A quick question I need an answer to pls

[Trentonskeeper]

Hi

I am an old member of the forum who has not posted in years as my dragons passed on and I have not been able to bring myself to get more after losing my loves.

Today we went to a new pet store that has opened up around the corner from me and I left with a question I need an answer too please. I have never had snakes at all, I know almost nothing about them but I'm sure they need more than they are getting at this shop.

This pet shop I went to today has cage upon cage of snakes, dragons, iguana's and spiders. When I asked him why he had no uv lights or heat lamps or heating mats in any of them he explained to me that none of the creatures need anything other than humidity and then went on to open that cage of a python near me to demonstrate the humidity (not sure if he was expecting me to suddenly start sweating or something) but the cage looked dry with no signs of moisture at all so I'm not sure what humidity he was on about. These animals are in a very dark shop in cages with no light and no heat and this fool was going on about how in our SA climate none of these animals need anything other than whatever they get from the thin air.

Now if he had said he was just starting up and had not yet had time to install lights or heat than fine but while I was there he was selling a cage and an animal to some women in there and she was hearing all this so he's not only doing the wrong thing himself he is selling animals to people and passing on his ignorance.

Like I said I know nothing about snakes but I know dragons needs and they were not met at all. I want to know if there'd is any truth in what he said at all please, and if there is not I would like to know if there is a 'name and shame' avenue open to me. How does one go about making this right? I'm not the crusading type but if I am right and this is wrong I want to do the right thing. If I am wrong no harm done.

Thank you.

[Jedi Biscuit]

I Live in Durban and have a large collection of snakes, as hot and humid it is in Durban all of my enclosures are equipped with a heating pad, uv B lights, Basking lights and Night lights. There are some snakes which require humidity and others that dont, those that do require more humidity have their tanks sprayed down with warmer water otherwise a water bowl placed over a heating pad works as well. Every snake needs to thermoregulate so a heating pad is required at night and on cooler days just so they do have a warm spot. The only way i can think of rectifying the problem will be to report them to your local SPCA. Tell them that they should do their research on exotic pets first so that they know how to care for their animals. I would hate to know how many other people they are feeding wrong information to... Hope this helps =)

[Trentonskeeper]

Ok this is what I was hoping to hear. Many thanks I will be reporting this today.

[Ruan Stander]

Snakes do not require any uv or special lighting. The natural/artificial light it gets from the room it is in is sufficient.
Most snakes will not require heating during the summer months in SA, they will do just fine at room temperature.

I keep a number of snakes this way and have never had problems.

[reptile]

My 2c worth: If the snakes are exotic they should have heating and humidity control. Although the climate might be similar you should try and simulate there natural inviroment.

[Savu]

Just because they are "exotic",it does not mean jungle,hot,humid. We always seem to think that snakes in the wild have perfect thermal and humid conditions,yet a lot of them survive through extreme temperature changes. European and North and central American species especially. Even here locally,we have snakes surviving winters with temperatures well below freezing,and overseas it is an "exotic",so great emphasis is given on heating. So if we say,give the species its natural conditions? I doubt it. Noone will let his temps fluctuate from extreme lows to highs. We keep it at temps to make sure it survives,eats and reproduces. The perfect conditions,not the natural conditions. And as for humidity control? I doubt many herpers here "control" their humidity. Spraying now and then dosnt really mean controlling it. Sometimes I think we try overcomplicate things. Only my 3 c worth.

[Ruan Stander]

Spot on Savu.
Out in the wild there is no thermostat.