The reason is the heat source: lights are generally not effective heaters for rosy boas. The air may be warm, but the ground where much of the snake's mass is in contact with may be conducting heat away from the snake. It is like being in a warm room but lying on a cold floor (and being cold-blooded at that). Rosies need warm objects - e.g. the ground, a warm crevice, etc.



You have 2 choices:

1) Use an undertank heat pad with a thermostat. I use soft pine shavings for bedding. The crevices between the chips hold heat very well, and the rosy will nestle in the shavings better than aspen or anything else.



or

2) Use a ceramic heat emitter (CHE). Put enough bedding in the tank so that the heat emitter surface is about 6-7 inches from the bedding. Of course use a temp controller with probe on the bedding below the heater and set for 85. CHE's are way more effective than lights. They direct heat down, and the wavelength of the energy is more like that of a heat pad.



Rosies will regurgitate far sooner than kings and corns and such. Rosies do not need high temps persay - 85 deg hotspot is fine for regular maintenance, but they need that heat available on their bodies, not in the air.



Heating the snake rather than the air will fix the problem.

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