17/07/2022
Keeping cool in the heatwave ☀️
Even our reptiles could be affected so here are some handy tips...
Managing Temperatures During the Summer & Heat Waves ☀️
In the past few decades, we’ve been able to see that summers globally are getting warmer – and the UK is no exception. Sudden heat waves have been a part of the last several summers, lasting longer on average by a few days than they did in the early 21st century.
With most British homes not having access to cooling air conditioning, the sudden drastic change in heat can really mess with the carefully curated environments we manage for our exotic pets. Reptiles love to bask and keep warm, but even the most avid sun-worshipping basking animal has a thermal limit and needs to cool off – or heat stroke is a risk. Here are some tips to help maintain your temperatures in the peak of summer heat and make sure there’s still options for your animals to thermoregulate properly on an excessively hot day.
- Keep a close eye on thermostats and thermometers. Many modern digital thermostats come with a feature that will alert you if a pre-set critical maximum (or minimum) temperature has been reached.
- Turn off your light and heat sources at the peak of the day. If your animal really needs some light for a photoperiod, consider LED lighting which runs a lot cooler than halogens and fluorescent tubes.
- Increasing ventilation in your home and/or in the enclosure will help to shift hot air. Fans are a good way to achieve this – but beware of dehydrating amphibians. Most reptile enclosures will have some sort of ventilation port that a fan can be directed at to help move more warm air.
- Opening the doors and replacing them with a mesh to prevent your animal escaping while letting heat escape and air to circulate better could be an option. This won’t be a possibility for large reptiles that can pull down the mesh.
- Alternatively, you could allow heat to escape the enclosure while bringing your animal out for a handling session away from direct sun if your animal is handleable.
- Try iced (or very cold objects, since direct contact with ice can be dangerous for ectotherms). Ice packs from the freezer, frozen water bottles, and refrigerated slate/stones can be wrapped up and placed into an enclosure or in front of a fan to create cool air.
- If it’s appropriate to your species misting with cool water will help to remove excess heat via evaporation. A big, cold dish of water can also help.
- Deep substrates tend to be cool at the bottom, especially if they are kept damp. Reptiles and amphibians naturally dig down to seek humidity and lower temperatures. Topping up a drainage layer with cool water can exacerbate this effect.
- Make sure humid hides/microclimates are maintained – they may dry out much faster in summer weather and need re-dampening almost daily.
If you suspect your reptile may be suffering from heatstroke, please contact your exotic vet right away. Warning signs can include:
• Heavy/rapid breathing
• Refusal to eat
• Lethargy
• ‘Star gazing’ and corkscrewing in snakes
• Disorientation/loss of balance
• Seizures
