tank as far away from the heat as possible. I am used to my other snakes being in the warm hide after eating. Is this usual behavior for rat snakes? Im just concerned his food is taking a long time to digest.

Other wise he poops and pees just fine all the usual checks are all good. He's a beautiful snake. Looking forward to handling him in a few days when he digests.

Many thanks

Jack.

[prairiepanda]

What's the temperature on the warm end? Texas rats like it cooler than royals or boas would. If the temperature isn't too high, I wouldn't worry about it. Colubrids aren't very temperature-dependent when it comes to digestion, compared to the snakes you're used to.

[Jakk]

Thats good to know, thank you.

Hot end temps are between 80 and 90. The spot where he sits the most is in the mid 80's

[Jakk]

When you say rat snakes like it cooler than boas or pythons what temps do you set? Care sheets I read advised same temps as my other snakes. He just seems to hate the heat mat.

[prairiepanda]

It seems like a lot of care sheets out there come from generic snake care sheets that have been copy-pasted and tweaked slightly for different species. Hot end of 80 to 90 is alright since you're offering him a temperature gradient to choose where he wants to be, but 90 is pretty hot. I would keep the hot end around 80-85. But digestion will go along just fine at any temperature above 72. I keep my colubrids in a warm room rather than direct enclosure heating, so I keep mine below 80 to keep them from overheating. Above 80 is fine for your setup though since they can get out of the heat when they need to.

[Jakk]

Ah I see. I'm just used to my other snakes so I'm nervous of such low temps. He really seems to favor being cooler. Room temp is usually the low 70s. This is my first go with a heat mat. I was a die hard ceramic user. But I have a feeling a ceramic will be overkill in his 10 gallon.

[Jakk]

So I tweeked the heat mat a little so that it covers the area he likes to hide in and he still hasn't moved. So I'm putting it down to that's where he likes to hide the most. it seems when he wants to get off the heat he climbs to the top of the tank.

[Albert Clark]

That heat mat (uth) should be regulated with a thermostat for optimum safety. At least with a dimmer device.

[Jakk]

I am thinking about changing to a ceramic heater. Do you thinK he would benifit more from a ceramic? I have always had much better responses from my snakes while using ceramics.

[prairiepanda]

Ceramics tend to heat the air better(whereas UTHs mostly heat the substrate), but for a thin terrestrial snake like your rat, either way would effectively deliver the needed heat. If ceramics are your preference, you can go ahead and switch.

[Jakk]

Yes thats way I like the ceramics because the heat the air. Its just because its an all glass tank with a mesh top its not particularly efficient at holding in the heat. I just got given a ceramic today by chance so I might test it out and see!