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Since I do not know anything about king or corn snakes or even rattlesnakes I can only comment on the animals I research. I can tell you when the sun goes down and the rattlesnakes all go onto the blacktop at night, I bet that blacktop is over 95F or 100F Morti if you have a temp gun, check on what surfaces you find these animals.
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Been there, done that. Generally I find more snakes on surfaces in the high 80s to low 90s than any other temps.
And yes.. I provide a temperature gradient that changes at different times in the year. I feel that a 10 degree gradient is more than sufficient to allow your average tropical snake to thermoregulate.
I hold to the position that our goal as reptile keepers is NOT to attempt to emulate nature, but rather to provide an ideal environment for the animals in our care. To truly emulate nature, we would have to emulate prey/predator relationships, weather dynamics, flora, disasters, drought, etc etc. Not only is this close to impossible, it is not the most beneficial strategy to our pets. Not only should we try to research our reptile's natural environment, we should try to research their ideal care.
So when I tell people that Colombian boas should be kept on a temperature gradient with ambient temps of 78 - 88 and a basking spot no hotter than 93 - 95 degrees, I am not trying to tell them that this is how they live in nature... I am trying to tell them that this is the temperature range that many many keepers, myself included, have found works best to keep their snakes healthy in captivity.
To your point that if the snake chooses to utilize extreme high temperatures, it must not be bad for them, I wish I had a nickel for every post I have seen of someone who used hot rocks for heating with severely burned snakes. They go home one day to find their cute little ball python clutching that hot rock like it was their life line with 3rd degree burns all over them. Reptiles really aren't very smart. I would prefer NOT to provide something dangerous to my snake and then hope that they won't hurt themselves with it.
