Reptile & Amphibian Forums

here's a picture of my CRB's cage(can you spot it buried under the sphagnum moss?) It's a 40 gallon breeder aquarium. The substrate is EcoEarth topped with sphagnum moss. The temperature, according to the thermometer, reads 68 degrees(that was when I added the heat pad to the left, which cant be seenm here). And it still reads 68 even though I have a bulb on(60 or 75 watt day). Should I try and get that thermometer to read 77(if so, how!?!) or should I try a digital thermometer to read the temperature more accuratly? Thanks in advance, I expect some speedy responses. This guy/girl is awesome, and i just dont want it to die on me now!(acting very healthy by the way).

PS-did not cover the cage top yet. I was afraid it might be too humid right now so i did not cover the top and put the light on to allow it to dry a little.
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Scott

Reptiles
--------
0.0.1 Colombian Rainbow Boa(formerly named Precious by the previous owner....I gotta change that...)
1.0 Ball Python (Sultan)
0.1 California Kingsnake (Leota)
1.0 Eastern Painted Turtle (Yugi)
0.1 Red/Gold Bearded Dragon* (Irwin, R.I.P.)

Other
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1.0 Betta Fish (Tyrone)

Scott,
...Scroll down and have a look at my "keeping it simple" post. I do not know what your room temperature and humidity are but I suspect with the open screen top you are allowing cold dry room air to drop into the cage as your heating is evaporating the moisture and taking it out with the rising warmer air. You have gone to a lot of trouble trying to set up a cage the way YOU THINK your snake will like it but your snake is nocturnal and is probably stressed by the light. You do not say where you are measuring the temperature but it needs to be down in the substrate where the snake will spend much of it's time. If you have an overhead light close to the cage you can move a thermometer closer to or further away from the light and read most any temperature you want.
Jeff

>>here's a picture of my CRB's cage(can you spot it buried under the sphagnum moss?) It's a 40 gallon breeder aquarium. The substrate is EcoEarth topped with sphagnum moss. The temperature, according to the thermometer, reads 68 degrees(that was when I added the heat pad to the left, which cant be seenm here). And it still reads 68 even though I have a bulb on(60 or 75 watt day). Should I try and get that thermometer to read 77(if so, how!?!) or should I try a digital thermometer to read the temperature more accuratly? Thanks in advance, I expect some speedy responses. This guy/girl is awesome, and i just dont want it to die on me now!(acting very healthy by the way).
>>
>>PS-did not cover the cage top yet. I was afraid it might be too humid right now so i did not cover the top and put the light on to allow it to dry a little.
>>-----
>>Scott
>>
>>Reptiles
>>--------
>>0.0.1 Colombian Rainbow Boa(formerly named Precious by the previous owner....I gotta change that...)
>>1.0 Ball Python (Sultan)
>>0.1 California Kingsnake (Leota)
>>1.0 Eastern Painted Turtle (Yugi)
>>0.1 Red/Gold Bearded Dragon* (Irwin, R.I.P.)
>>
>>Other
>>-----
>>1.0 Betta Fish (Tyrone)

As I type, I literally have tears coming out of my eyes because it now seems I am not doing anything right at all. But the thermometer is near the top of the cage and I did feel the ground(didn't feel warm). Is it OK that I have the heat pad attached to the side of the 40 gallon breeder tank? Should the wattages of the bulbs be increased? Should I have a night bulb on 24/7 instead of any day bulb and UV at all? Should I just give up and find another home for the snake? UGH I AM SOO STRESSED!

-----
Scott

Reptiles
--------
0.0.1 Colombian Rainbow Boa(formerly named Precious by the previous owner....I gotta change that...)
1.0 Ball Python (Sultan)
0.1 California Kingsnake (Leota)
1.0 Eastern Painted Turtle (Yugi)
0.1 Red/Gold Bearded Dragon* (Irwin, R.I.P.)

