Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What is the best kind of thermometer to use for a boa set up? And what's the best placement for this??? Will I need more than two?
Also, in the winter, what are my options of additional heat for night?? What could I use with my heat pad if it's not enough, that won't dry out the enclosure, but won't emit any light? I figure since boas are nocturnal like a lot of other snakes, I should provide more than one heat source in the warmer side of the tank. That way it can still climb and be warm.
Thanks in advance for any input. It's greatly appreciated!

Go to Target or Wal-Mart, whatever, and get 2 DIGITAL Min/Max thermometers. they're about $15 each, one for the hot end, one for the cool end. you're set on that. you can track your high & low temps with no problems with a pair of those.

as far as additional heat, it would *really* help to know exactly what type/size cage you're using, what heat you have on it now, and what temp the room usually is/how much of a drop you expect in winter. as far as general tips go, you could use another UTH, a light, or a Ceramic Heat emitter. but with the last two you'd need maybe another water bowl or daily mistings of the tank to keep humidity up. a decent (electronic) humidity gauge would help with that. Target has those for about the same price as the regular thermometers, with the thermometer feature incorporated into the humidity reading. good stuff.

a little more info about your setup, and i could probably come up with a little bit more tailored solution...

good luck!

bc

Wow, thanks a lot, beastie! I'll probably go pick up the digital thermometers tomorrow.

The tank I'll be heating is a glass 40G (36x18x16), the lid is a screen. The heat pad I'm using has the usual 3 settings, I have it on high. During the day, I have my incandescant lights on for additional heat and to mimic the day cycle. The bottom of the tank is lined with newspaper and I'm using coconut bark and moss. I live in Houston, Tx...so I guess it drops to somewhere between 50 to high 60s? In the winter we don't use the heater too much, so it's pretty cold in our house.

Thanks again for your time and help.
-purple

I like to attach my thermometers and hygrometers with velcro spots. That makes it easy to move them around from time to time and it's convenient when I want to hose a cage down.