As long as they get a good "warm-up" during the day I would drop them cooler than that. I have all my Madagascan Boas on 14 hrs. of "night", 10 hours of "day" and will drop the day light to 8hrs next week. The heat is only on during the day for 4 hours and I'm using Kane Heat Mats so even though the pad is warm, the ambients around them are still cool. Even when the pad warms up the females stay off it but the males can be glued to the heat at the expense of courting. I watch the males, if they're glued to the heat I decrease it a bit, if not I'll even leave it on for another hour.
A good sign of success is if your female becomes glued to the heat after breeding/ovulation. Her instincts will drive her to keep the developing follicles nice and warm.
My cycles just started Nov.1 as it takes awhile for things to cool down here in Vegas. My Ground Boas still feed when in the low 70s to high 60s w/no ill effects though I don't normally feed during brumation. As a matter of reference my Ground Boas are in a 4'x3'x2' cage.
Bill

[ Reply To This Message ] [ Subscribe to this Thread ] [ Hide Replies ]