Other
-----
1.0 Betta Fish (Tyrone)

Whoa Scott. Slow down. Take a deep breath. Long before my room got technical, I was keeping these animals in aquariums with drugstore heating pads set on low as the only heat source. Your little guy will be fine while you figure things out.

#1 put that thermometer on the floor of the cage underneath the hide spot. The temperature here should be between 80 and 84° F. Don't "feel" it with your hand. Measure it with a thermometer. Your body temperature is 98.6° F. Anything cooler than this will not feel warm to you.

#2 Turn off that light.

#3 Measure your room temperature.

#4 Until you have all the temps figured out, cooler is better.

Now take some measurements and get back to us O.K.
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Mike Lockwood
www.tooscaley.com

Mike,
...Excellent post. I was actually thinking along the same lines when I posted the keeping it simple thread the other day. Somehow we were able to keep snakes alive before we "knew so much" and had all these gadgets.
Jeff

>>Whoa Scott. Slow down. Take a deep breath. Long before my room got technical, I was keeping these animals in aquariums with drugstore heating pads set on low as the only heat source. Your little guy will be fine while you figure things out.
>>
>>#1 put that thermometer on the floor of the cage underneath the hide spot. The temperature here should be between 80 and 84° F. Don't "feel" it with your hand. Measure it with a thermometer. Your body temperature is 98.6° F. Anything cooler than this will not feel warm to you.
>>
>>#2 Turn off that light.
>>
>>#3 Measure your room temperature.
>>
>>#4 Until you have all the temps figured out, cooler is better.
>>
>>Now take some measurements and get back to us O.K.
>>-----
>>Mike Lockwood
>>www.tooscaley.com

Well that day light has been off for a while now. I have a night light heating the cage instead. I tried to cover the cage with foil last night, but the mom freaked out because she didn't want a fire, so I had to remove it. As for measuring all those temperatures, I did try measuring the room temperature with the thermometer with the probe and it was hovering about 63.3-63.4 degrees farenheit. I still have to mesure the other temperatures. I can stick the probe in the hide before I leave for my doctor's appointmeny at 2(I got a swollen throat if you're wondering lol).

-----
Scott

Reptiles
--------
0.0.1 Colombian Rainbow Boa(formerly named Precious by the previous owner....I gotta change that...)
1.0 Ball Python (Sultan)
0.1 California Kingsnake (Leota)
1.0 Eastern Painted Turtle (Yugi)
0.1 Red/Gold Bearded Dragon* (Irwin, R.I.P.)

Other
-----
1.0 Betta Fish (Tyrone)

sorry that was the wrong picture I meant to post my boa's enclosure again lol
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Scott

Reptiles
--------
0.0.1 Colombian Rainbow Boa(formerly named Precious by the previous owner....I gotta change that...)
1.0 Ball Python (Sultan)
0.1 California Kingsnake (Leota)
1.0 Eastern Painted Turtle (Yugi)
0.1 Red/Gold Bearded Dragon* (Irwin, R.I.P.)

Other
-----
1.0 Betta Fish (Tyrone)

And here I thought the picture reflected your mode at the time (middle of nowhere - ie struggling hard to figure out the best habitat for your rainbow and suddenly feeling lost....LOL nevermind nice picture anyway )
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PHLdyPayne

Actually that was a pic of a field nearby I was visiting hunting for northern black racers. I didn't find any, so I posted in the racer forum asking if it was a happy racer haunt lol.
-----
Scott

Reptiles
--------
0.0.1 Colombian Rainbow Boa(formerly named Precious by the previous owner....I gotta change that...)
1.0 Ball Python (Sultan)
0.1 California Kingsnake (Leota)
1.0 Eastern Painted Turtle (Yugi)
0.1 Red/Gold Bearded Dragon* (Irwin, R.I.P.)

Other
-----
1.0 Betta Fish (Tyrone)

Ok for now I will cover the screen with foil(that doesnt catch fire as easily). I have reflector lamps. Would they work better than the hood i have now?(it's one of those ones that can hold two bulbs and a flourescent). It's being kept in a basement that apparently is in the low to mid 60s(at least this time of year). I had a digitel thermometer with a probe on hand and the temp didnt get higher than 63 or 64 i believe. The cage is a 40 gallon breeder so it's 36x18x16 i believe?(those are the numbers I;m only sure about it being 36 inches long). Also, are there any books out there at all that focus on keeping rainbows in captivity? If so it would have made this a whole lot easier...I'm completely stressed right now(I don't want it to die! )

-----
Scott

Reptiles
--------
0.0.1 Colombian Rainbow Boa(formerly named Precious by the previous owner....I gotta change that...)
1.0 Ball Python (Sultan)
0.1 California Kingsnake (Leota)
1.0 Eastern Painted Turtle (Yugi)
0.1 Red/Gold Bearded Dragon* (Irwin, R.I.P.)

Other
-----
1.0 Betta Fish (Tyrone)

Scott,
...There are several people who post here who could write a fairly good book about how to keep Rainbow Boas in captivity. The problem with the book would be that it would only have one persons viewpoint. The advantage with this forum is that you get the opinions of lots of people and learn lots of DIFFERENT ways to do things. There is one book that I think EVERYONE who keeps snakes should read. It is "Keeping and Breeding Snakes" by Chris Mattison. It has nothing specific about keeping Rainbow Boas but it has loads of practical information about keeping snakes.
...Rainbow Boas are really pretty simple creatures. They want to hide in dark humid hiding spots during the day and to occasionally spend some time soaking in water and to have their cage temperature from the low 70s on the cool end of the cage to the low 80s on the warm end of the cage. They explore at night and that is when they most want to eat. After they eat they want even more than usual to stay in a warm dark humid hiding spot. When they are getting ready to shed they again want to spend an extra lot of time hiding in a warm humid hiding spot. Watch what the snake does in it's cage and it will tell you what it wants.
Jeff

>>Ok for now I will cover the screen with foil(that doesnt catch fire as easily). I have reflector lamps. Would they work better than the hood i have now?(it's one of those ones that can hold two bulbs and a flourescent). It's being kept in a basement that apparently is in the low to mid 60s(at least this time of year). I had a digitel thermometer with a probe on hand and the temp didnt get higher than 63 or 64 i believe. The cage is a 40 gallon breeder so it's 36x18x16 i believe?(those are the numbers I;m only sure about it being 36 inches long). Also, are there any books out there at all that focus on keeping rainbows in captivity? If so it would have made this a whole lot easier...I'm completely stressed right now(I don't want it to die! )
>>
>>
>>-----
>>Scott
>>
>>Reptiles
>>--------
>>0.0.1 Colombian Rainbow Boa(formerly named Precious by the previous owner....I gotta change that...)
>>1.0 Ball Python (Sultan)
>>0.1 California Kingsnake (Leota)
>>1.0 Eastern Painted Turtle (Yugi)
>>0.1 Red/Gold Bearded Dragon* (Irwin, R.I.P.)
>>
>>Other
>>-----
>>1.0 Betta Fish (Tyrone)

scott, i have to tell ya, you sound like your going through the same stuff i did when i first got my CRB's. i started out with coco bark for a substrate and a hide box full of moist shagnum moss. while it looked nice, i can assure you you'll have even more trouble with your setup when it comes time to clean. myself i couldn't stand the mess anymore. i ended up buying one of those washable terrerium mats, and for a hide, instead of an open bottom like i previously used, i made one out of an old country crock container (may not be pretty, but it works great and no more moss all over my cage). as for heat, i'm willing to bet if you cut down on some of that substrate the pad would work just fine, i have one for my setup and i have to watch sometimes, it can almost get too hot. and i don't want you to think i'm telling you what to do, just sharing my opinion and personal experience.

good luck with your new CRB!!

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0.0.1 wc eastern garter (slim)
0.0.1 five lined skink (alvin)
1.1 columban rainbow boas (dunno, lol)
0.1 wc girlfriend (wv mountain stock)